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hey all i just seen this posted in another topic and since i need to do my front brakes im really interested in doing this since the brakes have always felt a little weak and 20" wheels didnt help any
i looked on line at rockau.... but they list a bunch like with rear drums or disk then hydroboot or not really confusing so any one got part numbers or a tell me what truck to look up?
Go with brakes from a Police Edition Yukon. 2007 is a direct bolt on replacement. Easy upgrade and much better stopping power. Barring that, you can always throw a 16" Willwood Big Brake kit up front...problem solved 👍
The GMT900 brake upgrade came on some GMT800 Silverado and Sierras, (If they got good brakes in the front, they had drums in the rear. If they had the disc brakes in the rear, they had the smaller brakes up front). Also, there were two different versions of this brake upgrade.
2005-2006 SILVERADO/SIERRA 1500 EXCLUDING: Hybrid, SS, HD, & rear disc; Had the larger 13" rotors.
------- 2007 SILVERADO/SIERRA 1500 Had the same 13" rotors but had the same earlier pad # as 05-06.
- YEARS --- PAD # ------ MODEL ----------------------------- YEARS ----- PAD # --
The pads are almost completely identical in size and shape, but they attach differently to the caliper. They both use the same rotor, but if you are possibly piecing together from different locations (such as ebay or a friend and trying to save a few bucks), you will need the caliper that goes with those years pads (/vice versa). If you are ordering all of it at once, and have the option, personally I would use a 2008+ (even 2009+) year, simply because the K2XX (generation 14+) used the same front brakes as the NNBS. So getting pads down the road should give you more options.
As for PPV (police) brakes, personally I wouldn't use them in my own vehicle. Yes they should have higher temp seals, but that shouldn't matter unless you are track racing your vehicle or doing excessive high speed hard brakes repeatedly to where they will heat up. They are designed for a full tank police chase. The biggest problem I have with PPV brakes is "they are designed to be quiet", (so cops can roll in without screeching brakes on a bunch of vehicles). I DON'T KNOW FOR CERTAIN, as I couldn't find a definitive answer, but I believe this means these pads don't have that metal tab that squeals to let you know your pads are low like all other pads do. These are considered a fleet vehicle pad, so they are expecting them to be inspected quite frequently. If someone who has them has gotten low enough to answer this, sure would appreciate a answer as to either way. Every other pad squeals when the pads are getting low for safety and so you don't wear away your rotors and ruin them with a little grinding. The PPV pads are not supposed to be any better than any other pad, and depending on what type of pad you want (ceramic, organic, etc.), these are probably not the best option anyways. I don't think you can get the calipers unloaded, but that should be enough for you to make your own decision.
The REAR BRAKES on the 1500 NBS/GMT800 SUV are a 13" rotor with a 2 piston caliper, which is larger than the pickups 12.8" rotor with single piston caliper. The GMT900 rear is a 13.6" IIRC rotor with a single piston caliper. Its a larger rotor with a smaller pad and less clamping force. I would consider this a downgrade to change the rears to GMT900. The avalanche and later SUVs got this setup, but the pickups did not.
(Back to the FRONTS If you absolutely had to for some reason, the 12.8" NBS rotor will work with the 13.0" GMT900 calipers/brackets/pads. There is a .4" difference in rotor thickness to allow for better venting. This makes it a different hat size (how far off the mounting surface the caliper sits). When its all installed IIRC the front side will be at the right distance and location, but the back/inside of the pad will be .4" farther away from where it would be with the correct parts. The pads themselves have a material height of roughly .5" - .75" depending on the pad. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS, I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD JUST DO, I'm just saying if FOR SOME REASON, your options were this or nothing, (maybe you got the wrong parts, or somewhere out on the road where you don't/can't wait), this SHOULD work temporarily to put the GMT900 pads/calipers on GMT800 rotors to keep you driving.
If you are going to use drilled rotors; make sure they are holes that were cast into the rotors and not drilled in afterwards. Drilled rotors seem to always be the "cool thing" for most, but drilled rotors are designed to let excessive heat and gasses escape to help keep the rotors cooler. The key here is EXCESSIVE HEAT. These are designed for what is mostly track use. The closest real world comparable use for drilled rotors would be someone who punches it, SLAMS on the brakes, in stop and go traffic and loves to get it up to highway speeds then slam on the brakes again. Then does this multiple times a minute for a 10+ minute commute. If you were to drive in such a way that you would NEED drilled rotors on public roads, you would most likely earn a ticket for reckless driving. If you are not psychotic, and just daily driving, know how to coast at all, then you won't NEED drilled rotors. Drilled rotors have less surface area then blank rotors. DRILLED ROTORS WILL CREATE LESS FRICTION WITH THE PAD THEN BLANKS. If the rest of your braking system is up to it, then drilled rotors will take a slightly longer distance to make a single stop then blanks would. If you are more concerned about a single stop then you should be using blank rotors. The best analogy I have is: if you live out in the country, and your biggest concern is not high speed, agressive stop-and-go driving then you don't even want drilled rotors. If your biggest concern is more of where a large animal like a deer running out in front of you, and going from 60+ to 0 that one time where an extra 5 or 10 feet means stopping short or hitting a large animal, then you should definitely be using blank rotors. From what I've experienced, if you live out on the coasts, and drive aggressive rush hour traffic then you would want drilled or slotted rotors. If you are somewhere in between then maybe slotted are best for you. Slotted give you a happy medium, and are usually known to be less prone to cracking that can happen with drilled, or warping with blanks.
If you are wanting to upgrade your brakes, and budget comes into the picture at all, then you probbaly want to do the GMT900 front upgrade. After that you should be looking at hydroboost. They will give you a more firm pedal feel (because the lines are filled with fluid which won't compress like air in vacuum brakes). If you are towing heavier loads, this should definitely be on your list. Here's a good hydroboost write up.. https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...nstall-417445/
If the GMT900 brakes just won't do it for you, (and you can do at least a thousand for one set of brakes, your next upgrade options going towards big break kits are the SSBC tri piston calipers, or the "rudy's bracket" C6 corvette, Z06, 6 piston caliper upgrade (closer to $1500), and you will need 18" wheels for both of these options. Z06 Brake Conversion - How To - SilveradoSS.com After that its a full 6 or 8 piston setup for $3K-$4K for just the front set.
so if i order all the parts for 2008-2015 SUBURBAN 1500 it will be the D1363 pads correct?
im leaning on slotted type rotors, i've been know to get aggressive behind the wheel soon it will have a modded 6.0 plus my summer and winter sets of wheels are both 20" so not worried about 17+ wheels only
For the fronts: It sure should. The part numbers should give it away as far as the pads go. It will probably have that 4 digit code in there, plus a little manufacturer info in the part number. The calipers you would have to look up the part numbers, but ordering it with those years should solve that. IIRC one of the two calipers has a finned design, and the other doesn't. The rotors are the same for both calipers.
For the rears, the NBS SUV rears are better IMO. Smaller rotor, but dual piston calipers, (OPTIONAL, they also had a single piston caliper in the NBS SUV rear. Verify which one you are getting).
Sorry if I'm outta school here but aren't 2006 SS (RWD, so they are 14 bolt 9.5 with drums out back) the larger front brakes already? That info posted above sort of confirms and then contradicts that but I think there's some confusion (confusing me, too) regarding the RWD-only SS's. The SS guys with AWD models do the cheap front brake upgrade using the 06 parts.
02-02-2020, 10:33 AM
gmt900 front brakes on gmt800 help
If you absolutely had to for some reason, the 12.8" NBS rotor will work with the 13.0" GMT900 calipers/brackets/pads. There is a .4" difference in rotor thickness to allow for better venting. This makes it a different hat size (how far off the mounting surface the caliper sits). When its all installed IIRC the front side will be at the right distance and location, but the back/inside of the pad will be .4" farther away from where it would be with the correct parts. The pads themselves have a material height of roughly .5" - .75" depending on the pad. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS, I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD JUST DO, I'm just saying if FOR SOME REASON, your options were this or nothing, (maybe you got the wrong parts, or somewhere out on the road where you don't/can't wait), this SHOULD work temporarily to put the GMT900 pads/calipers on GMT800 rotors to keep you driving.
soon it will have a modded 6.0 plus my summer and winter sets of wheels are both 20" so not worried about 17+ wheels only
