Camaro SS / CTS-V calipers incompatible with Z06 rotors
 

This thread is merely to archive this explanation. It seems I type it out at least once a week. Now I can just link to this thread.

It seems to be common knowledge that when swapping Camaro SS / CTS-V calipers you use the C6 Z06 14" rotors.

Some history. I believe this all started when the first gen ('04-'07) CTS-V came out. The brakes on these cars are cheap and effective 4 piston Brembo calipers on 14" rotors. The problem is the gen I CTS-V rotor is 6 lug. So people started looking around for a suitable 14" 5 lug option and found the C6 Z06 14" rotor.

The problem is the annulus (height of friction surface) of the Z06 rotor is smaller than the height of the pads for the Brembo calipers. For some reason I seem to be the only one who has noticed this. It just shocks me how you can assemble these and not realize the issue. I see people all over the internet (3rd gen, 4th gen, Pro Touring) making this mistake.

If you run the 4 piston Brembos on the Z06 rotor, you will either have pad overhang (pad extends beyond the outside edge of the rotor friction surface), underhang (pad extends beyond the inside edge of the rotor friction surface), or both. This depends you have design the conversion bracket. In my opinion the underhang is the worst (and most common) situation because as the pad wears and conforms to the curved metal on the inside edge of the friction surface (see pictures), it begins to wear away the only metal that holds the friction surfaces to the rest of the rotor. Not a good situation. With that said, there is no way I would run this combination with either underhang or overhang. The best solution if you insist on using the Z06 rotor is to machine off the pad friction material that does not make contact with the rotor friction surface. Not an ideal solution as the 4-piston pad is already modestly sized, but at least it is safe.

The better solution is to just run 2010+ Camaro SS rotors which are also 14" and of course have a large enough annulus. The only issue is the offset of the Camaro rotor is around 5/32" greater than the Z06, so that needs to be accounted for in the hub and/or bracket.

John

Overhang:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2884/9...d160eef1_k.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/9...1941b25d_k.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7290/9...9c6ccc6c_k.jpg

Underhang
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/9...ab5469ff_k.jpg

Re: Camaro SS / CTS-V calipers incompatible with Z06 rotors
 

Thats a pretty substantial over hang .. i didnt relieze how severe it was . i would defiantly lose sleep seeing that .. i can see how it would oveheat the rotor or pad or both ..

Alot of people will probably still use these rotors and not correct the issue using the correct hub and bracket .. like you stated above .. and since using these rotors makes the swap easier and less expensive.. so many more people will probably still use these rotors because of that ..

im glad i did my research and got the right rotors after looking at these pics