S10, !LE, Baer or Wilwood Brake upgrade for 17" Wheels

[Dan Aughtman]

I was looking to do a brake upgrade when I go to 17' Wheels and have read lots of post on this subject in this Forum. I can go to either set-up but which offers the best stopping and handling along with ease of installation and maintenance on a street toy 1978 Malibu? Plan to stay under 13' Rotors with AR Torq-thrusts.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

AFAIK, the 1LE conversion kits are the only ones that also give you improved suspension geometry for handling.

Tommy

 

[Dan Aughtman]

Thanks Tommy, while researching this I found that CPP will release a new spindle using C5 Corvette rotor and other parts that could be the best of bot worlds using stock parts. I have seen pictures but not any details yet about which uppers it will use and when it will be available for sale.

 

[Doober]

I was going to vote skip the pony car stuff and go straight for the C5 stuff... it's what I hope to do on mine one day.

 

[Dan Aughtman]

Thanks for the input guys! I an going to take a close look at the C5 set-up. They have kits out for A-Bodies with options and prices but not yet for our G-Bodies. They have the spindles only or complete kits. They claim they will work with stock or aftermarket uppers, Global and Hotchkis and C5 kits from Baer and Wilwood, along with the sealed bearings. Since I have a 1978 I would have to change to later bearing for most kits and the sealed bearings would be a plus. I believe the C5 rotors are 12.80 with dual-pistons and I will only have 225 45 17 on the front that should handle about anything the tires could hold. Then there are plenty of upgrades for the C5 stuff if stock is not enough.

Thanks again and any additional input will be appreciated?

 

[Doober]

Check out flynbye.com too, he has some stuff that works on G-Bodies.

 

[Dan Aughtman]

I emailed CPP about the G-body C5 spindles and they hope to have them in this year. I found several postings on other Forums and Magazine articles using there stuff. It seems the spindles are cast overseas and machined here. It looks like the kits use larger calipers and disk not true C5 parts. They claim they will support C5 stuff so I plan to buy a set of spindles and outfit them with true C5 parts for ease of replacement from my local parts house. I want to get the spindles in first and check their quality before starting and also to decide if I want to install new upper "A's" or not.