Teach me 12inch brakes

[LS6 Tommy]

You need a 16" wheel for the 1LE brakes. Select 15" wheels might fit with clearancing done on the calipers, but not shallow rally wheels.
Jim

No you don't, they fit in almost every GM 15" stock wheel that's over 4.75" BS. I have them inside 87 Monte SS 15"x 7" wheels with no problems.

Tommy

 

[LS6 Tommy]

With the 1LE swap, you will have to add 1/2 more backspacing to your front wheels. I found that out the hard way. I was running 14s and bought a set of 16s for the swap. I had to send two wheels back to get the correct BS. I ran 15x7 ralleys meanwhile with no problems.quote]

No you don't, the conversion upper A-arms add 3/8" to your front track. If you put 1/2" spacers on the outside edge of the tires will almost definitely rub the inner wheel house. Your problem was from measuring a 14" wheel. You said it yourself, "I ran 15x7 ralleys meanwhile with no problems."

Tommy

 

[DeltaT]

We tried three different set of 15" wheels and none would fit. One was a 15x7 Malibu wheel, 1 was a 15x6 Rally and the last was a Wheel Vintiques steel rally. I wonder what we were doing wrong?

Good info for the guy that just bought my 1LE setup.

Jim

 

[Autometer]

No you don't, the conversion upper A-arms add 3/8" to your front track. If you put 1/2" spacers on the outside edge of the tires will almost definitely rub the inner wheel house. Your problem was from measuring a 14" wheel. You said it yourself, "I ran 15x7 ralleys meanwhile with no problems."

Tommy

I never measured with the 14s, it was with my 16x8. I didn't mean spacers, add 1/2 inch more bs to your wheels. Like if you start with 4.5 BS, then you'll need 5" BS. I didn't mean to sound like adding spacers. I guess if wouldn't matter with a 7" or smaller wheel. Those running 8" wheels up front would need the BS change. Sorry I wasn't clear. I figured everyone runs 8".

 

[Autometer]

We tried three different set of 15" wheels and none would fit. One was a 15x7 Malibu wheel, 1 was a 15x6 Rally and the last was a Wheel Vintiques steel rally. I wonder what we were doing wrong?

Good info for the guy that just bought my 1LE setup.

Jim

I wonder if you were running 1LE calipers if they're taller than the caprice calipers.

 

[Anonymous]

all i know is that if you get the caprice brake pads for the cop cars, the pads are physically bigger and actually stick outside the caliper and give you a little more braking surface area, theire the ones from a 91-96 caprice cop car and the caliper is the same as the regular car/wagon. its another cheap upgrade that most people miss.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

all i know is that if you get the caprice brake pads for the cop cars, the pads are physically bigger and actually stick outside the caliper and give you a little more braking surface area, theire the ones from a 91-96 caprice cop car and the caliper is the same as the regular car/wagon. its another cheap upgrade that most people miss.

I looked into that, too. The guys at PFC said their pads are enough better than stock that the stopping is about the same or better than the cop pads. I wish PFC made the cop pads.

Tommy

 

[Anonymous]

If you want a larger pad you can usually fit the 3/4 ton truck pads in the B car calipers. The stock B car pad number is 52. The 3/4 ton pad number is 153 and it has about 25% more area. These are the pads I am running in my malibu with 11" B car brakes. The 153 pads may not fit if you have new rotors though since they are thicker than the 52 pads.

Also, If you are on a tight budget you don't have to get the aftermarket control arms. It's possible to buy offset control arm shafts to correct the camber problem caused by the taller spindles.

 

[Autometer]

I've always ran the truck pads on my Malibu. Same ones for my '71 C10 too.

 

[HarrisonTX]

Well, since i cant do the swap and keep my wheels, i guess ill just get new pads, and flush the system.
This is pretty upsetting because it was real cheap, and a big improvment, and something i could easily do myself. My favorite type of upgrade, Damn.