JB6 to JB7 brake upgrade

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1998_K1500_Sub

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The GM brackets support the caliper so that the thrust of the caliper is taken between the pads--balanced, so no twisting force. The pins and sleeves allow side-to-side movement only.

OE GM knuckle designs support the caliper / pads so that the braking (frictional) forces are conveyed to the suspension. Here's a picture illustrating the abutment built into a GM knuckle for a GenII F-body, but many others are similar. It's aligned with the rotor. The frictional forces from braking are transferred into the abutment - knuckle - suspension.

Compare this to, e.g., the Little Shop disc conversion (2nd picture below), although others are similar. The caliper they use (at least in this video on YouTube) has the machined flats on it, front and rear, for the abutments of an OE design; that's how the calipers are intended to be supported. But, unlike the OE knuckle on the GM F-body pictured, Little Shop's brackets do not supply support in this area. The frictional forces are counteracted by only pins bolted onto the Little Shop bracket, and that's a couple inches or so offset from the rotor. These offset forces result in a twisting moment applied to the caliper that is counteracted by the pads and rotor. The OE design does not operate in this way.

Picture below illustrates the GM GenII F-body lower portion of the front caliper, and the abutment on the knuckle which manages the braking (frictional) forces. Top of caliper is similarly supported.
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Picture below is the Little Shop kit with supplied caliper. Notice machined flat on caliper where knuckle abutments would support it in an OE application.
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The Little Shop brackets rely on the pins/sleeves to retain the caliper entirely, and caliper thrust is taken way off-center, so the pins bend with brake application. The pins were never intended to accept thrust loading or bending forces.

As illustrated and noted above.

Again, I don't know about the Lugnutz conversion--but I suspect it's the same as the Little Shop.

From what I've seen on their site it's identical.

Discs don't self-adjust if the caliper piston and square-cut seal aren't in good condition; and some calipers need the park brake worked to stay in adjustment.

Adding: The pins need to slide freely as well.
 
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Idaho_z71

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So I have a 98 k1500 with a 6 lug 14 bolt rear end and JB6 brakes. I'm looking at switching to the JB7 calipers (pn: 18-4123) and the JB7 master cylinder. (pn: 131-66008) My original plan was to switch to rear disks but @Schurkey made some good points in a couple different threads about those conversations and I ditched that idea pretty quick. I guess my question is should I swap my drum brakes or can I run my oem 11" JB6 drums? Also do I need to do anything with the pressure valve (not sure if thats the rught term) for the drums since im going from a low drag JB6 set up, to a non-low drag JB7 set up. I've done a lot of reading on this site and I believe I don't have to change my drums because there doesn't seem to be any big changes from the JB6 to JB7 drums considering they are both duo-servos. but I can't quite get the solid answer I'm looking for. Part numbers are a big help too!
Just got my truck back from the shop and they installed all the JB7 parts except the calipers. They said that the JB7 calipers wouldn't bolt up to my truck so they put the JB6s on. From every thread that I've looked at the JB6 and JB7 calipers are interchangeable. Is there something I'm missing?
 

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They may have come upon this "issue" and said "Neh...".

But for a DIYer, it's a non-issue.

 

Idaho_z71

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They may have come upon this "issue" and said "Neh...".

But for a DIYer, it's a non-issue.

So from my understanding JB6 and JB7 calipers bolt up the same. Is that correct? If so I'm doing the calipers myself because I've spent too long trying to get the brakes right and nobody can seem to do it. Guess if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself
 

1998_K1500_Sub

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So from my understanding JB6 and JB7 calipers bolt up the same. Is that correct? If so I'm doing the calipers myself because I've spent too long trying to get the brakes right and nobody can seem to do it. Guess if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself

Yup.

Read through that thread I referenced. It's a bit long but it covers a lot of ground.
 

Idaho_z71

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So I have a 98 k1500 with a 6 lug 14 bolt rear end and JB6 brakes. I'm looking at switching to the JB7 calipers (pn: 18-4123) and the JB7 master cylinder. (pn: 131-66008) My original plan was to switch to rear disks but @Schurkey made some good points in a couple different threads about those conversations and I ditched that idea pretty quick. I guess my question is should I swap my drum brakes or can I run my oem 11" JB6 drums? Also do I need to do anything with the pressure valve (not sure if thats the rught term) for the drums since im going from a low drag JB6 set up, to a non-low drag JB7 set up. I've done a lot of reading on this site and I believe I don't have to change my drums because there doesn't seem to be any big changes from the JB6 to JB7 drums considering they are both duo-servos. but I can't quite get the solid answer I'm looking for. Part numbers are a big help too!
Update: So I went ahead with the JB7 brake upgrade on my truck and its well worth the money. My 1500 came stock with the 14 bolt semi-float rear axle (6 lug) so I swapped in the bigger wheel cylinders, JB7 master cylinder and braided hose lines all around. I wouldn't mess with disc brake conversions unless you are swapping rear axles that come factory with disk brakes. Drum brakes perform just as good, if not better. The only downside is servicing them but I'll take the trade off for reliability and peace of mind knowing they will work. The shop that installed my brakes didn't install the JB7 calipers that I provided because of a "fitment issue." I have no information on what the issue was but when I'm due for new brake pads I will try to swap in the JB7 calipers myself. In the meantime the low drag JB6 calipers work just fine with the JB7 master. In all I am happy with the upgrade so far and I have more stopping power. I will post again when I figure out the JB7 calipers.
 
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Supercharged111

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You have to bend the clip so the inner pad fits the piston tightly, that's it. So you have vacuum brakes with the bigger master? I have JB7 calipers, master, JB6 rear drums with factory cylinders, and hydroboost. I'm debating on changing the wheel cylinders one size bigger, but first need to get a new pad/shoe combo to tweak the bias around. I want a little more rear brake than what I have right now.
 

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You have to bend the clip so the inner pad fits the piston tightly, that's it. So you have vacuum brakes with the bigger master? I have JB7 calipers, master, JB6 rear drums with factory cylinders, and hydroboost. I'm debating on changing the wheel cylinders one size bigger, but first need to get a new pad/shoe combo to tweak the bias around. I want a little more rear brake than what I have right now.
Correct I do have vaccume brakes. I've tossed around the idea of switching to hydroboost but we'll see if it ever happens
 

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Update: So I went ahead with the JB7 brake upgrade
You didn't upgrade the brakes. You "upgraded" the master cylinder and rear wheel cylinders. You've still got JB6/11.x rear drums instead of the 13" drums of JB7, and you've got the smaller rotors compared to JB7 as well.

I didn't miss you upgrading the drums 'n' rotors...right?

the low drag JB6 calipers work just fine with the JB7 master.
No, they don't. If the booster fails, you'll find out how incompatible they are. You've made the same mistake that all the guys switching to "NBS" master cylinders while retaining Low-Drag calipers have made.

I will post again when I figure out the JB7 calipers.
Soon, I hope.
 
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