[kaseobeer2585]

i need some sort of upgrade for my brakes, i use them hard and they always stink. (my g/f lives on a back road and i like to play race car) does anyone know if they make cross drilled front rotors? or like a rear brake conversion? any info is much appreciated. thanks, kev

 

[gjlannin]

upgrade to 92-94 jbody braked up front and theres some info about a rear disc conversion that people on here know but wont give out a parts list :evil: something about pontiac 6000 awd axles and dodge neon hubs calipers and rotors or somethign

 

[Six_Shooter]

Cross drilled or slotted are a waste of time and money IMO, I had them for a while and due to circumstances, I swapped back to a stock rotor and pads, the braking was great with the stock set-up compared to the cross-drilled.

A decent up grade is to use the '92 to '94 front brakes, they will bolt on in place of your existing set-up now.
You will need the following:
'92 to '94 J-body spindles
'92 to '94 rotors
'92 to '94 calipers.

Now the easiest way to install them is to put the left side '92 to '94 spindles on the right side and vise versa, since this will keep the caliper at the front of the spindle and allow you to use your existing flex line. To use them on the "proper" sides would require new hard lines from the master cylinder to the wheels, they are bent differently at the wheel. Use the left caliper on the left, right caliper on the right, this keeps the bleeders in proper orientation.

Another very good upgrade is braided brake lines, they expand much less than the OEM rubber lines, and will give you a firmer brake pedal and better fluid transfer to the caliper.

Rear disc, well there are so many ways to do this, that there is no one "right way" to do this, I mean there are many combinations of parts to choose from. I chose a complete set-up from a different car, a Chrysler in fact, this gave me a disc main brake and a separate drum type emergency/parking brake, but since plans have changed with The Raven, I am now selling this already modified rear disc axle, if you're interested PM or e-mail me.

 

[darkz24]

really? I love cross-drilled brakes and would never go back. Perhaps your pad selection was not a good combination? I'm running with KVR rotors, cadnium plating, (which wears out on the pad surface area of the rotor upon first application), but remains where the rotor meets the hub and all around the vented part of the rotor. This is great because these rotors don't rust and retain a wicked shiny look. For pads, I'm also running KVR carbon fibre pads. Brake dust cut in half, pad life is still up there and I've had them for 9 months. Stopping power is more than the stock rotors,but not by much. It's the drastically reduced brake fade that I really enjoy. Also, braking when wet is drastically safer and easier. Break-in period is also very important....

 

[kaseobeer2585]

hey dark do you have those brake rotors and pads on the jbp site?

 

[oneofzkind]

I agree that cross drilled are much quicker stoping, although i herd something about how you should either get cross drilled or slotted rotors. Some rotors are both slotted and cross drilled and i remember something about them not being as good. But ya i have the cross drilled and EBC racing breaks with kevlar pads, and man the cars stop like no other!
About your question of what to do with the rear breaks, what i was gonna do was do a custom upgrade and take out the drum breaks(they suck, specially because the drum size for our cars weight is pretty small) and put in disc breaks, that would make a huge difference but according to my research is pretty damn expensive.

Hope this helps

 

[Six_Shooter]

Yeah my experiance along with a few others I know, is that braking ability either doesn't change or diminishes, when swapping to cross drilled, even when using the recommended pads.

I stick with stock type flat discs, as there is no need for cross-drilled or slotted with todays designs of pads and rotors, it's a show thing IMO.

About the only time I will use cross-drilled or slotted is when using race type pads, the ones that require a heat up period, like those from Wilwood, and such.

 

[onefastwagon]

I picked up a set of pads from Performance Friction, the Carbon Metallic pads and I was wondering how to do the burn in on them...

I know that by "seasoning" the pads they'll have a better life and stand up to hard braking better..

One of the things I was worried about was the amount of brake dusting that these pads will do.. Any comments ?

Dave T. - 1987 Cavalier RS/SS Wagon - 384,000 Mi - Long Island, NY
"Racing is better than sex because you and your car always finish together."

 

[kaseobeer2585]

I kinda figured having cross drilled rotors would let them cool down more than anything. And i heard slotted rotors really wore down your brake pads.

raven- i sent you a PM about the axle

 

[oneofzkind]

One of the things I was worried about was the amount of brake dusting that these pads will do.. Any comments ?

From what i read, i hear that upgrading to better pads and better rotors greatly reduce the amount of dust. And if you have rims like mine with a lot of spots for dust to accumulate, it saves a lot of cleaning time heh

 

[prophecy127]

Raven, what about a 1995+ setup, im guessing those will not fit a 1990 brake setup?

 

[Six_Shooter]

Raven, what about a 1994+ setup, im guessing those will not fit a 1990 brake setup?

Do you mean the '95+ front rotors and calipers etc?

The '92 to '94 brakes for the J-body use the same calipers rotors and pads as the 3rd gen.

 

[prophecy127]

Right! So to do the 92+ upgrade do I NEED 92-94 parts or can I use the spindles and what not from a 98 cavalier?

 

[Six_Shooter]

Right! So do I need the 92-94 parts for the upgrade or can I use a 98 cavaliers parts to do the same?

You need the '92 to '94 spndles and hubs to fit your car, I'm not sure that the '95+ are close enough to fit with just cutting off the steering arm, IIRC the part that attaches to the strut is narrower on the 3rd gen than the 2nd gen.
What I have found is that the '92 to '94 wear parts (calipers, pads, rotors) are the same from '92 to '99.

 

[prophecy127]

ok thanks!

Not to be a neusance, but how much do you think the spindles and hubs would run from a junkyard.

 

[ctimm_rs]

This is what I got the supplies for:

Spindles: $15 ea.
Calipers: $25 ea.
Rotors: $25 ea.
Pads: $40 set