I read a nice article over at install university on how to rebuild the f-bod's calipers with an OEM rebuild kit. All it is is a rubber seal that goes into the piston cylinder, a dust boot and a couple new bolts.
Here is the article F-bod caliper rebuild
Does anyone know of a truck OEM rebuild kit?
I can't decide what to do.
Tbyrne has a Baer rotor GP, and I was thinking of geting in on that.
So far here is what I may do:
-Baer Eradispeed +1 crossdrilled, slotted and zinc washed front rotors P/N 2301028 $539.99 GP price
-Earl's Hyperfirm Brake Link kit (Front & Rear) 99-03 (5 line kit) P/N 61-28A640 ~$140 shipped
I understand that these lines don't "balloon" like regular rubber lines do and shorten the stopping distance. JSmith, how's that brake project going?
-OEM brake pads?? Or since I'll probably get raped at the stealership, just buy some nice aftermarket ones? Hawks perhaps?

 

i need to do my brakes very badly also. i am very interested in the exact stuff you are talking about. what does anyone have to say about those hawk pads? are they really any better than stockers?

 

I guess Hawk is fine, but I have no experience with any aftermarket brakes
I found these SBS ceramic brake pads but they are kind of expensive and doubt I would really use them to their potential....
Anyone?

 

I believe NAPA brand pads are decent from what I have heard and IIRC they have a lifetime warranty.

 

what kind of advantage do the earls lines offer in themselves? any advantage on an overall stock brake system? i'm in the same upgrade boat you guys are here pretty soon. just getting ideas at this point.

 

Yes there is a truck caliper rebuild kit. I just picked mine up today from my uncle. Need the part numbers? The kit includes ALL seals, dust boots, o-rings, and bolts to rebuild the stock calipers.

The project is going well! I just finished final disassembly of the calipers and cleaned them. The brackets and calipers go to the paint shop on saturday. Have you been following my progress here?

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140610

I've been sort of keeping a journal there.

 

Here is an interesting tidbit of info I picked up from a seasoned racer when I was still into track days, driving schools, and auto-x.

With this info at hand, I never got x-drilled rotors. Not that they are a bad thing, just want to retain as much disc surface area as possible.

The Baer kit is an excellent way to improve your stopping power. The lines are for feel only and DO NOT decrease your stopping distances. Don't forget a good DOT4+ brake fluid.

 

I'm getting ready to do a brake upgrade on my friends '97 Z28. He got a complete package that contains hawk pads (They look good! Tried to put some on my truck, but got the wrong pads ), Powerslot rotors (Not much slotting Looks like they'll rust up quickly ) Stainless steel brake lines (They have Zinc plated line fittings though. WTF? Zinc plated steel corrodes so fast, especially around here) He also got some of those one person bleeder fittings. They look pretty neat. Just need to make you're they're tight For some reason he doesn't want to paint the calipers while we're in there.

DOT4??? Thought there was only DOT3?

As for the drilled slotted rotors, I've heard and agree that there is less friction. Drilling them is supposed to make them prone to cracking, but maybe that really only applies to stock rotors. I guess the purpose behind off of this is to dissipate heat and dust.

Just my $0.02.

 

drilling and/or slotting is to dissipate gasses from the pads heating up, not for heat dissapation. Infact slotting and/or drilling is semi bad as there is now less mass to absorb the heat and it will travel into your other components like your suspension arms, wheel bearings, etc...

Slotting if anything is the preffered method as one you'll have more mass, their less prone to cracking, and they happen to clean off the pads everytime you step on the pedal.

You can get all the way up to DOT 5.1. I know of DOT 3, 4, 5, and 5.1. DOT 3 being th most common over the counter stuff. DOT 4 being a higher grade(better temperature performance) DOT5 being silicone based (not good as it is easy to get air in there and impossible to get it out afterwards) and DOT 5.1 (severe heavy duty usage like fleet trucks and racing. Expensive, limited quantities, and needs to be flushed regularly as it absorbs water)

 

Ah here is an awesome site I bookmarked about brake fluid!

http://www.shotimes.com/SHO3brakefluid.html

I've in the past swore by ATE Superblue. It's an excellent fluid that is relatively low cost. <$10 for a pint. Then you can get ATE Suberblue that is yellow in color so that you know you changed out all the fluid when your flushing out your system.