Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

Front pads are worn on my 87 GN and rear wheel cylinder is leaking and I am thinking of going ahead with some aftermarket pads rotors and shoes. Looking at the slotted and drilled rotors. Anyone have a recommendation here as far as whats best for street and performance. What about rear shoes? Any help appreciated since this is my first GN----------------------Joe

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

As far as rotors ... slotted might be a little improvement over stockers. I'd stay away from drilled rotors (heavy car, small braking surface, lots of heat). Drilled rotors tend to crack around the holes.


As far as pads, a good quality ceramic/metallic will work fine ...

Hawk pads are pretty popular in the muscle car ranks:

http://www.buybrakes.com/store/HB119-594

Some other choices (I'm sure you can find some of this stuff locally ... AutoZone, NAPA, Advanced, O'Riellys, etc)

http://replacement.autopartswarehous...e&showdc=false

An example of slotted disks:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/pe...78&brandid=133

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

Just to add to what Ken said...

Slotted or drilled versions of the stock rotors MIGHT give you a little more braking performance, but not much.

A more agressive pad, such as a metallic, will give you some better braking. On the other hand, agressive pads will wear out your rotors/drums faster. That might or might not be a concern.

If you are looking for a more serious mod, then you need to consider either larger rotors or calipers/cylinders with a higher surface area.

A larger rotor will give the brakes better leverage against your car. I think there is some information on the "brakes" page under the "Technical Info" heading on the main GNTTYPE website that talks about swapping in the 12" front discs out of another GM vehicle.

You can also swap in larger cylinders in the rear drums. This is also described on the "Brakes" page. There is also at least one company that makes oversized versions of many of the common GM front disc calipers. I've seen them in Summit Racing. They are OEM fitment, but have a larger piston bore for more braking force. You might check those out too.

If you want to go all-out there are several companies (Wilwood comes to mind) that makes all-out brake kits with 4-piston discs on all 4 wheels....but that wouldn't be cheap.

My recommendation is to consider the upgrade parts (rotors & cylinders) rather than the pads. Yes, it would be more expensive. However, it is also a much more effective and reliable solution. Part of the trouble with just upgrading the pads is that you're still stuck with the (marginal as Ken said) OEM hardware. If the pads improve your braking any siginficant amount, then all that extra heat and load is going to be directed into the same (small) amount of area. If you use larger components such as the B-body 12" rotors and S-10 cylinders in the back, then there is a lot more "meat" to take the heat and load.

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

Thanks to both for info. Will check out the vendors mentioned. -------Joe

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

I found the oversized calipers I was thinking of. They're made by US Brake. Summit lists them here:

US Brake oversized calipers @ Summit Racing

Price is about $80 per caliper. That will give you much better performance than a rotor upgrade, and it seems pretty economical too. You said your rears were leaking, so go ahead and throw in some of those oversized rear cylinders and you've got a really good combo that won't break the bank.

I think those calipers will work with the 12" rotors too, so should you decide to upgrade to those too, the calipers will still work.

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...6&autoview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...6&autoview=sku

Interesting...how large are the stock pistons? This holds some promise.

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

US Brake says those calipers have 20% more force than stock. I back-calculated the diameter based on a 20% difference in area and I conclude that if the oversize ones are 2.75" diameter, then the stock ones are 2.46" or 62mm (approx).

That may not sound like much, but 20% more area is a rock solid way to get additional pressure.

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

so ,if i find calipers and rotors for a b body car (ie 86 olds cruiser wagon),
that set up should fit on my g body spindles(wheel bearings etc too) ????????
:drive:

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

Not your mom's wagon. :puke:

Calipers from Patolman Bob's old cruiser. Plus discs from a road racing Camaro. :winkgrin:

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/brakes/12inch.html
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/brakes/12inch2.html

Re: Rotor & Pad Recommendations
 

yea, if you gotta do rear clyinders, get the ..i think 84 S-10 cylinders, theyre a tad bigger...why not. as far as fronts, i went with the cross drilled ones from murrays auto (local) and theyre good to go, but, i threw some bosch ceramics on the fronts, and they suck bad. they not only INCREASED my brake dust, but INCREASED my braking distance as well. they were NOTICEABLY slower stoppers than standard issue cheap pads from auto zone. NOTICEABLY. So to confirm this, i asked my friend that installed bosch ceramics on his jeep, if he noticed his braking to be ****tier, and he said yes, ..the only reason he switched to them, was for a decrease in brake dust, as he just got nice new shiny aluminum rims for his vehicle.. well, my ceramics didnt have any less brake dust at all.. id say i had MORE dust than less. get drilled or slotted rotors, standard pads, and bigger cylinders in the rear..and if you can find aluminum drums, why not. you should be ok. my car stops just fine in every condition.