Would like to hear from anyone who's "tracked" their Mopar with plastic pistoned slider calipers.
My only experience is with several sets of stuck calipers that I've replaced on trucks and a Durango.
I'm wondering how they hold up under hi-heat, and heavy braking.
The only rebuilt calipers I've seen for sale all have plastic pistons.
The later Kit Cars were equipped with the truck front caliper in front and the car caliper in the rear, both sliders.
Were all slider calipers supplied with plastic pistons from the factory?

Wow I have never heard of plastic brake caliper parts before? I learned something new!

I would just imagine a red-hot glowing disc from hard braking at the track and the heat eminating from it being at least 1000*F, yeah any plastic part will eventually melt.

I'm sure he meant phenolic not plastic.

Phenolic pistons don't rust to the bore.

Phenolic pistons don't transfer heat to the brake fluid like steel.

But high heat can cause the phenolic material to break down over time due to oxidation.

Sorry, yes the other P word.
It just made me wonder if the fact that the calipers eventually stick on street cars is any indication of how they will hold up with road-course use.
Or is caliper sticking more a result of not changing brake fluid,seals hardening,or something else?

The bold above, is also IMO a significant cause of why they overheat in the first place, they can't depend on the fluid as heat path to help cool themselves. SS types seems to be best compromise.

The reason calipers stick usually isn't due to the material of the piston. Poor maintenance is the cause. Not flushing fluid regularly allowing moisture to corrode the metal--aluminum or iron, of the caliper body, deteriorating rubber hoses, etc; fills the caliper body with crud/debris. The dirt then gets between the piston and caliper and locks it up.

I highly agree with the above and unfortunately it happens to most vehicles that are street use only!

Track use is a different game as you basically want all your brake components to be top notch. 3500+ lbs. has to be able to stop consistently from high speed for 15-20 minute stints through out the entire day.

I run Carbotech pads as they have a way higher heat range than street pads and can cope with the abuse. Any of the other brake manufacturer should also work if their compounds are for high heat.

I use a white plastic brake fluid reservoir so that I can shine a flashlight through to see if any contaminants are in my fluid. I run Castrol SRF which is supposed to be the best brake fluid out there due to the high wet boiling point and replace that every other year.

Think you can install stainless steel brake lines and forget about them? Nope! Those should be replaced periodically as the crimps loosen over time and you can have a burst hose at the track.

Brake components are only half the equation in stopping as tire compounds and tire width/contact patch also play a huge role in slowing down. Yes all of these consumables get expensive but its still a lot cheaper than using a wall or another car to stop for you.

Go dig thru the Green Brick articles and I'm pretty sure you'll find that Eberg was a fan of the phenolic pistons. That car got a lot of track time back in the day.

Thanks for that!
Forgot how "stock" the brick was in the beginning.

Slider calipers have a well deserved reputation for not releasing efficiently. This is what makes them a poor choice for track days or road racing. The hotter the get the worse this gets as well.

The only true fix is going with a fixed caliper. Otherwise you will always be adjusting your driving to the limitations of the slider style calipers.

Yeah I know that Rick worked thru some of those issues and so did Tim with his Valiant. Eventually everyone who runs these cars really hard ends up in the same spot with fixed multi-piston calipers and big rotors. It is just the only thing that works consistently at 150+ mph.

Look at what Porsche or other hot cars are doing. 4 or 6 piston Brembo's that are fixed. Do it once and save money in the long run.

Are "plastic" pistons made for the a-body fixed KH caliper?

Phenolic piston transfer plenty of heat and are a known failure point on a track car that goes for any type of endurance race length. I've holed Phenloics on Neons during races and track days will disintegrate the pistons fairly quickly. Common Neon swap for Showroom Stock cars was Titanium Pistons.

The Brick could survive because it just didn't produce much brake temperature. The stock semi metallic pads you got from the dealer couldn't get hot enough to destroy the piston. Put on a set of race pads and it would have been a different story.

Not seen any. Stainless is available and provides the advantage of corrosion resistance with higher thermal resistance (compared to chromed steel).

"Thermal conductivity units is W/(m K) in the SI system and Btu/(hr ft °F) in the Imperial system."

Aluminum 205
Phenolic cast resins 0.15
Phenol-formaldehyde moulding compounds 0.13 - 0.25
Stainless Steel 16
Titanium 22
@77F

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-d_429.html

Steel, Carbon 1% 43

This is the baseline comparison.