When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've just bought a disk brake posi 9 bolt to convert from my current drum brakes. The new rear end has no brake parts at all and it's pre-PBR calipers.
I'm going to do LS1 brakes up front, what brake setup would work well with that?
The car may see the odd lapping day at my local road course, but it is mostly just for canyon carving.
Update:
I've decided that for my purposes, the PBR/LT1 brakes will be good enough and I think I've come up with a bill of materials for it. Can anyone check and see if I'm missing anything?
Unless you can find parts in a junkyard that you're able to work with, there aren't any "budget" brakes that fit a 9-bolt. But there is something new, just released. And compared to the newer, considerably more expensive C7 brake upgrades, with their considerably more expensive brake parts, of which there is one for 9-bolts, the new upgrade linked below could be considered a budget upgrade. And when you consider how versatile, adaptable and upgradeable it is, with fitments ranging from LS and C5 styles, to C6 Z51 and (C7-comparable) C6 Z06 brakes, Wilwood, too, this new upgrade could also be considered the best of all rear brake upgrades. In that regard, it's what you, and most people, are probably looking for: the best budget rear brake upgrade:
The most difficult part of a new brake upgrade is removing the old factory disc brakes. But since your axle has no brake parts on it, the hard part is already done. Hopefully your axle has its retainers, the plates that will secure new backing plates? Tee-bolts? And it's good that you know the axle is pre-PBR, because the offsets are slightly different, and Scott would need to know that. How "pre" is it... just curious if you know the gear? 1985 and 86 9-bolts had a 3.70 gear.
But to help with the budget, get a pair of 4thgen-LS rear calipers off of a junkyard car(4thgens can be found by the dozens in yards these days); they will work with this new upgrade. Log onto Rock Auto and order new remans, sending in the junkyard calipers as cores(with their pad abutment brackets)--or take them to an auto parts store as cores for new remans. Also get a pair of C5 12" rear replacement rotors. Then search ebay for pad abutment brackets for C5/C6 base brakes, and you'll be all set for this upgrade.
On a side note, LS rear calipers are so similar to C5 rear calipers, that if you go to an auto parts store, you might even be able to get away with turning them in as C5 calipers, for reman C5 calipers. For the upgrade, it's the abutment bracket that matters, and you'll need them for the C5, which will come with reman C5 calipers; the LS abutment brackets won't fit the upgrade.The calipers, themselves, won't matter.
I linked the above thread to the thread below, where I discuss it in post #16. In this thread, you will see what others have done in the past. But there's no need anymore to do what people have done in the thread below, because now we have the above option that's designed to fit. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/brak...ou-do-ls1.html
Last edited by LAFireboyd; 03-12-2019 at 10:53 AM.
Looks like everything is intact for standard rear disc e-brake calipers(new remans without cores will probably cost about $130 each) and standard 10.5" rotors, whatever they cost. Bolt-on replacement-style calipers, such as Wilwood 1- or 2-piston D154 calipers(which would have no e-brake) will fit too. But for anything else, you'll have to pull the axles and remove those backing plates, which is easy to do, takes minutes.
For 12" brakes, the upgrade I linked is under $200 without e-brake assemblies(e-brake assemblies for under $300 additional, though that would require the removal of the axles again, if added at a later date); 4thgen-LS rear calipers from a junkyard car for about $20 each(clean them up and use them, or turn them in as cores and get new remans for about $70 each; NOS C5 and C6 HD rear calipers are available for about $110 each from Rock Auto, require no cores or core charges, and they're available in several colors in 2012 or 2013, saving the time and money for painting); a pair of C5/C6 pad abutment brackets for base brakes for about $30); C5/C6 12" replacement rotors for about $50 each; brake pads of your choice(D750 for LS calipers; D732 for C5/C6 calipers).
Some money might have to be spent on brake lines and e-brake cables too, but you'll have those costs for any brakes you install.
With the axle off the car like it is, it will be easy to work-on and clean-up, and everything will look brand new when you install it.
And with this upgrade, you can make changes and upgrades at a later date, if desired or needed, without removing the axles. The only reason they'd have to be pulled a second time would be for adding the e-brake assemblies at a later date.
What is currently in your car? The 9 bolt has less support than the 10 bolt. If you are replacing everything why not do it on the 10 bolt with parts off a 4th gen rear axle?
I guess the question is why do you want the 9 bolt if you are not keeping the 3red gen rear disk brakes?
03-10-2019, 05:14 PM
