swap/upgrades to front calipers

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sewlow

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It sounds like you are not breaking in your new brakes. This is very important. I had this problem for years. You must go from 60mph to zero by seriously mashing on your brakes when new. Then coast around til your rotors cool down. Then do it again. This imbeds the pad material in the rotors. If you don't do this right, all your rotors will ever do is get red hot when you try to stop.

Dad was a fleet vehicle owner. Between him & my Uncle they owned 29 cabs, along with a shop that maintained about 1/2 of the rest of the 175 car fleet. 4 full time employees along with Dad & Unc also pulling wrenches.
I started hanging around the shop on weekends when I was 12 or so. But, I couldn't just stand & watch with my hands in my pockets. At first, the ole man put me to work washing cars. Then it was onto the lube rack.
What do fleet vehicles go through? After fuel, it's tires & brakes.
By the time I was 13, I was mounting & balancing tires. Turning drums & rotors.
At 14 I was doing tune-ups. Plugs, points, rotors, caps & timing.
That was (*cough!*) 50 years ago.
I think I kinda-sorta know how to break-in brakes.
When I say that those el-cheapo rotors die because of 'me', what I'm referring to is my driving.
Driving is one of my great joys & I tend to be 'just a bit' on the aggressive side. Corner carving the twisty mountain backroads around here. There are some really great ones. Nothing better than spending a Sunday & a tank of gas banging off redline shifts & wearing a couple of hundred thou off of the outer edges of the front tires.
Many (Most!) times, I'm last on the brakes & first on the gas. Working on hitting the perfect apex, that perfect downshift, while at anywhere from 1/2 to twice again the posted limit on any given corner.
Off-shore OEM brakes & rotors just aren't up to that task.
They probably are running red-hot! Lol!
 
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df2x4

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I haven't heard too many success stories out there with drilled & slotted rotors, so I'm glad yours worked out.

I've heard some horror stories about drilled rotors cracking, not so much (or really any at all) regarding slotted ones. I think the drilling is probably the main cause of that issue.

I recently put EBC slotted rotors on my Suburban and I'm about to put Raybestos slotted rotors on the red truck. Raybestos EHT369H (GG code) pads on both. Time will tell regarding wear and longevity, but so far I'm very impressed with the performance of the brakes on the 'burb. I have no idea if the slotted rotors actually provide any better cooling than flat faced ones, but the upgraded pads sure made a difference in stopping power.
 

Camuchi

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I replaced my power steering pump today, and installed one with the EVO bypass pipe. It works grate. So when bringing back my core, I had the parts guy pull a 1500 caliber and a 3500 caliber. The bolts line up perfectly, and they look to be the same size and shape, but the 3500 does have a bigger piston. After reading all 11 pages of this thread last night, and having a GMT 800 MC swap already, I will be doing this swap soon. I will post once it's done and do a review.
Did you ever do this? I am bout to make some changes on my 98 . i am planning on the 2500 calipers , the larger rear wheel cylinder (2500 or 3500? cnat recall rn) and the 1 inch bore master cylinder

Anyone have input on this plan? my pedal takeup is like 8 inches and i hope to address that as well

thanks
 

kennythewelder

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Did you ever do this? I am bout to make some changes on my 98 . i am planning on the 2500 calipers , the larger rear wheel cylinder (2500 or 3500? cnat recall rn) and the 1 inch bore master cylinder

Anyone have input on this plan? my pedal takeup is like 8 inches and i hope to address that as well

thanks
No, I ended up, doing a complet brake job, replacing calipers, pads, and rotors. It helped a good bit, also, did the rear brakes at the same time, and made sure, they were adjusted as tight as I could get them, and still install the drums over them. Just about had to tap the drums on, they were that snug. New rotors helped a lot. Also as much as I hate to admit it, I used AutoZone gold, for all of my parts. Just a better quality than the OE replacement, although not as good as, say, Brembo, or Weldwood.
 

Camuchi

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Thanks Kenny,
i just did my front brakes with new ac delco rotors and bendix semi-metallic pads. Darn brake pedal still feels like stepping in a bucket of peanut butter! the stock 1500 calipers are on it and i have the large 14 inch drums out back. i dont think an emergency stop would have a happy ending right now:oops:
 

termite

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Thanks Kenny,
i just did my front brakes with new ac delco rotors and bendix semi-metallic pads. Darn brake pedal still feels like stepping in a bucket of peanut butter! the stock 1500 calipers are on it and i have the large 14 inch drums out back. i dont think an emergency stop would have a happy ending right now:oops:
I'd take a look over all lines for leaks, wheel cylinders for seepage, rubber lines for degradation, adjust rear shoes, and bleed the system well.

Edit: if you're not confident in its ability to stop safely in an emergency stop, park it for your safety and everyone else's.
 

Cadillac Bob

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Yeah no gmt400 Escalade came with rear discs they are the same as the rest of 400 models having rear drum brakes. But obviously newer models have all around disc brakes but double over your lines hairline cracks are hard to find on my old sts it somehow got a hairline crack or cut idk but brakes became basically nothing and was in the frame partially as that’s how they ran them on caddys to be clean an more protective
 

kennythewelder

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Thanks Kenny,
i just did my front brakes with new ac delco rotors and bendix semi-metallic pads. Darn brake pedal still feels like stepping in a bucket of peanut butter! the stock 1500 calipers are on it and i have the large 14 inch drums out back. i dont think an emergency stop would have a happy ending right now:oops:
No problem. For me, the biggest important I make, for brake pedal feel, was to do the MC swap. I got my MC off of a 2002 Tahoe, I found at pull-a-part. Been going strong for ,IDK, 7 or 8 years. There is a write up on here about doing the swap, if your interested. If you click on the first pic, it will enlarge, and you can zoom in, on the MC.
 

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df2x4

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Thanks Kenny,
i just did my front brakes with new ac delco rotors and bendix semi-metallic pads. Darn brake pedal still feels like stepping in a bucket of peanut butter! the stock 1500 calipers are on it and i have the large 14 inch drums out back. i dont think an emergency stop would have a happy ending right now:oops:

Have you bled the ABS module using a GM Tech 2 or equivalent scan tool? If not that would be my first recommendation before you start swapping parts out. It can make a huge difference in pedal feel/travel.
 
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