Brake upgrade questions

[White-V-6-S-Ten]

I have an 03 with the 4.3 and The brakes need to be replace cause of a nice bumpy ride when the brakes are on are there any upgrades ,ie, calipers,rotors,pads? that i could do? what about the rear end with drums any better stuff out there other than swaping to rear disc?
thanks!!!!!!

[Hammer Head]

Get the aluminum drums from grand nationals.

[Hammer Head]

There's also the new 2 piston calipers offered in the blazers you could use as well. Those are just two stock bolt ons. You could get drilled & slotted rotors, too.

[White-V-6-S-Ten]

I am not sure if my calipers are bad but will be tearing into it soon Not sure when cause I work the stupid night shift blah! where would i find the slotted drilled rotors>? and what about pads and shoes?
What year blazers have the new calipers?

[Hammer Head]

Summit or jegs.. could check ebay, too. Maybe your local speedshop or parts store have them or can order them for you.

[nomaboy]

keep in mind if you use the blazer calipers then you have to use the blazer rotors, then you have to use the blazer hubs, then you have to use the blazer spindles. ssbc makes a 2 piston caliper set that uses stock s 10 parts but they are 400 bucks. drilled rotors will be about 90 a piece. if is about 5-6 hundred either way. i have been looking for a cheaper alternative. wish you could use blazer calipers with s10 rotors and caliper mount....

[Dogsofjune]

where would i find the slotted drilled rotors>? and what about pads and shoes?


Summit has some resonable options, just remember you have ABS and mention that when you select your rotors.

[ztrane]

One thing to note is that if you upgrade to the dual-piston caliper. You can no longer fit any wheel smaller than 17" on the fronts due to clearance. Trust me, had to find out hard way.

[surfer1316]

you can also check over at s-seriesforum.com, guy over there by the name of ed is working on swaps from 12" Fbody all the way up to 13" Z06 set ups

[Mikz86TA]

OK-reviving an older thread. I have a 03 S-10 4.3 with the std 1-piston caliper. If I go an aquire a set of 2-piston calipers from a Blazer/Jimmy, will that caliper bolt directly to my existing spindle? Or do I need to use the 2-piston spindle. 2WD is what I have and I assume I need a 2WD donor. Also do they use the stock 1-piston rotor? THXThere's also the new 2 piston calipers offered in the blazers you could use as well. Those are just two stock bolt ons. You could get drilled & slotted rotors, too.

[Hammer Head]

I can't answer that fully. To me they look like they may use a different spindle as far as mounting the caliper.. although I don't think GM would do that. I also believe you use the same disc.

[blue388]

I am running the dual piston blazer set up on my truck. You have to use the blazer spindle and hub the disc seems to be the same as 4x4 blazer and truck. Brembo Power slot and Baer make rotors check stylinconcepts or performance products for these. As far as fitting your wheels I ran them under my stock 15" rims for a long time with no rubs or problems. Beware that if you need new wheel bearings they are a sealed unit and cost about $230 from GM. The installation was straight forward just a bolt on I did mine in an afternoon. I will try to dig up some pics and post them.

[blue388]

Here is a pic of the brakes when I installed them.

[Mikz86TA]

Hmm. I got 2wd so I think its different looking at the pics of them. The hub assy/rotor center is splined for the axle on 4wd. Im thinking of findind a junk one this week and taking some measurements.

[blue388]

Mine is 2wd. I think the 4x4 stuff is totally different i know the hubs and spindles are but the rotors may be the same. I got all of my parts off ebay they are available all the time on there.

[blacks10]

I just did the swap, i just got the hole DP set up from s10warehouse on Ebay for $350 shipped. you can get cross drilled rotors on eBay for another 90.00. it took me an hour to install and you can keep the abs. i completely rebuilt my 95 v8 s10 front end with tubular A arms top and bottom, drilled rotors, ball joints, center link, ti-rod ends, pitman arm, idler arm, the hole deal for under a grand, you can get it cheaper if you look hard enuff on Ebay. need any help just ask, scott

[Hammer Head]

Or you could run a hydroboost unit in place of your stock vacuum assist unit for about 1/2 that from yours truely, works w/ ABS & stops better. heh..

[Mikz86TA]

Qusetion. Isnt the F-body 3rd gen (non 1LE) front brakes (and rear drum setup) the same as a 2WD S-series? I thought I remeber the pads being the same part number. Single piston is the ones Im referring to. I have both so I need to check but wanted to see if someone had knowledge of this. If so, then the SSBC plus-one caliper for the F-body would work on the S-series spindle. IMO that would give you a DP caliper. less money than the DP OEM swap, and would eliminate the pricey useless hub assembly the stock DP setup has. Would be easier to change than to have to do all the spindle work involved. Plus getting rotors for it would be cheaper. IMO $350 for a used hub/spindle/caliper, $90 for rotors is pricey enough. I am the type to do it right and do it once. So I would re-build the caliper or exh them for rebuilt ones, get new hubs, get some Hyperflex lines, buy some decent slotted rotors and since Im pulling down the LCA, get some poly bushings. Why half-ass do it. On the other hand, If Im just doing the brakes, then a DP caliper adapted on the stock setup which can be done as easy as the brake job is the cheaper and easier route.

[nomaboy]

that would be something worth looking into. i am kinda on the market for some DP's as well but i don't want to spend $400 on them.

[firefighter]

If anybody is interested I'm trying to sell my Blazer front set up. It's got stock spindles and rotors with the pads. I'll sell them for $350 with the hubs $250 w/o. I would just buy new hubs for my truck and give you my old ones.

Also I got factory ZQ8 springs front coils rear leafs. I'm getting ready to throw it all on ebay soon enough.

[Hammer Head]

Mike, you're correct. They are the same PN's.