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This is intended to relate my experiences with the Chevy disc brake upgrade on my 80 Chief. I had been researching this upgrade from all the information presented on this site, and luckily had written and archived everything I would need to get going. I say luckily because I wasn?t planning on starting this any time soon as my brakes seemed to be working fine. That is until my left front caliper froze. It progressively got worse over two days, and when I smelled brakes after only going 5 miles I knew I had to fix it.
My first stop was Midas. I figured I would get the complete inspection before heading into this to make sure I wasn?t surprised by anything. Well, I was surprised by their estimate. Replacing both calipers and hoses, grease seals, pads, and turning rotors was $416. Wow.
Now, I used to work on my cars when I first started driving, but really haven?t had the time since I got married, kids, etc. I was really looking forward to trying this, but also hesitant since I didn?t want to get in over my head. The Midas estimate gave me the push I needed, especially when $210 of the estimate was labor.
The first thing I did was to get the parts. I went to Autozone and got calipers and pads for a 1985 Chevy K-20 Suburban with the JB-7/ JD-7 brake system. Parts numbers are C530/ C531 and MKS-153. You don?t need these exact parts numbers as long as you get them for the correct vehicle. I did get the carbon metallic pads, which were about twice the price of the regular pads. Based on comments here, and my future plans for larger tires, I thought I would go ahead and get the good pads now. I also ordered the hoses for the Chief, but those would take two days to come in. My total cost for parts was $122, vs. the Midas parts price of $216 with regular pads, not carbon metallic.
Then I got to taking things apart. The left front wheel had a little play up and down, so I thought I might need new bearings. The Midas guy said if they were overheated they should be replaced, so I wasn?t surprised. I was surprised when I found the lock nuts were only finger tight! I removed both of them without a wrench. All I can say is ?Man, am I glad I found this!? The right side had no play and was tight. Caliper and hose removal was straightforward, as was removal of the rotors. I cleaned out the old grease and looked everything over. The bearings and races looked good with essentially no marks, so I thought I would reuse everything.
Of course, now I needed to get the rotors turned. I knew the left front was uneven because I could feel it pulsing during braking. I also knew they could be turned from the Midas inspection. Unfortunately, I did not know of a machine shop. I called one that had been recommended for engine work, but they didn?t do rotors. They did give me the name of someone else, who said it would take about an hour and cost $20. When I picked the rotors up, they looked beautiful. It?s a small automotive shop I never would have known about, but now I have a mechanic to replace the one I was using that just retired. Overall, this was a really good find.
Reassembling and mounting the rotors was straightforward. I used a hammer and 2x4 to insert the grease seal. I covered the seal with a rag to keep junk out. Make sure the 2x4 is centered on the hub so that you don?t accidentally drive one side of the seal in too far. If you do, you can carefully pry up the part that is in too far so that everything ends up flush with the hub rim. Not that I had to do this or anything.
My first issue arose when mounting the hoses to the calipers. My Jeep hose has a different attachment configuration than the caliper accepts. I did compare the Chevy hose, but although that would mount to the caliper, it would not mate to the brake line. No one here had mentioned any problems with this connection, but it really wasn?t a big deal. The Jeep hose has a brass block with ears. I had to widen the caliper opening slightly so the block would fit, and then grind out a couple indentations in the caliper mounting lip for the ears to nestle into. I used my Dremel, but a file would also work. I think this took about 15 minutes to get both calipers modified. Make sure you keep the plug in the hose mounting hole in the caliper to keep debris out.
Once the hose was mounted, I installed the pads. This was issue number two. The piston inner diameter of the new caliper is about ΒΌ inch larger than the original caliper. The spring clip to hold the inner pad in place wasn?t high enough to grab the piston securely. This was remedied by bending the clip straighter so it could reach the piston wall. I then bent the end over so that it was flush with the piston wall. If you just stretch the spring clip, the end that grabs the piston wall is angled too much and it does not have any contact area to hold the pad in place. When I finished, the inner pad was held in place as securely as the original pads. I even broke the end of one clip off making the final bend, but was able to straighten the clip a little more and bend the end so it worked well.
The new caliper mounts exactly as the original. Follow the directions for lubricating the pins and bolt everything up. The larger piston has a larger housing on the back of the caliper, but it does not interfere with turning at all. I did find issue number three, however. The front hose ear will hit the spindle at lock. Actually, only the right side hit, but the left was very close. For now I just filed everything down to provide some clearance. As a permanent fix, I plan to remove about half of the front ear. For everyone who has already performed this upgrade, I recommend checking your hose clearance at lock to be sure you don?t snap it off, especially from the added stress during wheeling.
After everything was connected, I encountered issue number four. Bleeding brakes is no fun. I had to bleed all four since the fluid leaked from the master cylinder during this process. If I do this again, I will cap the brake line at the hose connection with something like a vacuum port plug to keep the fluid in. It took some time, and I needed help figuring out what to do with the proportioning valve, but I got some help from the forum and got the system working.
So, does it make a difference? Yes it does. I have a firmer pedal that grabs earlier and more predictably. Stopping distance is shorter, and the brakes just feel better. Since the price for the calipers is the same, when you need new calipers I recommend this upgrade. The effort involved is minimal, and results are noticeable. It took about seven hours actual working time, but I think if I did it again it would only be about three. In addition, I saved about $274 doing it myself.
My first stop was Midas. I figured I would get the complete inspection before heading into this to make sure I wasn?t surprised by anything. Well, I was surprised by their estimate. Replacing both calipers and hoses, grease seals, pads, and turning rotors was $416. Wow.
Now, I used to work on my cars when I first started driving, but really haven?t had the time since I got married, kids, etc. I was really looking forward to trying this, but also hesitant since I didn?t want to get in over my head. The Midas estimate gave me the push I needed, especially when $210 of the estimate was labor.
The first thing I did was to get the parts. I went to Autozone and got calipers and pads for a 1985 Chevy K-20 Suburban with the JB-7/ JD-7 brake system. Parts numbers are C530/ C531 and MKS-153. You don?t need these exact parts numbers as long as you get them for the correct vehicle. I did get the carbon metallic pads, which were about twice the price of the regular pads. Based on comments here, and my future plans for larger tires, I thought I would go ahead and get the good pads now. I also ordered the hoses for the Chief, but those would take two days to come in. My total cost for parts was $122, vs. the Midas parts price of $216 with regular pads, not carbon metallic.
Then I got to taking things apart. The left front wheel had a little play up and down, so I thought I might need new bearings. The Midas guy said if they were overheated they should be replaced, so I wasn?t surprised. I was surprised when I found the lock nuts were only finger tight! I removed both of them without a wrench. All I can say is ?Man, am I glad I found this!? The right side had no play and was tight. Caliper and hose removal was straightforward, as was removal of the rotors. I cleaned out the old grease and looked everything over. The bearings and races looked good with essentially no marks, so I thought I would reuse everything.
Of course, now I needed to get the rotors turned. I knew the left front was uneven because I could feel it pulsing during braking. I also knew they could be turned from the Midas inspection. Unfortunately, I did not know of a machine shop. I called one that had been recommended for engine work, but they didn?t do rotors. They did give me the name of someone else, who said it would take about an hour and cost $20. When I picked the rotors up, they looked beautiful. It?s a small automotive shop I never would have known about, but now I have a mechanic to replace the one I was using that just retired. Overall, this was a really good find.
Reassembling and mounting the rotors was straightforward. I used a hammer and 2x4 to insert the grease seal. I covered the seal with a rag to keep junk out. Make sure the 2x4 is centered on the hub so that you don?t accidentally drive one side of the seal in too far. If you do, you can carefully pry up the part that is in too far so that everything ends up flush with the hub rim. Not that I had to do this or anything.
My first issue arose when mounting the hoses to the calipers. My Jeep hose has a different attachment configuration than the caliper accepts. I did compare the Chevy hose, but although that would mount to the caliper, it would not mate to the brake line. No one here had mentioned any problems with this connection, but it really wasn?t a big deal. The Jeep hose has a brass block with ears. I had to widen the caliper opening slightly so the block would fit, and then grind out a couple indentations in the caliper mounting lip for the ears to nestle into. I used my Dremel, but a file would also work. I think this took about 15 minutes to get both calipers modified. Make sure you keep the plug in the hose mounting hole in the caliper to keep debris out.
Once the hose was mounted, I installed the pads. This was issue number two. The piston inner diameter of the new caliper is about ΒΌ inch larger than the original caliper. The spring clip to hold the inner pad in place wasn?t high enough to grab the piston securely. This was remedied by bending the clip straighter so it could reach the piston wall. I then bent the end over so that it was flush with the piston wall. If you just stretch the spring clip, the end that grabs the piston wall is angled too much and it does not have any contact area to hold the pad in place. When I finished, the inner pad was held in place as securely as the original pads. I even broke the end of one clip off making the final bend, but was able to straighten the clip a little more and bend the end so it worked well.
The new caliper mounts exactly as the original. Follow the directions for lubricating the pins and bolt everything up. The larger piston has a larger housing on the back of the caliper, but it does not interfere with turning at all. I did find issue number three, however. The front hose ear will hit the spindle at lock. Actually, only the right side hit, but the left was very close. For now I just filed everything down to provide some clearance. As a permanent fix, I plan to remove about half of the front ear. For everyone who has already performed this upgrade, I recommend checking your hose clearance at lock to be sure you don?t snap it off, especially from the added stress during wheeling.
After everything was connected, I encountered issue number four. Bleeding brakes is no fun. I had to bleed all four since the fluid leaked from the master cylinder during this process. If I do this again, I will cap the brake line at the hose connection with something like a vacuum port plug to keep the fluid in. It took some time, and I needed help figuring out what to do with the proportioning valve, but I got some help from the forum and got the system working.
So, does it make a difference? Yes it does. I have a firmer pedal that grabs earlier and more predictably. Stopping distance is shorter, and the brakes just feel better. Since the price for the calipers is the same, when you need new calipers I recommend this upgrade. The effort involved is minimal, and results are noticeable. It took about seven hours actual working time, but I think if I did it again it would only be about three. In addition, I saved about $274 doing it myself.
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