2G "Big Brake" Upgrades

[Schurkey]

x2 The gen 1 brakes are garbage, I love how smooth they are, but you really gotta press on it. Especially coming down from a fast speed.

You have a defective power booster.

[outonthetiles]

I have C5 front calipers and Olds Alero rear calipers on my Impala. The C5's were a huge upgrade, even over the F-bodies I had before. The Olds Alero rear calipers aren't a huge upgrade, but they're a lot lighter and they're aluminum. My intent was to reduce unsprung mass. Also running braided stainless lines.

 

For C5 front brakes, you use F-Body brackets and pads, with Impala rotors. The C5's don't spread as much as the F-bodies, as they're pressure cast as opposed to gravity cast, and they have cooling fins along the top. They also have smaller pistons, so the pedal feel is much better. You may have to grind down the top of the backing of the outer pads to get them to fit. Unsure if you can use C5 pads. In order to run F-body brackets, you will either need to drill and tap them and use W-Body bolts, or use sleeves over the F-Body bolts, which is not recommended.

 

The Alero/Grand Am calipers are a direct bolt on and use the same pads as the W. If anyone is going to use these, be aware of brake line clearance to the tire.

 

Brake fluid is as important as anything else in your braking setup. I'd recommend a DOT4 fluid. Look for the highest boiling temp possible, but don't run DOT5 under any circumstance.

 

For pads I'm running EBC redstuff, and for rotors I'm running Cryogenically treated Centric Powerslots.

 

With this setup, I get no brake fade in any situation. You can lock the tires at literally any speed.

 

Always take time to properly bed in your brakes!