I picked up some front LS1 calipers/rotors to upgrade the front brakes. However when I did the Ford 9" swap in the rear I am left with some GIANT drums that come within 1/2" of touching the inner rim.

Since I will have the calipers off and am having brackets made for the front, can I make some more and attempt to mount the front calipers in the rear? I have a disc/disc proportioning valve, however would not be hurt if I needed to buy individual adjustable valves for front and rear.

Has it been done so I know for a fact, or should I just go for it?

 

As far as I recall, there's been no attempt.

JamesC

 

i suppose its possible, with the right brackets and rotors. But without a larger front setup, you will be locking up the rears before the fronts with all that new clamping force.

but again, i suppose nobody has done this for a reason...

 

I had thought of locking the rears, but can always add a prop. valve for that. I'll give it a shot and am only out the price of materials if it doesn't work. I can always go back to the drums.

I suppose I'll also be out the price of some cheap 4WD S10 front rotors as well.

 

One of the main reason i think no one has done this is that it eliminates the emergency brake.

 

I know. I think they make manual valves that can be used as a park brake don't they? I think I've put 2K miles on the car in the last 5 years though. So E-brake isn't a big priority for me.

 

no, you dont ue a valve as abrake.

if you use the 4th gen rear backing plates, they have an internal drum parking brake. You them just have to make a bracket to put he caliper ont he stock rotor.

If you still have stock fromt brakes, i would not do this, its really pointless and the bigger calipers will do you much better in the front, since the front do most of the work.

 

LS1 brakes are going on the front. I'm not even worried about E-brakes.

Stock front 3rd gen calipers are going on the rear. As soon as I get the fronts done. Brackets should be done and delivered Monday evening.

Does anyone know what the mount spacing is for the stock calipers? I found some weld-on brackets for $10 with a 5-1/2" spacing for GM Metric calipers. However they are for 11.75" rotors, so about 1-1/4" will need removed.

 

I have 1LE front brakes and I believe its a kit made by "right stuff "( its in the Jegs catalog) on my 9 inch and it uses third Gen rear disc calipers with park brake or the race kit which is what I have that uses the iron front calipers from our cars. Everything works great on my set up which is fat an skinnies. The kit is a universal deal just happens it uses parts that were on our cars.

 

answer I was looking for. I'll check the catalog when I'm on a faster connection. Maybe it will clue me in as far as proportioning, but the 4-wheel disc valve I have on the shelf may be all I need.

 

I dont know what the ls1 front brakes require but I am using the 1le valve and it works great. The only downfall with my entire system is the ssbc vacuum pump to run power brakes due to cam choice. My friend has very similar setup with manual brakes and no proportioning valve with fat/skinny tires and that also works great. Hope some or all of this can help ya

 

I was looking into something similar. But using 2 piston LS1 front calipers on the rear with the 12 inch LS1 rear rotors/ebrake, and 13/14 inch vette front rotors and 2 or 4 piston front calipers. I haven't really found any info out yet...

 

Sounds like you're really getting serious with stopping.

I got the fronts done last night. Just need to bleed the system and I can hit the road to make sure they work. There seemed to be quite a bit of a learning curve as far as how much to cut off the spindles than the pictures/diagram indicates. I took lots off the top and spent an hour of trial and error with the bottom since it's so close to the bolt hole. Not to mention cutting off that steer-stop so I can get a bolt in. 2nd side was done in no time though. I did manage to modify the backing plates so they would fit on again as well. No one likes extra rocks/sand in their brakes.

I'm going to try and pick up the parts for the rear and see what happens. Since it's going on a 9" I suppose I'll just spend some extra time on it and make it a bolt-on application instead of welding brackets to the tube.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll throw up some pics of the rear when it's all said and done in case anyone has the desire in the future.

 

I also have a 9" So if you don't mind, toss some pictures up! I'll be on the hunt tomorrow for the rears, since i am in the process off putting the rear together, I would like to get the brakes on. One piston PBR's for the rear for now I think, until I get something better for the front.

 

Ran into an unfortunate setback today. Tried bleeding the front calipers and I need new crush washers. However I have yet to find any part numbers for just the washers. Hopefully somewhere in town has them for a decent price. I knew I shouldn't have taken the hoses off to begin with. I also noticed that the 90* hardline off the banjo fitting runs into the turn stop for the spindle. I'd like to run -AN lines for the brakes, but that's down the road when I get the calipers cleaned up this winter.

Liquid-
I haven't started on the rears yet, so don't plan on that for a little while. I just scored a new job, so that's going to slow things down for a few days.

 

Ok, I'll keep ckeckin your thread. I started the s10 rear disc swap today after scoring a set from the junkyard. No go for me, I need the LS1 setup, it uses thinner rotors, 2.5 inch versus 2.9 inch. My 9" is being a PITA.

 

Took me a few minutes to realize you were talking about overall from the top of the hat to the back-side of the flange. How does that .4" affect the placement of the caliper bracket? I'm interested to know so I'm prepared for any surprises that may show up.

I figured I'd just put the rotor on the axle with a couple nuts, bolt the bracket to the caliper / drop it on the rotor, and see what sort of room I'm dealing with as far as making it bolt up to the housing flange. As long as there isn't a bind and the rotor still turns when everything is done.

 

crush washers can be bought from the help section of any parts store.

Also, my buddy has front rotors on the rear of his 3rdgen dirt track car. It can work, but you lose the ebrake.

 

Picked a pair up for $1.50. Doubt I can get some for that price at a store. I like the LS1 fronts but system is real spongy. I think it needs bled again, but it stops well even with throttle sticking open(air cleaner). Or maybe the low vacuum made it feel that way.

 

Liquidh8
I got the rear drum pulled off the passenger's side tonight. The rotors(fronts off a '95 4x4 S-10) don't quite slip on just yet. I have an issue with the studs being larger than what a Blazer uses. After that it looks like I'll just drill two holes in the $10 bracket I bought and it will be a bolt-on application. There may be some shimming that needs to be done to get the caliper centered on the rotor. I'll get some pics when I make it out to the garage again.

**EDIT**
I need to drill the holes for the wheel studs out to 9/16" and I pulled the axles because I have to turn a 1/16" off the flange diameter to fit inside the rotor hat. I've also decided to just weld the brackets on due to limited material where the bracket would bolt to the tube endcap. Somehow everything is going to work out in such a manner than I could have the caliper bracket on and put the drum brake backing plate on at the same time.

 

I can tell you that it has been done with 100% 4-sureness..
I have personally seen and took pix of a 92 Firehawk racecar (not one of the streetcars) that had the front 1LE 2piston calipers on the rear and the comp package 4 piston Brembos on the front. It used a adjustable propvalve. I think it used the stock rear rotor.. not sure there..
So yes it has been done.

 

I tried this 8 years ago with c4 hd fronts on the rear and brembo 4 pistons up front. Could not get enought front brake bias to make it work. Even tried different pad compounds but no go. I now run 4 piston Brembos front and rear.

 

Well everything is done and the brakes suck.. I either have some air in them still or I'm not getting enough out of the master cylinder. I can stop but I have to put the pedal to the floor. I'm going to try bleeding them some more. Otherwise, should I be looking for a 1Le master cylinder maybe?

I can stop with little pressure on the pedal but it's a very slow stop. If I put it to the floor the nose will dive pretty hard. I switched to a front/rear disc prop. valve. I still havn't figured out what the difference is though.

There's a car show in town this weekend and I've already missed out on two days of illegal festivities because of this.

 

Either master will work, drum or disc. As I understand it, the difference in combination valves is increased bias from drum/disc, to standard disc/disc, to disc/1LE disc.

JamesC

 

Note to self: 10 y/o daugher does not make a good brake bleeding assistant. I didn't explain the push and keep pushing. I think I ended up with more air in the system than I started with. Bled it again tonight and am about to make a run.

Case may/may not be closed.

 

It's twice what it was before but still does not feel right. I want to pull the wheels again and have someone apply the brakes so I can make sure I don't have a hose bubbling. Other than that I just don't think I'm moving enough fluid without being required to apply the brakes more due to the large calipers in the rear. I've been trying to figure out how I could change that but I don't think there is any way without a master cylinder with a larger displacement.

 

Picked up an LT1 master. After I do some searching and figure out size/pitch of the threads in the LT1 master cylinder I can have some lines made up and I should be good to go.
I hope.

EDIT:
Apparently I didn't search ahead of time and now the concensus seems to be that I'm screwed and should have got the LS1 master instead.

 

the pedal isnt much better with the ls1 master. well its hit or miss from what others post up. for me it feels spongy after replacing every part of the system. stops on a dime tho with a 1/4 of the pedal where in the past it was 1/2 to 3/4. some days it feels good but others not so much. good luck!