The only difference is the allocation for the hand brake, right?

Otherwise the front calipers look like they will fit the rear. it will save me $150 if I can replace the rears with fronts.

Also, is there a good after market bolt on caliper to increase stopping power? I would spend the extra cash if it would help me stop better.

What does everyone else have for their calipers? 4-wheel disc brakes only, please.

 

No direct bolt-on aftermarket calipers available. You won't be able to use front capliers in the rear either. The pads are the same but there are differences in the calipers besides the parking brake allocation.

Out of curiousity, where are you getting your pricing from? A difference of $150 sounds a little extreme.

 

at auto zone the front calipers are 13 apiece. The rears are 75 apiece. I am broke as I am replacing my second rearend in less than a month and I just hade my tranny rebuilt 2 weeks ago.

it is so sad I don't even have the $150 for the brake calipers any more. This t/a is a money pit!!!

 

Never say never BretD 88GTA! I have front calipers on the rear of my 89 Formula. Makes doing brakes easy and cheap. The PBR calipers on the 89 and up disk setup are expensive, and in my opinion suck. The calipers on the 88 and earlier setups sucked too, especially having to remove the lower control arm to do the passenger side caliper. I made custom brackets for the calipers that allow me to use the $10.99 front brake caliper that GM used on everything just about, with the 88 and earlier rotor. The diameter of the piston is larger since there is no room wasted on the emergency brake cable. My brakes are MUCH better now than the factory setups. For under $150 I can replace all four rotors, calipers, and pads. Its a win/win situation if you ask me. I worked in a machine shop and am finishing up on my Manufacturing Engineering degree, so measuring everything and drawing up my own blueprints was easy. Then I made them at work for free. I still have the prints for them. I had thought about making a few sets and selling them off, but I had never seen anyone else ask about it.

 

Ahhh, I see, but it still took some custom work. I got the impression from foney_email that he wants a direct bolt-on solution that doesn't require tweaks.

 

Custom is an understatement. But the results were well worth it. The only draw back is the larger volume of fluid the new calipers hold. This is because of the larger pistons. The master cylinder was not designed to have that size caliper on the rear. As a result, the brake pedal must be pushed slightly further down than when it was stock. My next step was going to be boring the master cylinder out and making a larger piston for it. That way it could displace more brake fluid with a lesser travel at the brake pedal. I never got to that phase though. I just got used to how my brake pedal felt, and left it alone.

 

So BretD 88GTA what you're saying is that without replacing your master cylinder your ride is car guy safe in other words if your buddy drives it in an emergency, he may not realize your brake mod and not be capable of getting it stopped. Hot rodding is all about fabbing and modding our cars but to do it in an unsafe manner is not hot rodding. I salute your ability ti engineer your own mods I do many of my own. You could probably find a master cylinder compatible with your modded system. I would go ahead and finish if for no reason than the cars sake.

 

It looks like I have to buy new calipers for the rear in that case.

When I told my dad I was trying to find a way to put the fronts on the rears to save some cash, he offered to buy the rear calipers for me. Thanks dad....

Have any of you tried the proportion valve adjustment I have heard about?

It makes the rears have much more fluid running to them so they will lock up easier (or in some cases, just plain work)

 

92BLKL98,


I think that last post was directed to me, not BretD 88GTA. The car is by far unsafe to drive. Its just that the pedal feels a little "spongy". Nobody would have a problem getting the brakes to work. You just depress the pedal, and you will definitely feel the car stopping. It just has a different feel to the pedal. I own four vehicles, and every single one has a different feel to the pedal. Two minutes behind the wheel of my car, and you'd be used to it already.

 

Yeah, my mistake. I just hate to start a mod and not finish it. According to the folks at Stainless Steel Brakes it's hard to beat out factory engineering which is why most of their stuff is factory based. I've still got the factory brakes on my Z and they work better than ever I flushed and replaced the fluid, replaced the rubber lines (a factory engineering mistake but obviously dictated by bean counters), and installed Performance Friction Carbon Metalic pads. The factory master cylinder, PBR rear calipers and cast iron fronts are still in use with no issues the cars braking is quite impressive. I think you should maybe try another pn master cylinder like off a larger 4 wheel disc car or truck to see if that would work. I've seen articles on the mathematics involved in matching pedal arm length, piston stroke, and piston size to just about any set up you have. JMHO, no flame intended.