What brakes are you guys using with over 500hp?

[Batass]

I need to order a 12 bolt soon and not sure on what brakes. I'll probably be using a 15" rim for drag. Would s10 brakes work? Fronts still stock.....

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[daturbosix]

stock

[5678TA]

explorer discs on my 9", factory disc up front.. not 500hp but whatever..

[ghettocruiser]

Personally, Ide order the 12-bolt to accept LS1 rear discs. They are new enough that parts are readily available, as well as good used parts. And they work really well. I have LS1 fronts, and LS1 rears on my Strange 12-bolt and they work fantastically. 100x better than the stock discs and rear drums. In fact, I think the LS1 rear calipers were almost as big as my stock front WS6 calipers.

Or you could go all out and get wilwoods or something aftermarket.

Justin

[Batass]

I think the LS1's will do me fine, first I wanted a Moser 12, then a GM 8.5, and I think I've now settled on the Moser S60...which I think can be ordered to accept ls1 brakes.
From what I understand LS1 brakes will fit under a 15" wheel with grinding? Plan on using draglites.
The car will have between 550-600 rwhp, wilwoods would be nice, but in germany on the autobahn, the car didnt stop all that bad off of 110mph. But it definitely needs improved....
Thanks a lot guys, really appreciate it.

[socal]

get a 9" and you never have to change the housing just the center to change gears. Also you cant brake them. but ls brakes will bolt in place of stock 7.5 10 bolts, i did it on my 91z. so get it for a 10 bolt 7.5 pattern and you can upgrade later. if you wish but ls rear have to be ground down on the caliper to fit 15's. Keep in mind the fronts do 80% of the stoping so if your making good power you should be more concernd with that upgrade (the front)

[ghettocruiser]

Originally Posted by socal

get a 9" and you never have to change the housing just the center to change gears. Also you cant brake them. but ls brakes will bolt in place of stock 7.5 10 bolts, i did it on my 91z. so get it for a 10 bolt 7.5 pattern and you can upgrade later. if you wish but ls rear have to be ground down on the caliper to fit 15's. Keep in mind the fronts do 80% of the stoping so if your making good power you should be more concernd with that upgrade

A 9" is definetly a good choice. If I were to choose between a 9" and an S60 Ide go 9" for sure. They are pretty tough. If you break one of those with 600rwhp Ide be surprised.

Im pretty sure what socal said about grinding the calipers for 15's is accurate. Ive heard of it being done before on LS1 cars...so...same thing applies.

Although, I dont know if I agree with the 80% front braking being good enough thing.... Yeah, a factory stock car is about 80/20...or 70/30. That doesnt mean thats the best for performance driving, or pulling down from 100+ mph. When I upgraded to LS1 front and rear brakes, I put an adjustable valve in, and have my brakes set to about 60/40 or maybe even closer to 50/50 and Ive never experienced such balanced braking before. Its pulls down hard and stays under control without excessive nose dive. Granted I havent driven any purpose built cars, but what I have now is a million times better than the stock set up. Never thought she'd stop this good.

I do agree with taking care of the front brakes as well though. If you want a decent budget braking boost, I would do LS1 all around. Or even C5s up front, and LS1s in the rear. Then use the LS1 master (and booster if you wish), and install a wilwood adjustable proportioning valve. Its a really simple set up, its really versitile, you can change the brake bias for street/track, and you will really notice a difference.

Probably the best upgrade, next to the LS1 itself, that I did to my 87. Such an improvement. Plus disc brakes are 100 times easier to work on, and if you have to pull the rear, you dont have to open up the brake system to do it.

J.

[dennisbernal91z]

I have a new stock MC in my 91. I am doing C5 fronts in a couple weeks. I also have a new stock booster. Is it worth me ditching and selling these parts for LS1 MC or booster? I am doing all new lines and next year I am doing LS1 rears on my Moser 12 bolt. Might still do it this year, over the winter.

[85MikeTPI]

Guy here in Delaware is selling a complete Moser 9" (4thgen spec) if you're interested.
--------------------------------------------
4th Gen 9inch Moser Rear Assy

Moser 9inch rear assy, 4:10 gear, trutrac posi 31spline complete with brakes (LT1), spohn relocation brackets, spohn sway bar mounts, 33mm solid sway bar with poly endlinks and center mounts, dennys n20 drive shaft

all above for 2500$ firm

subtract
50$ for no brakes
150$ for no sway bar, end links or mounts
200$ for no drive shaft
-----------------------------------------------

You'll want to upgrade your front brakes to hold the power on the line. At least a 1LE, LS1, C4-HD13, C5, etc. if staying stockish, or a wilwood setup to save some pounds.

I have LS1 brakes on my 12bolt, and C4-HD13s on the front.


mike

[socal]

I ment take care of the front as in upgrade to ls or c5's the c5's will clear stock 16's up front if you grind the calipers as well. We did it on my bro's 92z. If you have 50/50 the rear, the rear will come around the front in hard braking as it will lock up. I owe a friend a front end on a 59 chevy from this happening on I-5 in socal. So you never want more brake power to the rear in a street car. The fronts do the stopping thats why you'll never see rear brakes better (more pistons / size of rotor) then the front.

[ghettocruiser]

Correct...you'll never see bigger rear brakes. But I can stand on my brakes at close to 50/50 and my rear doesnt come around. Its all about finding a good balance that works with your car. Thats why I like the adjustable valve for the rear. Also, an older car like you were talking about is going to have different weight transfer than our 3rd gens. I.E. more nose dive and all that. With a good suspension (springs, shocks, stance, etc) thirdgens are surprisingly neutral feeling and you can get them to stop really really well. Just like you can make them go and turn with the right parts/setup.

I literally have almost no nose dive when I jamb on the brakes. I get squawking from all four tires, and can lock them all up if I want. Fronts will lock first followed shortly by the rears. Thats why I say I think its more like 60/40...or 65/45. With all four tires off the ground, and people spinning them, when I hit the brakes, they all get braking instead of my stock set up, where the fronts would grab and stop before the rear drums.

dennisbernal91z: Im not 100% positive whether going to the LS1 MC would offer you an advantage over your new 91 MC. I installed one because I had a donor car...so it was at my finger tips. Just made sense to match the parts. LS1 brakes, LS1 master cylinder, LS1 booster. Figured I couldnt go wrong.

I dont consider myself a brake genious, but Ive done some testing with the adjustable valve. Did some stopping tests at various settings, and marked them on the knob so I can gauge where it is when I adjust it. When I first took it out, I was locking the fronts up, and loosing control. Added more rear...then too much rear. I was stepping the rear out coming to a stop. So as soon as that happened, I started backing it off, until when I hit the brakes my seatbelt felt like it was going to cut me half without the tires locking. Figured Ide call that good. haha

Also...rain stopping is just fine. Obviously its easier to lock em...but as long as your smart about it, its not bad.

J.

[Batass]

Thanks guys, lots of good info. I wasnt sure what to do with the front, because I still dont know what size wheel I'll put up there. I'd like to set the car up for drag on the weekends, and burning the road during the week. So two sets of wheels and tires. I guess I'll probably end up with 16's in the front.

[dennisbernal91z]

Go with 17s. Then you can stuff C5 Z06 brakes. I just did the entire swap with cross drilled, slotted, and zinc washed rotors for $735. Car stops on a dime now. And it hasn't been tuned yet with the adj prop. valve.

[MrDude_1]

Originally Posted by Batass

I need to order a 12 bolt soon and not sure on what brakes. I'll probably be using a 15" rim for drag. Would s10 brakes work?

Fronts still stock.....

for the rear, go with the LT1 brake setup.
the rotors are a tad bit larger then your stock fronts.. but they will clear a 15" drag rim. the LS1 calipers will not without grinding.
plus its cheap..

if you order a 12 bolt or 9" with 4thgen spec braking, you can do what they do... they work with both LT1 and LS1 brakes... the only diff is one uses a spacer ring on the axle, the other does not. (ring is roughly 1/8" thick)

if its a drag car, you dont want LS1 brakes though.. too big for the rims, and even some LS1 guys dont feel the amount of grinding is really all that safe.


for the fronts.... i left mine stock too. just like most other drag cars from 70s up till the late 90s... the only "upgrade" id consider would be a drag brake upgrade that was mostly a weight loss thing... rotor size would remain about the same.... but that sucks for street driving, so i never got to it. (yet)

[Batass]

Cool LT1s it is then. 17s, pffff. I built this car to go fast and to hook. Not to pick up chicks or take turns. I have other vehicles for that.......the other thing I need to work on is more vacuum, I noticed a big difference with this new motor and large cam. May be looking at some pumps soon......

[IHI]

I knew the new mill would'n probably make enough vacuum to use pwr brakes, so i insalled strange manual master cylider 1 1/16" bore, relocated the M/C rod higher on the brake pedal, i have GM metric calipers all around and can/did make the first turn off from 127mph to see how well the new stuff worked....and my junk weighs 3700 lbs...no reason a lighter car could'nt do the same with less effort

[Batass]

what are metric calipers?

[IHI]

Originally Posted by Batass

what are metric calipers?

stock calipers found on the normal Gm cars/small trucks from like 1979/80 to about 1992 or so. malibu's, Camaros, firebirds, S10's, S15, regals, cutlass, etc....these are metric calipers.

[Batass]

So some lt1 calipers and a larger bore manual master cylinder would be a good move towards better brakes?

[car_fixer]

for the record , s60 gears are 9.5 inch or so, and more than up to the task of 500 hp, and probably more efficiant than a nine inch due to pinion location. as for the brakes, if it is a drag race only car get wilwood or aerospace or strange drag brakes, less weight both rotor and caliper, plus they are built to work well when cold (ie drag racing) but yet cool down very quickly. if it is a street strip can the the above mentioned brakes would be good choices, or a prostreet setup with vented rotors from the brake maufacturers would probably be a little better, but more expensive, again the pro street setups are still lighter than street brakes, just not as much as the drag brakes