Need to upgrade the brakes on my '97, front is rebuilt, so I have a baseline on how great "new" stockers are...

Just wanting something better, either dual pistons up front, and a disc swap for the rear(D80), or both....
Would a disc swap on the rear help out a great deal and where can you find a good deal on a swap kit?(Ive searched for a while but only found D70 swap info)

Just seeing what other people have done, I dont haul much(right now), BUT the brakes still arent what they could be...

Thanks for any input...

 

Look into the Power Slot rotors and Hawk Pads.

Power Slot manufactures their rotors from the best foundries in the world. Them build in thicker cooling fins to help reduce the heat. They also plate the rotors with Cadmium to help them last. These rotors even come with instructions for proper break in proceedures.

The slots are also milled at the edges thinner than in the middle of the rotors to serve as a wear indicators, to know when to replace them. And you can even order them to be Cryo or frozen, which help the molecules to spread out evenly and create less chance of hot spots.

 

The brake cylinders on the 94-97 2500s are 24mm in diameter. 98+ 2500 and 94+ 3500s are 27mm. The GM replacement is 30mm. 56% larger in area than the stockers on the early 3/4 tons. And for 30 bucks, its hard to argue.

 

As Iam said try replacing the rear wheel cylinders with GMC 1 ton cylinders (Napa #4637337) first and see if your impression of stopping power changes. I guarantee it will. I know several people who have abandoned their plans for rear discs or an expensive EGR system after swapping cylinders.

For $12 each and an hour of your time it's one of the best modifications going. Don't tell the autoparts guys what the part is or what it's going on or you will confuse them. Just a part number is enough. There are three grades of this part number, the cheapest ones are just fine.

You can even order online by clicking here

The mod is described in more detail here-
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=43854

 

Thanks for the advice guys!

Ill give it a try

 

I repeat "give them the part number" That's all they need. They will want more, if you give them more you will only confuse them. I know because I made the mistake.

 

Most will find that rear discs really aren't worth all the hype. Manufacturers are actually talking about removing rear discs from pickup trucks and returning to rear drums. After spending bucketloads of cash and time on a conversion, you will find that stopping power is maybe marginally improved, but any travel over gravel, dirt, slush/salt, etc. will cause perforation of caliper slide bushings, seizing of slides, and the resulting premature uneven wear of pads. Drums are simple, and functional, and with the stated wheel cylinder modification, provide more than ample consistant stopping power.

 

I am doing this Mod this weekend. for the $ why not it can't hurt.

 

I just put as set of Napa #4637337 rear wheel cylinders on my truck yesterday, as a matter of fact, and the stopping power is great, maybe even too great. The second hardest part is getting them adjusted properly as if they are a little too tight, you're dragging those rear tires! I initialliy had them a little tight so I had to back off the star wheel a couple of times. I also have recently been battling a the infamous ABS/Brake light combo. After the rear brake job the lights started coming on intermittent during hard braking and then going out when stopped most of the time and sometimes it would need a brake pump. I've replaced the speed sensor and checked my brake light and the fluid level. It turned out to be unrelated to the brake job and rather one of those 'while I'm at it" fixes. I replaced the "too big" pipe clamp I put on one of the vacuum lines with a properly sized fitting. I guess during heavy breaking it would sway forward and leak. A little electrical tape as a bushing completly fixed the problem.

Back to wheel cylinder. The biggest problem I have with them was that short bleed bolt. It's impossible to get a wrench on 'em with a drain tube installed. Does anyone know a part number for a set of speed bleeders?

 

Quote:

Manufacturers are actually talking about removing rear discs from pickup trucks and returning to rear drums

Didn't GM already do this on their 3/4 and heavier pickups?

 

My father-in-law has an 05 Chevy 1500 and it is back to drums??!!

 

Speedbleeder part number for the front of 94-99 dodge trucks is SB1015. Part number for the rears is SB8125L. This is off of speedbleeder.com website. The rear speedbleeders also work with the larger rear wheel cylinders. I just changed all bleeders out on my truck and completely flushed the brake system in about 40 minutes this past weekend. Super easy and very quick. I definitely recommend the speedbleeders. The ones for the rear are 3x as long as the stockers.

Waylan

P.S......I also did some research on brake fluid and went with the ATE Super Blue fluid. It was about $10/quart, has a very high wet boiling point. If I hadn't kept pumping so long after the blue showed up in the line I could have flushed the whole system with 1 quart of fluid. I just wanted to make sure I got ALL the old out.

 

Thanks Waylan, I'm going to order a set today. I read through their site but I still don't see how how one person pumps the brakes AND watches for air bubbles though. The longer fitting and the thread sealant are certainly worth it. My main problem when bleeding brakes with my MightyVac is the air sucked in through the bleeder threads looks a lot like air in the fluid.
Thanks Dude!

 

Bill,

Watching for air on the driver's side is plenty easy.........I ordered their tube and IV bag along with the speedbleeders......once attached, I draped the tube and bag over the top of the tire. With the truck running and you pumping the pedal with your hand, you can watch the fluid run into the bag. Just to give you an example, I ran the fluid down too low and sucked air into the system.......refilled the reservoir and 4-5 pumps later and all air had been bled out. It doesn't take much. On the passenger side, I would just hook it up and pump 10 times or so. On my truck 10 pumps is more than enough to have all new fluid in one line. Good luck.

Waylan

 

Quite possible, Infidel. I haven't looked at an 05 or newer GM truck yet. I was just at the new car show on Saturday. Never thought to look.