What shall I do with my front brakes?

[JDEstill]

I've been wanting to do a little work to my front brakes for a while, but not sure what route to take. I've got GTA wheels on the thing, so I could fit something a little larger, but time to do a lot of work is in short supply and will be for a while to come. Plus this is a pure street car, so I don't need the baddest road racing set up or anything like that. So, keeping that in mind...

My set up is:
- vacuum brakes
- I replaced the old iron distribution block years ago with the good replacement (brass maybe?)
- GTA wheels
- I have a set of the nice braided brake lines sitting on the shelf waiting to be installed.

I'm going to get a new set of calipers, I'm afraid one may be dragging a little. I was looking at those stock replacement 2 piston calipers from Wilwood, but the price is scaring me a little. Will I really see that much of an improvement over a regular parts house replacement caliper, something that will justify that much extra expense? Would a standard replacement caliper with some good pads be 99% as good? And if so, does someone have a suggestion on good pads to use that will be a nice upgrade over the standard Autozone pads? Remember, its a street car...

I looked through some threads on upgrading to S10 brakes, or to LS1 brakes, but I'm not sure I have the desire for those, sounds like more effort than I have time for. But if you think I'm stupid for not considering one of those paths further, let me know.

Thanks for any thoughts!

John

 

[1quick6]

For a cheap upgrade, you could go with stock replacement calipers and Hawk pads. The HPS Performance or HP Plus compounds seem to be pretty darn good. If you aren't looking to have a lot of work and expense, this will at least get you better than stock performance on the street. If you have GTA wheels hiding things, it's not like you are trying to pretty things up so your flashy spoked wheels aren't offset by shoddy looking braking equipment. I'd just go for a budget minded improvement myself.

 

[charlief1]

As far as a cheap upgrade I'd say do the S-10 dual piston caliper system. It bolts on and gives you an 11" rotor with dual piston calipers. All you'll need to do is have the car aligned afterwards. Stock parts which are cheaper and easier to find as well. I got my spindles, calipers, and brackets for less than $100 and I do need the bearing assemblies, rotors, and pads and I'm done with it. I might have a total of $300 in the whole upgrade when I'm done and that's cheap for a bigger rotor and dual piston calipers.

 

[novaderrik]

As far as a cheap upgrade I'd say do the S-10 dual piston caliper system. It bolts on and gives you an 11" rotor with dual piston calipers. All you'll need to do is have the car aligned afterwards. Stock parts which are cheaper and easier to find as well. I got my spindles, calipers, and brackets for less than $100 and I do need the bearing assemblies, rotors, and pads and I'm done with it. I might have a total of $300 in the whole upgrade when I'm done and that's cheap for a bigger rotor and dual piston calipers.

good luck finding good quality new hubs, rotors, and pads for under $200.
the cheapest hubs i've found are over $100 each, with the good ones being $200 each.

a person could upgrade to 12" LS1 Camaro front brakes with all new parts from your local NAPA for less than the cost of just new Blazer hubs.. but there will be some fab work necessary and i haven't found a conclusive answer about whether or not it will fit behind a GTA wheel..

 

[charlief1]

good luck finding good quality new hubs, rotors, and pads for under $200.
the cheapest hubs i've found are over $100 each, with the good ones being $200 each.

a person could upgrade to 12" LS1 Camaro front brakes with all new parts from your local NAPA for less than the cost of just new Blazer hubs.. but there will be some fab work necessary and i haven't found a conclusive answer about whether or not it will fit behind a GTA wheel..

After doing a little research it turns out that the 2 and 4WD hub assemblies are the same except for the splines and a cap on the outside.:biggrin:

Here's one that's $40.99 with free shipping.:biggrin:

Front Hub Bearing -- 1 Year Warranty 83-93 S-10 Blazer - eBay (item 380315823470 end time Mar-13-11 00:22:24 PST)

 

[Dino1]

a person could upgrade to 12" LS1 Camaro front brakes with all new parts from your local NAPA for less than the cost of just new Blazer hubs.. but there will be some fab work necessary and i haven't found a conclusive answer about whether or not it will fit behind a GTA wheel..[/QUOTE]

The answer is... YES the LS1 brake upgrade will fit with a 16" GTA wheel, both front and rear. I have this setup on my car.

 

[novaderrik]

a person could upgrade to 12" LS1 Camaro front brakes with all new parts from your local NAPA for less than the cost of just new Blazer hubs.. but there will be some fab work necessary and i haven't found a conclusive answer about whether or not it will fit behind a GTA wheel..

The answer is... YES the LS1 brake upgrade will fit with a 16" GTA wheel, both front and rear. I have this setup on my car.

sweet.. how much clearance are we talking about here? how about "rear" wheels on the front?

 

[novaderrik]

After doing a little research it turns out that the 2 and 4WD hub assemblies are the same except for the splines and a cap on the outside.:biggrin:

Here's one that's $40.99 with free shipping.:biggrin:

Front Hub Bearing -- 1 Year Warranty 83-93 S-10 Blazer - eBay (item 380315823470 end time Mar-13-11 00:22:24 PST)

i've learned that hub/bearing assemblies are one area where it pays to not get the cheapest part you can find. that part that costs half as much doesn't look like such a bargain when you have to replace it 3X as often..

 

[Red Regal T]

For a cheap upgrade, you could go with stock replacement calipers and Hawk pads. The HPS Performance or HP Plus compounds seem to be pretty darn good. If you aren't looking to have a lot of work and expense, this will at least get you better than stock performance on the street. If you have GTA wheels hiding things, it's not like you are trying to pretty things up so your flashy spoked wheels aren't offset by shoddy looking braking equipment. I'd just go for a budget minded improvement myself.

Good recommendation. Fits the bill perfectly viewing the OPs objectives.

 

[TurboBuRick]

The seals to rebuild the calipers are available and is easy enough to do. Get all new seals and slide bushing along with new hoses. Thats money spent in the right place and keeping your original equipment.

 

[JDEstill]

thanks for the good advice guys! Replacement calipers and good pads does sound like a good way to go for me. I appreciate the help! Maybe a few years down the road when the kids are bigger the LS1 brakes (or whatever the hot ticket at the time is) will be something for me to look at.

John

 

[NEVER ENOUGH]

I am putting on almost all ac delco stuff. Somewhat for the same reason. In a year or two we will all be installing ZR1 stuff

thanks for the good advice guys! Replacement calipers and good pads does sound like a good way to go for me. I appreciate the help! Maybe a few years down the road when the kids are bigger the LS1 brakes (or whatever the hot ticket at the time is) will be something for me to look at.

John

 

[Way2QWK]

Im trying to decide on a front brake upgrade also. I have out grown the larger single piston caliper and performance pads. They just dont cut it for the power I make on the street. Dont have the money for a Baer kit so Im thinking either Blazer setup or LS1. Just dont know what is most cost effective for the braking power that I need. JDEstill, if you need to stop from 80+on the street you may find the single caliper/stock rotor just doesnt cut it. Thats were Im at.

 

[JDEstill]

It's pretty rare for me to need to brake hard from 80+ on the street...

Just to be clear, does anyone think those Wilwood 2 piston calipers offer much of an upgrade? Once I got to thinking about it, my reasoning is that the pads and rotors (and tires) are the most critical elements. Is moving from a single piston caliper to a 2 piston caliper, with stock size pads and rotors, really much of an upgrade?

John

 

[Red Regal T]

I'm no expert, but I'd have to think increased stopping power comes from bigger rotors and pads with more area of contact.

 

[usetaboost]

After doing a little research it turns out that the 2 and 4WD hub assemblies are the same except for the splines and a cap on the outside.:biggrin:

Here's one that's $40.99 with free shipping.:biggrin:

Front Hub Bearing -- 1 Year Warranty 83-93 S-10 Blazer - eBay (item 380315823470 end time Mar-13-11 00:22:24 PST)

Yeah it isn't hard to tell that they are the same setups except they got a shaft through the center.

I got my 2wd blazer setup for 85 bucks at a u-pull-it. Disconnected the line, lower and upper ball joints and tie rod and took the whole assembly. I figure bigger is always better when it comes to brakes and the dual piston caliper will delever more equal force on the pads. I look at it this way, if it still isn't good enough I will need the s10 spindle and hub bearing anyway if I go to c5 conversion after I get a set of wheels. If the brakes are good enough to stop a small truck, they should be able to stop my much lighter car just fine.

It's not hard to come up on some brake fade after spirited driving. My truck stops better than my buick. Some don't mind how these cars brake and handle. I think a car should be able to do more than just go fast. It should also brake and turn as well. There's a reason why newer vehicles have bigger wheels, brakes and MUCH better steering and suspension systems.

 

[Yedi]

I installed power slot rotors, and ceramic pads......Improved my braking considerably...very happy w/ the setup for the money.

I like the slotted rotors because there are no holes in them to weaken the rotor.. just my .02