LS1 F-body brakes

Courtesy of chevy42083

Well, I'll let the pics do most of the talking.

BEFORE:
Stock replacement drilled/slotted and stock calipers
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album59/DSCN0638.sized.jpg)

Painted Calipers silver...
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album59/caliper2.sized.jpg)

The score, from an '02 Camaro...
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/DSCN1412.sized.jpg)

Hubs courtesy of Bad94/Above Average Motorsports (waiting on abutment brackets)...
(http://photos-a.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v2109/230/7/37505218/n37505218_36343856_2513.jpg)

Supplies...
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/DSCN1414.sized.jpg)

Just a little brake cleaner, and then wire wheeling...
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/DSCN1416.sized.jpg)

Couple coats of paint. Not very smooth  :twisted:
This was after using a stone wheel to knock down the casting edge along the face.
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/DSCN1417.sized.jpg)

Difference between LS1 fbody (left), and C5 vette (right) abutment brackets
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/DSCN1421.sized.jpg)


Caliper painting is farther along, just don't have the pics hosted anywhere yet. I've got the fronts painted, and been working on the rears. Only waiting on the adapter brackets, and then I just need to figure out what brake lines are needed. I replaced my factory S-10 lines with stainless, so I don't really want to go back to the rubber LS1 lines. If needed, I'll have a set made locally.

look good man.

how much does bad94 charge for those hubs and brackets?

been thinking about running a setup on my 86 blazer down the road.

I'd have to look it up to be sure... I got mine through a sale he did on SSF. UPS lost 1/2 the package, reboxed what they had, and sent it on without a word or notice to shipper or receiver... NOT COOL. But Dan has been great to deal with, and even called me to tell me they were cut and would be shipped out this morning.

Included hubs, brackets, new hardware, and the jumbo size allen wrench needed. It is a different bracket, but same price whether you want it spaced for 12in F-body rotors or 13in C5 rotors. 12in rotors barely fit in my wheels  Would be nice to go bigger... but these will look HUGE in those wheels. Kinda like when "girl with small hands..." 

Just checked... the sale price was ~$175 shipped.

not too bad, and all you have to do is cut the stock spindles?

might have to look into it down the road, gotta have a reason to get the brakes first. lol

Where u get these at? i need some...ive got the 98 Formula sitting in the yard with me begging to yank the brakes...

A forum member on here and s-seriesforum.com that goes by Bad94 is who I bought them from. Awesome guy to deal with.

I still haven't put the brakes on. Been running around getting side-tracked.
The rears are done with the red paint, and ready for clear. The front have been cleared for awhile now.
(http://photos-d.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v2174/230/7/37505218/n37505218_36459835_5960.jpg)

oooo, those look good.

it was a little too cold when i painted mine, but they turned out good enough for me.

If things go well, new front and rear brakes will go on this weekend.  :twisted:

(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/100_0800.sized.jpg)

I was waiting for free time, and then once I missed one deadline (texas s-series meet), I added control arms to the list.... then had to wait a month for them to show up.  :neutral:

nice, can't wait to see it all put on.

Well, still haven't put the fronts on, but did a LOT of work at the back of the truck. New additions last weekend...
Caltracs, Summit Sport Truck shocks, LS1 rear brakes, 8.5 rearend (with new bearings and seals), and replaced


Special notes:
The shocks needed the cross pins pressed in.
Caltracs require some LARGE wrenches... or 2 large crescent wrenches
LS1 backing plates needed washers stacked between them and the axle flange. 1 on each bolt on the driver's side, 2 on each bolt on the passenger side. They basically just center the rotor in the caliper bracket.
I do NOT have an ebrake hooked up yet.


The before...
http://s-seriesforum.com/gallery/Brakes/100_0789
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/100_0789.thumb.jpg)

Just a little cleaner.  :wink:
http://s-seriesforum.com/gallery/Brakes/100_0810
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/Brakes/100_0810.thumb.jpg)


Not pretty, but at least it isn't rusty, right?
1in blocks, low profile Caltracs, 16x8 wheels with 255/50/16 tires. Caltracs are just above the rim
http://s-seriesforum.com/gallery/album59/100_0807
(http://s-seriesforum.com/albums/album59/100_0807.thumb.jpg)

dude, those brakes looks awesome on the back, can't wait to see all 4 corners done.

Thanks... I like them too. They just look silly when you step back and see stocker 10in up front. 

Today:
New gbodyparts.com control arms are on, new spindles are on.
Seems like the geometry on the arms is a little different. Basically, the ball joint flange sits level, where as the stock one was kind of at an angle pointed up. I think it will be fine when on the ground (probably better), it's just not meant to droop as far as stock, which makes it a pain to get the balljoints connected to the spindle. e.g. When at droop, the tubular's flange points downward, and stock one sat more level.

Moving the control arms through the full motion (with no spindle) shows ZERO chance of hitting headers. They hit the inner fender first  . Nate grabbed some pics, so hopefully he'll pass them on.

There is ONE cross-shaft joint that I can NOT grease while tightened down on the truck  It is simply too close to the exhaust flange on the driver's side. I'm hoping I can find a different fitting (not straight) for the grease gun. After greasing, and then moving them through the range of motion a bunch, they loosened up and move smoothly. They were pretty tight right out of the box.

The hardware that came with the balljoints was all jacked up. 3 of the nuts were oval :halfsad:

How thick of a stack of shims is normal? My driver's side seems to have a lot... but it HAS been in a few wrecks. rough guess... 1/4in of shims :dunno:

We'll be going back monday to finish up.

when you lower the truck with coil springs, they have to add a good deal of shims to correct the caster in the front.

that new balljoint angle is better for being lowered too, changing the range of motion.

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_KZ-JdeILDB4/Shhv7ko_0hI/AAAAAAAAAZw/Pa4Q08EhhHw/s512/P5230061.JPG)
(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_KZ-JdeILDB4/Shhv7_sgaDI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/lJVmx_JRh_4/s512/P5230062.JPG)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_KZ-JdeILDB4/Shhv8l-uvAI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/wjTAGH5cJy8/s512/P5230065.JPG)
(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_KZ-JdeILDB4/Shhv9MutqiI/AAAAAAAAAaI/hUH9FSC_juU/s400/P5230067.JPG)
(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_KZ-JdeILDB4/Shhv8eqfYxI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/ZW8PUnu1wI8/s512/P5230063.JPG)

-Nate

Done... kinda.

The upper balljoint is TOTALLY bound up when the suspension is at full droop. :halfsad:

Got the truck back on the ground, and with the shims in the same locations as they were previously, it has a noticeable negative camber. Hopefully they can pull enough shims to get it back into spec. Going to do a little digging and see if there are some specs that might be a little more favorible to handling (without killing tires). E.g, maybe a little negative camber would be better.

The first two stops were AWESOME. Hammered the brakes, and the truck stopped straight, with just a LITTLE lockup on the front as I applied more and more pressure. The 3rd stop was when the pads were bedded in, junk was cleaned up, and the fronts grabbed like SOB. Locked EASILY. Nose-dive like CRAZY. Gonna wait till the pads are totally worn in, then play with the prop valve as it's just dead center right now.

I HAVE to run wheel spacers because my wheels hit the corvette abutment brackets.  I knew it was going to be close, because I test fit the wheels on a camaro (spun, but close enough to scrape paint off). It came down to a few MM, which I knew would be the difference of the AAM brackets and how centered the drill and tap was when modding the spindles. TTII wheels are fatties I guess  I suspected it, and that was one reason I ordered the hubs from AAM, since Bad94 puts longer wheel stubs in.

Forgot about the front shocks till after we were "done". So that'll happen tomorrow before alignment.

Oh, and front sway bar bushings are shot, gotta replace those soon.

Well, brakes are on and working great. I think my eyeballs are permanently sticking out a little more than before. And I haven't even tweaked the proportion valve to balance them or installed the GOOD brake pads... just running Oreilly brand brakebest or something for now.
Other problems arose. Either tailshaft bearing/bushing is going out, or the driveshaft is too short. It wobbles around in the tranny, and spewed fluid everywhere. No more money, so it's gonna sit for awhile.


The truck was cleaned, but not detailed. I just ran it through a car wash to pressure wash the tranny fluid from the underside and get all the dust off from local construction.

It sits damn near perfectly level, but with the rear wheels inset more than fronts the back ends up looking a hair too low. Need to put the spacers on the back again (I THINK i left them off when putting the LS1 rears on).
(http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs163.snc1/6095_653280139576_37505218_37681709_5125223_n.jpg)

Pretty
(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs163.snc1/6095_653280134586_37505218_37681708_2224330_n.jpg)

This is as far as I can cram my finger.... clearance is TIGHT, but not unsafe AT ALL. Probably 1/8in clearance. It's hard to judge with the different contours in there.
(http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs183.snc1/6095_653280149556_37505218_37681711_1595685_n.jpg)

Rear is just as tight.
(http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs183.snc1/6095_653280154546_37505218_37681712_3179871_n.jpg)

brakes look awesome man!

those tight clearances make them look huge!

I'm sorry, I know this is an old thread, but I was wondering what sort of hub conversion he did on the front of the s10 to change them from the bearing style rotor over to a hub style rotor. I saw a camaro at the junkyard the other day and wondered if this conversion would be possible. Also, I'm running 16x8" wheels. Will they clear it?

Hubs are available from Fly-N-Bye and from Kore3, I think that's it, I don't know if Bad94 is going them still.

Hubs are available from Fly-N-Bye and from Kore3, I think that's it, I don't know if Bad94 is going them still.

i dont think bad is doing them anymore.
another option is to turn down a rotor.
which sounds easy, but it will take time..

personally im thinking the flynbye option is best atm

Hubs are available from Fly-N-Bye and from Kore3, I think that's it, I don't know if Bad94 is going them still.

I'm assuming this is what I'm looking for? Were all the 98-up brakes the same? http://flynbye.com/catalog/i229.html

98+ Blazers have sealed hubs and new design spindles. They're completely separate from using a hub conversion on a stock style early spindle. And those aluminum ones will work, yeah, but there are steel ones as well that are less than half the price if you're willing to have a bit higher rotating mass.

Haha, yeah I know about the 98+ blazer brakes... I've been messing with s-series for a good while now so I know that much. I was asking about the 98+ camaro brakes (when they did the frontend update) to see if all the rotors were the same.

Can you link me to the steel ones? I'm sure the price is alot less and I don't believe the rotational mass will be that much more between steel and aluminum in this application.

Oh, and I have some good news! Fly-N-By is only about 25 minutes from my house. Guess I'll be paying them a visit after Santa stops in!

Oh, and I have some good news! Fly-N-By is only about 25 minutes from my house. Guess I'll be paying them a visit after Santa stops in!

It will be nice to see what the place looks like.  That is one problem I have with online shopping, you never know if the place is a nice shop or a rusty shed. lol

If you mapquest it, the business adress comes up in a cul-de-sac housing area... I'm guessing he has a shop behind his house that he runs out of?

I might trust the guy a bit more if he turns out that kind of work in a rusty shed, lol.

Doesn't look like I'll be doing the LS1 swap any time soon. Talked to the guy from Fly-N-By and he told me I'd have to drill/tap my drop spindles and also cut the stock caliper brackets off of them. Not too keen on cutting up a brand new 175 dollar pair of Belltech spindles. Looks like that mod will come later on...

you have to do the same with the stock spindles too.

that's why I have blazer spindles...I just wish blazer drop spindles didn't cost twice as much cause I would really like to run a set.

I know you have to cut off the caliper mount horns, but I didn't think you had to drill and tap the spindle to attach the caliper bracket...

I know you have to cut off the caliper mount horns, but I didn't think you had to drill and tap the spindle to attach the caliper bracket...

That's what the man told me on the phone. 2 of the stock holes have to be drilled and retapped.

you have to do the same with the stock spindles too.

that's why I have blazer spindles...I just wish blazer drop spindles didn't cost twice as much cause I would really like to run a set.

I'd love to run the 98+ spindles on my truck but I would want to run the drop spindles. Sucks the LS1 setup won't work on it. The guy said on the phone that the dual piston 98+ s10 blazer brakes stop just as well as the LS1 setup so I guess that's a plus?

Sucks you can't go to the C5 setup on the 98+ drop spindles.
http://flynbye.com/catalog/i38.html

Sure you can, The bracket is here: http://flynbye.com/catalog/i195.html

And the lesser expensive steel hubs I was supposed to link are here: http://flynbye.com/catalog/i5.html

I have a question for anyone with LS1 and c5 brackets side by side like in the picture quoted above. There is an obvious difference in the abuntment bracket as far as height, and I know the calipers are cast differently, but if I wanted to use a 13" C5 rotor with a LS1 caliper, could I just get a set of c5 abuntments and a C5 bracket for the spindle?

I finally found a cheap set of LS1 calipers, so I'm going to try and go pick them up today, but considering the stock size rotor won't even fit under my current wheel (15x7) I may as well get as much rotor as I can under the 17" wheels I'm going to need.

ive heard of people running ls1 calipers on c5 rotors. i do not know any details but that should fill up a 17 pretty good.
i think flynbye had a kit out there for that, see if he has parts for that documented somewhere.... or try to contact him, although i havent had any luck getting emails back from him.

Would seem that it would require the C5 abutments and pads or a different mounting height or else the pads will hang over the edge of the rotor. I'll e-mail Ed Miller and see if he makes or can make a bracket.

I've been checking their website because I need the adapter brackets for my LS1 front brake swap.  Apparently, they are moving and stopped taking new orders on June 17th. Not sure how long it is going to take Ed to move.  I sent an email and haven't gotten a reply yet.