Well, I finally did it. It seems that my driver's side rear pads like to come off their backing and grind my rotor down to nothing. This has happened twice in my 10 years of having this truck. I can live with that but I decided to try the big brake upgrade in the rear as the one in the front has been nothing short of miraculous. I bought all the parts locally since I wanted to be able to return them if they didn't fit, but would probably buy the rotors from RockAuto.com for $75 vice my $93 ones from AutoZone.

The install was extremely painless and only took about an hour per side. Just remove the old stuff and put the new stuff on. The '03 rotor is 1" bigger in diameter so I should get some really good panic stops from the whole setup....

Here's a rundown of my parts and costs (all from Autozone):

2 rotors: Duralast 53011 $93 each (2 year warranty)
2 brackets: Duralast 14-1224 $26 each (lifetime warranty)
2 calipers: Duralast C717, C716 $55.99 each (lifetime warranty)
Duralast lifetime pads: MKD702A $21.99 (lifetime warranty)
2 big bottles of brake fluid: $5 each
TOTAL: $372 plus $100 core charges for calipers (refundable)

You can also get the stuff from RockAuto.com:

Calipers with brackets: A1 Cardone 18B4894, 18B4895: $55.99 each + core
Rotors: Raybestos 78013R $74.79 each
Pads: Raybestos SGD702AM $15.90 or Monroe Premium DX702A $36.79-$15 rebate
Total with nominal shipping (est.): $278+$35shipping=$313
Problem is you have to ship the caliper cores back on your dime, IIRC.
Autozone doesn't have the caliper/bracket combo, but CarQuest does for $80ish.

 

will this work on a 2000 because i run 37's and need better brakes..also do u have the bigger brakes in the front..
Thanks Preston

 

I do have the bigger brakes in the front and they are way worth it! I don't think it will work on anything but '01.5 and later because they already have the rear discs. The drum to disc conversion is pretty tough if I recall....

 

Cool, looks good, I am swaping to 17's and doing the third gen front brakes. I'll probably do these too, I hadn't read any threads on doin third gen rear brakes. Thanks for the info.

 

Yeah, I didn't find any real info on the rears, too. I found some questions, some by me, but I don't think anyone has actually pulled the trigger on doing the rears. Once you do the front you will be amazed. Your truck will stop like an actual car should. Well worth the effort. I think the rears are less important, but I was going to spend $150 or so doing one side and I decided to go big in the rear, too....

 

Will the parts off a 3500 DRW fit a 2500? the local junk yard has a 3rd gen 4x4 3500 in and I was wondering if I could snag all the parts from it to do the up grade on my 2500?
Never Mind

 

Thanks for the info, I think it's great the way you included so many (all) part numbers and costs. Very helpful! thanks again....


also, does all the e-brake stuff swap over also?

 

Sheriffav8r, what tire size are you running?

 

Is it safe to assume that the 01 parking brake mechanism works in the new rotor?

Jeff

 

I was gonna ask the same thing, is the inside dimension of the rotor the same so that the original park brake works? thanks

 

I'm running 315/70R17s. Well, I didn't do anything except change the rotor in the rear and the parking brake works fine now. I crosschecked the parking brake drum shoe size on RockAuto.com and they were the same. From that I figured that the drum in hat brake sizes were the same. While the brakes were off I adjusted the parking brakes via the star wheel and am pretty happy with the results. The ONLY thing different is that the rear drums cost about $40 more apiece than the OEM ones do. For my money, that is not a problem and I love the new, larger brake drums and calipers....

 

sorry to dig, but to do this upgrade do you HAVE to replace the rear calipers with 3rd gen ones? on the front upgrade i reused the 01 calipers with the 3rd gen brackets and rotors, is the rear upgrade not like that?

 

I have a stock '96. What is this big brake upgrade. Haven't been on here in couple years, so doing some catchup.

 

3rd Gen brakes on 2nd Gen trucks...easier with 01.5 and up with rear discs. Also need to go to 17" wheels or larger...

 

My 99 got GMC brake cylinders and that was probably the best AND CHEAPEST upgrade I've done. Total cost was ~$25. They bolt up the same, use the same pads and drum.