KnKut Silverado - Wilwood big Brakes in Orange!

Did y’all know – you can get Wilwood Disc Brakes to coat their calipers in practically any color at purchase? That’s right friends, you don’t have to stress yourself with disassembling a brand new big brake kit. You can get ‘em custom-coated straight from Wilwood, done properly, complete with the Wilwood logos and all. This Silverado belongs to Andy Thompson from KnKut Drill Bits. Backstory: It was just a boring ol’ paw-paw truck until recently… when we got bored & slammed it with a Belltech lowering kit. Orange is KnKut’s signature color. So we ordered this Wilwood big brake kit in SEBRING ORANGE with silver logos! Check it out though…

This Wilwood big brake kit clears 17-inch wheels…

For the wheels on this Silverado, we wanted to do something a little different from today’s norm. We fixated on 17s, which yes, is admittedly weird & stubborn. Everybody tends to runs 20-inch+ wheels these days. In other words – bigger diameter wheels with lower-profile tires. And that’s been the trend for a long time now. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (Seinfeld voice). But what can we say – we love the ’90s… back when mini-trucks set the trends. And back when wheels were smaller & tires had more chunk to ‘em. So…

We wanted to throwback to a smaller diameter wheel…

And Konig Wheels makes this new HT2 in 17s. We knew ‘the trick’ was gonna be finding a tire with enough sidewall in the modern tire market, since those kinds of sizes aren’t common anymore. After searching around, Jeepin Bubba (in the neon green hat) from Black Bear Off-Road (in Buford, GA) found that Nitto makes the summer/performance NT555G2 in 275/50/17.

The next obstacle to 17-inch wheels was gonna be big brakes…

But as it turns out, Wilwood recently introduced a big-brake kit designed specifically to clear 17-inch wheels on Chevy Silverados (called Aero6DM). It’s a 6-piston caliper. And Wilwood wanted to offer increased breaking performance for truck owners that might still be on factory 17-inch wheels… but want more stopping power for towing, hauling, etc. And what’s really neat about the Aero6DM kit, is that it bolts-up directly to the Silverado just like an OEM caliper. There’s no need for adapter brackets, which are commonly used with aftermarket big brake kits. Personally, I have Wilwood brakes on my Honda CRX (front & rear). I also have them on my Porsche 944 (with Rennbay brackets), and my big-turbo Ford Fiesta ST. And because of the direct bolt-up on this Chevy Silverado, this was the most straightforward of all of ‘em. Either that or… Black Bear Off-Road just makes it look easy lolol. But the best part was…

Andy’s face

Watching Andy’s face react to the new Wilwood brakes…

These brakes are a night & day difference from stock! It’s like putting Corvette brakes on a Silverado. And that’s no exaggeration. What’s more – the lightweight wheels & overall smaller diameter tires help with rotating mass. The whole package kills from a performance aspect. And – cruising in a big/wide/low, 15-year-old, full-size Silverado that stops like a sports car… it’s just awesome. It’s somehow chill & intense all at same time. Yep, this KnKut truck is starting to wake up… and we’ve only just begun.