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Wilwood Big Brake Kit Transforms This Jeep Gladiator’s Stopping Power

Chris Hamilton . May 12, 2026 . Blood Sweat and Gears . Chris Hamilton
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Braking Bad (In a Good Way)

If you’ve been following our American Gladiator series, you know we’ve come a long way from the bone-stock 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon we started with. We tackled the suspension with Skyjacker’s long-travel lift kit, added Dirty Life beadlocks wrapped in Toyo R/Ts, bolted on a Truxedo tonneau and Go Rhino steps, and even turned up the tunes with a full JL Audio sound system. Now that our Gladiator can climb, crawl, and cruise with the best of them, it’s time to make sure it can stop just as reliably as it goes.

Enter Wilwood’s new 13.50-inch big brake kit, engineered specifically for Jeep Gladiator owners who demand real stopping power without giving up any factory compatibility. This setup ditches the stock floating calipers for Wilwood’s forged aluminum four-piston calipers, delivering more even clamping force and less flex for a firmer, more confident pedal feel.

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Wilwood’s rotors are just as impressive, to say the least—they are premium-grade iron alloy units measuring 13.50 inches in diameter and are available in slotted or drilled-and-slotted designs. Both options use 36 vanes for maximum cooling and include lightweight aluminum hats that cut down on unsprung weight. The kit bolts right up to the factory axle flange, retains the original parking brake, and plays nice with the Jeep’s stock master cylinder, ABS, and electronics. Basically, it’s plug-and-play power that fits behind most 17-inch or larger wheels.

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For everyday driving or towing, Wilwood’s dual-sport brake pads hit the sweet spot, as they are ceramic-based for smooth street driving but tough enough to handle aggressive on-road or off-road abuse. The kit also includes stainless flex lines and all the hardware you need for a clean install.

We installed the system on our Gladiator to see how it performs in the real world, and the results were more impressive than we expected. The pedal feel is tighter, the response is instant, and fade is practically nonexistent. If you’re serious about control and safety on or off the trail, this is one upgrade you will appreciate every time you hit the brakes.

Now let’s get into the fun part. Check out the step-by-step install and see how this Wilwood kit transformed our Jeep’s stopping power.

SOURCES

Wilwood Engineering
www.wilwood.com
805-388-1188

Raised Wheels by Method
www.methodracewheels.com
866-779-8604 

Wilwood Big Brake Kit
Wilwood’s 13.50-inch front and rear big brake kit brings serious stopping power to the Jeep Gladiator. This kit features forged aluminum four-piston calipers and vented rotors, and Wilwood now offers a range of custom colors to its caliper line.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
Since our theme is the American Gladiator, we decided to go with red calipers up front and blue calipers in the rear.
The install starts as most do—by removing the wheels and hanging the stock calipers off the frame rail.

Next, we can remove the bolt holding the brake rotor in place and sand the hub so it can slide off easily.

Wilwood Big Brake Kit

According to the instructions, we need to trim the factory dust shield around the beveled edge in order to provide some clearance for the new larger calipers and rotors.
Here you can see the trimmed dust shield. We used a pneumatic reciprocating saw to trim this part easily.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
With the dust seal trimmed, we can now work on installing the new parts from Wilwood. Assembling the rotors first, we used red Loctite to ensure they do not come apart.
Now we can assemble the two-piece rotors on our workbench before putting the rotor on the vehicle.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
The rotors fit perfectly on our Jeep Gladiator’s axles. The next step is to install the brackets for the calipers.

The caliper brackets are supplied in the kit and simply bolt to the backside of the axle hub with the supplied hardware.

Wilwood Big Brake Kit

Before we install the new calipers, we need to slip the Wilwood brake pads into place, which is easy thanks to the well-engineered parts.
Now the caliper can be slipped into place, using a flashlight to ensure that there is no resistance or touching parts.

The calipers can now be bolted into place using the hardware provided, which is a simple task using basic shop tools.

Wilwood Big Brake Kit

Next, we need to install the brake line extensions. These are stainless steel brake lines that mount to the factory brake line location.
The opposite side of the stainless steel brake lines gets threaded into the new Wilwood brake calipers.
Here’s a look at the rear kit completely installed—a very clean installation thanks to Wilwood’s excellent engineering and manufacturing processes.

Wilwood Big Brake Kit
The front of the truck is done following the same process we used in the rear, which makes the process go much quicker the second time around.
With the front rotors installed and the dust shield trimmed, we can now work on assembling and installing the calipers.
Once again, we install the caliper using the supplied hardware by bolting it in from the rear using a swivel ratchet and socket.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
Here’s a great look at the front of the Jeep Gladiator with our new Wilwood big brake kit installed.
With all of the hardware installed properly, we now simply need to bleed the brakes on all four corners to make sure there’s no air in the lines and that the brakes function properly.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
The brake install is now complete, and you can see the theme we are going for using blue and red calipers. Our red, white, and blue American Gladiator looks good and will stop on a dime.

This kit is designed to work with a 17-inch wheel minimum, so we bolted on a set just to confirm clearance. There is no rubbing or grinding with these large brakes on 17-inch wheels.
In order to show off our new brakes a little better, we decided to order a new set of 20-inch Raised Wheels by Method. This is the MR802 design in a 20×10 size.
Wilwood Big Brake Kit
The Jeep looks great and stops exactly how we expected thanks to this upgrade from Wilwood brakes. If you’re in the market for an upgrade on your Jeep Gladiator, definitely check out this kit on its website.

 

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Read Full Bio
Chris Hamilton

Chris Hamilton is an automotive journalist, editor, and lifelong truck enthusiast with extensive experience covering custom truck builds, fabrication, performance upgrades, aftermarket products, and a ...

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