Ok I'm having issues with my front brakes on my LS1 swap brakes. Here's some history on what has been done

I got the swap from a friend when he parted out his car. When we dropped off the car at my shop when we stripped it the car had Z28 wheels on it. As well all know Z28 rims don't fit so we took the calipers off and hung them up inside the wheel well. When the car came off the trailer hw floored the brake pedal so the pistons came out all the way they could go. We got the pistons back in and I havnt seen any leaks at all since I have had them on my car.

My issue is the front calipers arnt working worth a dam at all. They barely touchthe rotors.

I got 2 ideas as to what it could be

1 - the pistons got pushed too far and now the calipers are shot

2 - I put line lock in the car but eliminated the prop valve all together with the front line goin from the master to the line lock to the calipers. Rears are on a summit prop valve.

My question is where is my issue of them not working properly coming from. Shot calipers or no prop valve or both or something I havnt mentioned. Please let me know what you think as I want to resolve the issue as soon as I can

Thanks

 

You can replace the rubber boots and seals in the pistons for $10 bucks a caliper... pretty easy/simple job if you're that worried about it, but I doubt that's what it is.

I would just make sure it's bled and check your master cylinder.

BTW the stock prop valve sends full pressure to the front calipers, and then just sends less pressure to the rears. You get the same line pressure in the front brakes regardless if you run without a prop valve or use the stock one.

 

Thanks for the info on the prop valve

I'm thinkin of just replacing the calipers as they have sat without fluid in them for 2 years now. It might not be a big deal but as a friend can order new ones from his supplier for less then a $100 each it might just be better doin so as it eliminates a possibilty. I have never rebuilt one before and I'm not sure I trust myself to do it properly

Either way I'm gonna bleed again first and see what happens

 

might want to try new brake hoses as well.

 

You know what I never thought of that. I had brand new earls on there that only got 200kms on them tho

Another thing I remembered is there a difference in 3rd gen and 4th gen front flex lines as Im using the earls from my 3rd gen brake set up

 

You will need 3rd gen lines, the 4th gen ones are a different length and don't have the provision for the clip to hold the lines to the strut body.

 

ok I got 3rd gen ones on there now so I can check that off the list of issues that it could be

 

You should at least remove the pistons in your current calipers and inspect them for rust or damage. Check pistons and caliper bores. If those look fine then you dont need new ones. Seriously, new seals are $10 a side.

What do you think the refurbishing company does when they get core calipers turned in? Yeah... they clean em out and replace the seals and dustboots and sell them back to you.

All you need is a bench vice, a chunk of wood, and an air compressor, a c-clamp, and some brake fluid to do the whole job. easy as pie. If you take the calipers apart you will see there's really not much to them. With the pistons, banjo bolt, and bleeder removed you can clean out pretty much anything you need to in there.

Not saying thats the problem, but you can have em apart and refurbished on your own in a matter of 20 minutes. If you dont see anything that looks bad in there, your problem isnt the calipers.