Added more desirable Akebono calipers to an old Jeep WJ
The little non sport Akebono calipers on q50’s are know for warping the OEM rotors. I went through 2 sets of OEM and kept getting the vibration when braking from highway speed before eventually buying some shtty Chinese “drilled and slotted” aftermarket’s. Never had the issue since.
I recently got a set of reman'd Girling calipers off RockAuto -- they fit perfectly.
Brake pedal drops a bit lower before it begins to stop but it is not spongy. They grab really good, shorter stoping distance, and I can make my ABS actually activate. With the original calipers it was pretty hard to activate for some reason, running the same Akebono Euros as this setup so must be the bigger calipers. Great Upgrade
I went with Akebonos with two-piece rotors. No complaints here.
In the early aughts I scored a set of the Girling 54 calipers from a 16v and my dad and I rebuilt and painted them before installing in my first '84. I didn't upgrade the MC (didn't know better at the time) so the brake pedal travel increased but the braking improved so I kept the set up ... until the next annual MO state vehicle inspection where the car failed for excessive brake pedal travel The 9.4" set up went back on.
There’s two lines, as the caliper is split into two sections vertically. The top two pistons (inside and outside piston, directly across from eachother) are hooked up to one brake line, and the other line hooks up to the bottom chamber and bottom two pistons. If one brake line fails, you still have some brake pressure (the pair of pistons on the non broken line). Unfortunately, this means that only a pair of the 4 pistons will work with just one brake line (all abs cars). This would make your pads wear at a severe angle, and drastically impact your breaking performance. I’d definitely say just find some rebuild kits for your current calipers. It’s pretty easy and cheap.
I bought used ones on eBay. Came out nice but they were kinda rough.
Wish they offered the same front caliper on Long Range besides the tiny uncoloured one I think it has, that's one gripe I dislike.
After getting vehicle to run under its own power once again, which is fantastic. I have no brakes. I've since gone gone in and torn down Front brakes completely, I've found right side metal line leaking. Also breaks & calibers had froze from lack of operation all these years. I'm Replacing all components for front brakes, except I'm rebuilding the girling calipers because they're practically $200 each and it cost 1/4 to rebuild the caliper.
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If choosing brake caliper across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare brake caliper across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, brake caliper Girling were overall better than Akebono.
In March 2026 on PartReview, brake caliper Girling were overall more popular than Akebono.
By vote balance, brake caliper Girling surpassed Akebono:
By number of reviews, brake caliper Girling surpassed Akebono:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, brake caliper Girling led more car-specific ratings than Akebono:
Girling are chosen by owners of cars such as: Volkswagen Corrado, Volkswagen Jetta, and others.
Brake caliper Akebono have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of brake caliper Akebono with: Brembo, OEM Volkswagen, POWER STOP, OEM Porsche, WILWOOD, OEM Audi.
Also available: comparisons of brake caliper Girling with: Brembo, OEM Volkswagen, POWER STOP, OEM Porsche, WILWOOD, OEM Audi.
You can also see who is better among other brake caliper manufacturers: Brembo or Girling, Girling or OEM Volkswagen, Brembo or OEM Volkswagen, Girling or POWER STOP, Girling or OEM Porsche.
