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Old 05-21-2013, 11:27 PM   #1
FLYNAVY30
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8 lug brake upgrade options?

Im looking at options to upgrade the brake system on my 8 lug C20. Ive seen all sorts of kits to upgrade the 5 lug, but is there anything for the 8 lug? Id like to get the biggest brakes I can fit under the 16 inch front wheels while converting the rears to discs. The factory brakes arent bad, but as a daily driver, Id like something that stops a bit better and has a better pedal feel. Right now, I really have to stand on the pedal to pull the thing down from speed, and it requires a full boot to keep it from creeping forward at a stop light.

Any input is much appreciated!
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Old 05-22-2013, 12:27 AM   #2
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

One option....
http://www.performanceonline.com/196...-DELUXE-16682/
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Old 05-22-2013, 11:17 AM   #3
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

are you disc or drums currently?
if you have trouble at stoplights could be your vacum booster?

the 3/4-1 tons up till 91 or so had 12.6" rotors and would fit in 16" wheels.

I looked but can't find the old article, about tricks the old roundy-round guys would do to upgrade brakes.
they would mill the rotor off and keep the bearing and wheel mounting surface then put the separated "hat" brakes and go to bigger rotors. and run fixed multi piston calipers.

take time and some fabrication skills

my 71' has fantastic pedal feel to it, its was actually better than the stock pedal on my 2002.
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Old 05-22-2013, 06:26 PM   #4
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

mine has discs front and drums rear. The above listed kit looks like its only good through the '70 trucks....mine is a 72...was there a difference between the years?
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Old 05-27-2013, 09:33 PM   #5
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

While I havent gotten much feedback, I have done some additional digging....turns out Wilwood makes a nice set of 4 piston calipers that will fit under the factory 16 inch wheels along with pads and stainless braided lines. In addition, Raybestos makes a set of drilled and vented rotors that work with the factory wheels. That being said, Im still looking for a conversion to swap the rear drums from discs. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it looks like its slim pickings for the 8 lug set up.
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Old 05-28-2013, 12:03 AM   #6
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

What kind of condition is your current braking system in? From your earlier statement it sounds like it needs help. You should be able to sit at a stop light with only moderate pressure. Are you rear shoes adjusted properly? Do you have good, clean, brake pads and shoes, not some "lifetime" product? Is your booster in good condition? Is it getting enough vacuum? Seems like a lot of people want to change brakes out for a perceived problem that can probably be traced to poor parts choices or maintenance.
Before I'd spend the money to modify a brake system I would want to baseline the stock brakes with quality premium parts.

Disc brakes became standard in 71. It looks like that inked front kit is for adding discs to an earlier truck bringing it to the 71-72 standard.

There are a couple of rear disc kits and adapters out there for the GM 14 bolt axle that can be used/adapted to a HO52. They use 3/4 ton 4x4 rotor and car calipers if you want a mechanical park brake. Since these are pretty much a poor choice in a car for a park brake I cannot recommend their use in a truck or suburban. But something not even addressed is if you have a HO52 or a Dana 5500 (aka60) rear axle.
Any disc brake kit would be very different between the two.
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Old 05-29-2013, 12:44 AM   #7
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

As Tim stated you would need a parking brake that is better than the absolutely garbage 76-78 Eldorado rear calipers that are the only option for stock parking brake D52 caliper 1-1/4" thick rear rotors like the 3/4-ton rotor swap uses.

A stand alone spot caliper mounted on the pinion yoke or transmission yoke is popular with the off road guys. More effective than at the wheel but adds complexity and one of a kind parts that are not easy to come by at the local auto parts store. Nice idea but not good for a daily driver.

There are 14-bolt rear disc applications from the factory from model year 2000 on up with parking brakes that work. A search for rear rotors for a 2001 vintage 2500HD rotor shows a 12.99" x 1.14" rear rotor with internal hat parking brake. I know these will fit with the factory 16" 2500HD wheels. Not sure about your wheels though.

The matching fronts for the 2500HD are a floating type in 12.79" diameter and a huge 1.50" thick. Turning your stock rotors into a bearing hub and fitting up these rotors could work but since they are not much bigger than the stock 12.5" diameter rotors I don't know if the swap up front is worth the cost for basically just the extra rotor width. Not likely going to find an inexpensive aftermarket caliper to fit a 1.5" thick rotor either.

I would go with the 2500HD rear rotors & internal hat parking brake setup with Wilwood dual piston D52 replacement calipers out back and new stock rotors with the matching Wilwood dual piston D52 replacement calipers up front. The piston sizes could be staggered to work better out back using the Wilwood D52 replacement calipers too.
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Old 05-29-2013, 07:46 AM   #8
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

I think I would start with a hydroboost conversion making sure my base brakes were in great shape.

Your description doesn't sound like they are working correctly.
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Old 05-29-2013, 11:11 AM   #9
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

yea, Im going to tear things apart this weekend and at a minimum, bleed the system with my power bleeder and then see how it works before I start throwing parts at it.
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Old 05-30-2013, 09:00 PM   #10
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

you must have brake problems.

i only use newer factory tech on my vehicles. some of those hodge podge adaptions sound kinda iffy to me. and when you have an expensive aftermarket setup, you can't just get replacement parts at the local auto parts store.

the stock brakes in my 72 Burb C20 work awesome. only upgrades are braided brake hoses, synthetic dot 4 fluid and better pads on the front. i went with the carbon-ceramic rv / fleet vehicle spec units (about $75 via summit racing) and they bite like nobody's business. only thing my truck needs is to replace the proportioning valve due to locking up the rear drums during panic stops. once that is fixed, she'll be just as good for towing as a new truck....as far as stopping is concerned.
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Old 05-31-2013, 01:04 PM   #11
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

Looking for something like this ...?

As 68TT described above ...I run a 8 lug 14 bolt Full Floating Corp Rearend, running 3.73 gears with a Posi unit sporting a Mag Tek HD Rear Cover and CCP Rear Track bar ... rear originally out of a 1986 3/4 ton w/ leafs

Add 76-78 Eldorado D52 rear calipers for the parking brake with a 1-1/4" thick front rotors from 3/4-ton K20 4 x 4 and a set of custom brackets I found online ...

Stops better than my 2001 burban
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Old 06-02-2013, 08:38 PM   #12
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYNAVY30 View Post
While I havent gotten much feedback, I have done some additional digging....turns out Wilwood makes a nice set of 4 piston calipers that will fit under the factory 16 inch wheels along with pads and stainless braided lines. In addition, Raybestos makes a set of drilled and vented rotors that work with the factory wheels. That being said, Im still looking for a conversion to swap the rear drums from discs. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it looks like its slim pickings for the 8 lug set up.
http://www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com/index7.html
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Old 06-02-2013, 09:11 PM   #13
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Re: 8 lug brake upgrade options?

Just fix the brakes instead of throwing money away. You already have big disk brakes. Fix them and you should have fantastic brakes. From your description I'd guess you have a power brake setup with a bad booster. You say "the factory brakes aren't bad", then go on to say "I really have to stand on the pedal to pull the thing down from speed, and it requires a full boot to keep it from creeping forward at a stop light". That's not even close to being OK. Here's a clip of my '65 one ton with manual drums: That was not a max effort stop. As you can see, I'm greatly limited by the crappy dried out mud tires on the back, compounded with a rear brake bias, and I didn't want to flat spot them for no reason.
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