I read the comments on brake mods etc. everyone seems to agree that stock brakes will lock up and stop you, 1984 Trans Am with 4 wheel discs. I can slam on the brakes as hard as possible and it stops, but slowly, it certainly doesn't lock up tires or throw you into the dash as you would expect with 4 wheel discs. In the event of an emergency my guess is an accident. any ideas on what the problem is or what can be done?

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/brak...-ultimate.html

Chuck84TA and I have pretty much the identical brake setup. And fairly cheap too. I'd recommend going this route.

 

Bleed the brakes, flushing out your current fluid might even be a good idea if it hasn't been done for a while.

Resurface the rotors if they appear glazed/glossy. And new pads, the composition of the pads can make a difference as well.

Could also look into a new master cylinder if it still sucks.

IMO, you never want to lock up the tires, you lose effective braking and can flat spot the tires. But yes it should be able to. I'm assuming you have something close to stock wheels.

 

Here's the latest, replaced master cylinder, bench bled, bled all 4 wheels, did test light test on proportioning valve, tested power booster and check valve. Jacked up car and when in gear with brakes fully applied rear wheels still turn. Went for test drive and same as before , stops but slowly. Will the stiffer spring (incr5) in the proportioning valve take care of the lack of rear brakes? Seems having rear brakes would help, but even fronts seem lacking, won't lock up. I know i don't want to lock them up , but for testing purposes they should. Also pads and rotors look fine.

 

Easiest, cheapest way out is to get yourself a master cylinder off a 98-02 car. Direct bolt on. Get 1 on ebay for like $20. It replaces your 1.4" bore with a 1" for big increase in line pressure. I would start there

 

Good advise, I did not know this. My 89 Iroc 4WDisc sucked as well. I did the LS front brake swap and it is a night and day difference. I will have to swap master cylinder as well and see what this does.

 

I like the master with 1" bore, bound to increase pressure, but first I need to get rear brakes to do something. Just bought 1NCR5 spring for proportioning valve, going to try that first. I read on the tech files about the ebrake adjusting the rear brakes and it's failure to adjust being a common problem. Anyone know anything more about that?

 

Had your exact symptoms myself. If that screw type rear brake caliper is not working, you will get increased pedal travel as well as lousy stopping ability.

Another option is to eliminate the rears all together with a m12x1.0 plug in the master cylinder port on the rears. If you get a nice pedal and can lock the fronts up anytime you want you'll know your going in the right direction.

 

My friend had a very similar issue after he swapped to rear disks. The fix ended up being getting his parking brake working again. After we got that fixed the pedal became firm and they started working great.

 

If your 84 rear discs (the delco moraines) don't have the recall kit installed they're certainly not going to be working by now. The recall kit fixed issues with the rear disc's self adjustment. A reman caliper may or may not have the recall kit installed (likely not).

Once the kit is installed the rears rely on daily operation of the parking brake to self adjust.

 

Where can I get the recall kit? Is it strictly from GM or is there a part number from NAPA or Advance etc. I've checked online on "parking brake adjusters" and get nothing. Is that what I need or are they called something else? What does the recall kit consist of? Can the existing adjusters be freed up and solve the problem, if so what"s the procedure?

 

Part Number: 18019028 from GM Parts Direct, listed as "Actuator" and included parts for both rear calipers, pistons, springs, seals, etc.

Can't say it's still available from them...I know it was a few years ago.