1988 brake booster, Non HD brakes

livelifewideopen said:

Hey everyone,

I noticed the brake booster on my 1988 k1500 is smaller than almost every other I've seen on a 1988-1995. as far as depth it is significantly thinner than most others. After some research I found that in 1988-89 the "Heavy duty Brakes" was an option. can I swap my brake booster for one for the HD Brakes? Anyone ever dealt with this before? Im assuming Id probably need a different master cylinder too (which is fine because mine leaks anyways). Also read that I can swap to 3/4 ton calipers for better braking. Which would really help because with my rush hour highway commute I have almost had a lot of accidents from getting cut off.

Thanks in advance for any info anyone might have.

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arrg said:

I know this post is old, but here's some info about what I did on my 88. The larger booster will bolt right in. I needed a longer hose for the vacuum line. The master cylinder is the same, no changes needed. If you have the small booster, you should also have the smaller front discs/calipers. The discs are only 1.03" thick vs 1.29" for the rest of the trucks, and the calipers are only 2.5" bore vs 2 15/16" on the normal brakes and 3 5/32" on the 3/4 ton calipers. In order to swap from the small brakes to any of the larger calipers and rotors, you have to change the spindles as well.

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