LT1 C5 Front Brake Conversion Write-Up
04-08-2008, 08:27 PM
#1
LT1 C5 Front Brake Conversion Write-Up **WITH PICS!** Here's a writeup for you guys wanting to do this. I'll try to break it up into a few parts (I'll get pics up sometime this week for you guys). If I forgot something or I screwed up, please let me know.
Here is a list of parts that I used, hopefully not forgetting anything:
- UMI Performance Aluminum Conversion Brackets
- C5 Calipers
- Brake pads of choice
- C5 Rotors
- All new mounting hardware including new banjo bolts, guide pins, washers and rubber boots. Should come with kit if you buy the UMI one from byun or UMI.
- Sawz-all with some badass cutting blades. (or some kind of good cutting device) We're cutting iron here folks. I picked up a SKILL brand for 50 bucks, came with 6 speed settings. Had a friend pick up 5 blades meant for cutting thick metal. They aren't much.
Part 1 : Removing stock brakes and lines
1. Brake your lugs loose. Pull e-brake up fully and jack up the car and remove front wheels. If you're changing the rear pads, e-brake has to be down of course.
2. Jack up the rear and remove wheels (rear is optional, if not changing the rear brakes) You can access the rear brakes bleeder screw easily if you lay on your back. I did not have to jack up the rear.
3. You'll need a special allen wrench to remove the bolts that hold the caliper in. I'll check when i get home for the size. I'd just loosen them up real good, but don't completely remove them. (ref pic here http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/g...3d801cfc38.gif
4. You're gonna need a bucket to catch brake fluid. There's a bolt on the stock brake lines (i believe a 13mm) Start loosening that bolt and brake fluid will start flowing. Remove the bolt and plug the line if you can. I did not, as I used a Motive Power bleeder. I just let it drain in a bucket while i worked on it. I recommend you do, to prevent the master cylinder from draining. (especially if you're bleeding brakes the old fashioned way)
5. Now you should be able to remove the stock pads and calipers. Kind of a pain to pull the calipers off as they are pressed on the pad. They will come off though.
6. Pads and calipers should be gone, remove the rotors on both sides.
7. Remove the ABS wheel sensor. Now there are 4 bolts on the back of the hub that hold the hub to the spindle. Remove those, it will take some force as they probably have a good bit of rust on them.
8. Now the fun part, remove the hub from the spindle. I had to knock mine out with a hammer as there was a quite a bit of rust on it. Tap it on the left and then on the right side on the back where the studs are to keep it coming out even. It WILL come out, even though i didn't think so,lol.
9. I would go ahead and remove the stock brake line now. First thing is to make sure to clean that area best you can, i had lots of rocks and dirt right above the brakes lines. I used brake cleaner You do NOT want that stuff to get in your lines. There's a small clip that holds the soft brake line in the hole, and a (11mm i believe) bolt that screws the HARD brake line into the soft one. Remove or loosen the bolt FIRST and then remove the clip. The clip is difficult to remove, I'd use pliars to turn the clip so you have clearance. Then take a screw driver and hammer to push it off the brake line. If you remove the clip first it will probably be more difficult to remove the hardline bolt/screw.
Part 2 : Hacking the spindles and attaching UMI bracket.
1. Now it gets fun, take the sawz-all and we're gonna cut these spindles
Wear some eye protection and be careful not to touch where you cut, it will be EXTREMELY hot to the touch for a while. I recommend cutting one spindle, then going to the other side and work so it can cool off. The top and bottom pieces BOTH have to be cut, as well as a tab **see first two pics** on the back of the spindle, in order to work with the UMI brackets. The piece I'm talking about are the pieces that hold the stock caliper in place, they are pretty big (pictures below to help)
This is where the TAB would be
And pics of the big pieces you have to cut
2. Now that the spindles are cut and good to go, get your C5 brake lines. As you will see, the stock line and C5 brake line tips are different. You're gonna have to really play with it to get it to work. Have a friend hold the brake line down in hole best you can, then start the clip with some pliars. Take that flat screwdriver and hammer and knock the clip onto it. There is a groove on the lines that it needs to go through. This part was difficult for me, so try not to get too frustrated. You CAN do this by yourself if you have to, I did.
3. Okay now, grab the UMI bracket and test fit it, make sure all the holes line up, feed all 4 bolts through, should go through with ease.The big thing is the tab on the back of the spindle has to be removed, this is a very important step. If you don't cut enough of this tab off, the rotor will rub on the caliper bracket. I found out the hard way
Now spray where the HUB fits with lube of your choice and spray the HUB itself.
4. Now that you're sure it fits fine, take the ABS sensor and run it through the bracket, then snap it into the wheel sensor. Now line the bracket and hub up and make sure the ABS sensor is gonna fit. Now take 4 of the 8 bolts and 4 of the 8 washers and feed them through the back of the spindle and into the stock hub. As you're tightening down the hub try to keep it even, so it doesn't go in crooked.
5. Tighten those hub bolts up real good. (not sure on torque specs) As you don't want the wheel falling off at high speeds.
Part 3 : Installing the C5 brackets and rotors.
1. Put the C5 rotors on.
2. There are 4 HUGE bolts (mine were black and 22mm) and 4 washers. Take your brackets and two of those 4 bolts and washers, and snug them down. Now spin the rotors and make sure it does NOT rub the bracket. You should have a little of space between each side of the rotor. If it is rubbing, either the hub is in crooked, or you did not take off enough of that tab on the back of the spindle. It should turn freely (use your lugnuts to snug the rotor into place, 2-3 on opposite ends will work)
2. Once you are sure they don't rub tighten the big 22mm bracket bolts down. I removed the bolts and put blue loctite on about 5 threads on the end of mine and reinstalled for extra security.
4. Test again once more and make sure the rotors spin freely.
Part 4 : Installing Calipers/Brakes and Brake lines
1. Make sure the sliding bolts that the caliper bolts tighten into are in the bracket holes. They should have plenty of grease on them. Take the C5 caliper and attach the bottom and top caliper bolts (15mm i believe) , just hand tighten them down so they stay in place for now. The bleeder valve HAS to be on top, so make sure you put the correct caliper on each side or you will have air in the lines. This is a very important step that I did not know
2. Try to avoid spilling brake fluid on the caliper as much as possible. Make sure the C5 brake banjo bolts (line bolts) have NEW copper washers on them or they the brake line will more than likely leak. Put one washer on, put bolt through the line, then put the other washer on. Hand tighten onto the caliper. Attach it so you have plenty of slack, because your wheel is going to have to have enough slack to turn all the way left and right. I'll attach a pic of how mine are attached. Once you have the line in place the way you think it should be, have someone turn the wheel all the way left and all the way right to check clearance. (please do not turn on the car to do so, no need to, just turn key forward and the wheel will unlock)
3. So now you are sure you have plenty of clearance. Snug that banjo bolt down good. Retest brake line clearance by turning the wheel. Not sure on the torque specs of this bolt, sorry, don't overtighten it though. Make damn sure you have new copper washers on there, and the RIGHT size, or it'll probably leak.
4. Now, tighten the bottom caliper bolt on the brackets. Slide the caliper back, grease up the metal clips that fit into the bracket and insert those. The caliper pistons if NEW, should be compressed already. If not, compress them with an old pad and C-clamp. Now, put in the brakes of your choice. I always put the chirpers on the INSIDE pad, as it seems that one always wears out faster than the outside. Tighten up the top caliper bolt. You may need to use a monkey wrench to keep the caliper bolt and slider bolts together.
5. Double check all bolts and clearances, make sure everything looks in place and tightened down. Keep the wheels off, you need to bleed the brake system. YAY
Here is a list of parts that I used, hopefully not forgetting anything:
- UMI Performance Aluminum Conversion Brackets
- C5 Calipers
- Brake pads of choice
- C5 Rotors
- All new mounting hardware including new banjo bolts, guide pins, washers and rubber boots. Should come with kit if you buy the UMI one from byun or UMI.
- Sawz-all with some badass cutting blades. (or some kind of good cutting device) We're cutting iron here folks. I picked up a SKILL brand for 50 bucks, came with 6 speed settings. Had a friend pick up 5 blades meant for cutting thick metal. They aren't much.
Part 1 : Removing stock brakes and lines
1. Brake your lugs loose. Pull e-brake up fully and jack up the car and remove front wheels. If you're changing the rear pads, e-brake has to be down of course.
2. Jack up the rear and remove wheels (rear is optional, if not changing the rear brakes) You can access the rear brakes bleeder screw easily if you lay on your back. I did not have to jack up the rear.
3. You'll need a special allen wrench to remove the bolts that hold the caliper in. I'll check when i get home for the size. I'd just loosen them up real good, but don't completely remove them. (ref pic here http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/g...3d801cfc38.gif
4. You're gonna need a bucket to catch brake fluid. There's a bolt on the stock brake lines (i believe a 13mm) Start loosening that bolt and brake fluid will start flowing. Remove the bolt and plug the line if you can. I did not, as I used a Motive Power bleeder. I just let it drain in a bucket while i worked on it. I recommend you do, to prevent the master cylinder from draining. (especially if you're bleeding brakes the old fashioned way)
5. Now you should be able to remove the stock pads and calipers. Kind of a pain to pull the calipers off as they are pressed on the pad. They will come off though.
6. Pads and calipers should be gone, remove the rotors on both sides.
7. Remove the ABS wheel sensor. Now there are 4 bolts on the back of the hub that hold the hub to the spindle. Remove those, it will take some force as they probably have a good bit of rust on them.
8. Now the fun part, remove the hub from the spindle. I had to knock mine out with a hammer as there was a quite a bit of rust on it. Tap it on the left and then on the right side on the back where the studs are to keep it coming out even. It WILL come out, even though i didn't think so,lol.
9. I would go ahead and remove the stock brake line now. First thing is to make sure to clean that area best you can, i had lots of rocks and dirt right above the brakes lines. I used brake cleaner You do NOT want that stuff to get in your lines. There's a small clip that holds the soft brake line in the hole, and a (11mm i believe) bolt that screws the HARD brake line into the soft one. Remove or loosen the bolt FIRST and then remove the clip. The clip is difficult to remove, I'd use pliars to turn the clip so you have clearance. Then take a screw driver and hammer to push it off the brake line. If you remove the clip first it will probably be more difficult to remove the hardline bolt/screw.
Part 2 : Hacking the spindles and attaching UMI bracket.
1. Now it gets fun, take the sawz-all and we're gonna cut these spindles
Wear some eye protection and be careful not to touch where you cut, it will be EXTREMELY hot to the touch for a while. I recommend cutting one spindle, then going to the other side and work so it can cool off. The top and bottom pieces BOTH have to be cut, as well as a tab **see first two pics** on the back of the spindle, in order to work with the UMI brackets. The piece I'm talking about are the pieces that hold the stock caliper in place, they are pretty big (pictures below to help)This is where the TAB would be
And pics of the big pieces you have to cut
2. Now that the spindles are cut and good to go, get your C5 brake lines. As you will see, the stock line and C5 brake line tips are different. You're gonna have to really play with it to get it to work. Have a friend hold the brake line down in hole best you can, then start the clip with some pliars. Take that flat screwdriver and hammer and knock the clip onto it. There is a groove on the lines that it needs to go through. This part was difficult for me, so try not to get too frustrated. You CAN do this by yourself if you have to, I did.
3. Okay now, grab the UMI bracket and test fit it, make sure all the holes line up, feed all 4 bolts through, should go through with ease.The big thing is the tab on the back of the spindle has to be removed, this is a very important step. If you don't cut enough of this tab off, the rotor will rub on the caliper bracket. I found out the hard way
Now spray where the HUB fits with lube of your choice and spray the HUB itself.4. Now that you're sure it fits fine, take the ABS sensor and run it through the bracket, then snap it into the wheel sensor. Now line the bracket and hub up and make sure the ABS sensor is gonna fit. Now take 4 of the 8 bolts and 4 of the 8 washers and feed them through the back of the spindle and into the stock hub. As you're tightening down the hub try to keep it even, so it doesn't go in crooked.
5. Tighten those hub bolts up real good. (not sure on torque specs) As you don't want the wheel falling off at high speeds.
Part 3 : Installing the C5 brackets and rotors.
1. Put the C5 rotors on.
2. There are 4 HUGE bolts (mine were black and 22mm) and 4 washers. Take your brackets and two of those 4 bolts and washers, and snug them down. Now spin the rotors and make sure it does NOT rub the bracket. You should have a little of space between each side of the rotor. If it is rubbing, either the hub is in crooked, or you did not take off enough of that tab on the back of the spindle. It should turn freely (use your lugnuts to snug the rotor into place, 2-3 on opposite ends will work)
2. Once you are sure they don't rub tighten the big 22mm bracket bolts down. I removed the bolts and put blue loctite on about 5 threads on the end of mine and reinstalled for extra security.
4. Test again once more and make sure the rotors spin freely.
Part 4 : Installing Calipers/Brakes and Brake lines
1. Make sure the sliding bolts that the caliper bolts tighten into are in the bracket holes. They should have plenty of grease on them. Take the C5 caliper and attach the bottom and top caliper bolts (15mm i believe) , just hand tighten them down so they stay in place for now. The bleeder valve HAS to be on top, so make sure you put the correct caliper on each side or you will have air in the lines. This is a very important step that I did not know
2. Try to avoid spilling brake fluid on the caliper as much as possible. Make sure the C5 brake banjo bolts (line bolts) have NEW copper washers on them or they the brake line will more than likely leak. Put one washer on, put bolt through the line, then put the other washer on. Hand tighten onto the caliper. Attach it so you have plenty of slack, because your wheel is going to have to have enough slack to turn all the way left and right. I'll attach a pic of how mine are attached. Once you have the line in place the way you think it should be, have someone turn the wheel all the way left and all the way right to check clearance. (please do not turn on the car to do so, no need to, just turn key forward and the wheel will unlock)
3. So now you are sure you have plenty of clearance. Snug that banjo bolt down good. Retest brake line clearance by turning the wheel. Not sure on the torque specs of this bolt, sorry, don't overtighten it though. Make damn sure you have new copper washers on there, and the RIGHT size, or it'll probably leak.
4. Now, tighten the bottom caliper bolt on the brackets. Slide the caliper back, grease up the metal clips that fit into the bracket and insert those. The caliper pistons if NEW, should be compressed already. If not, compress them with an old pad and C-clamp. Now, put in the brakes of your choice. I always put the chirpers on the INSIDE pad, as it seems that one always wears out faster than the outside. Tighten up the top caliper bolt. You may need to use a monkey wrench to keep the caliper bolt and slider bolts together.
5. Double check all bolts and clearances, make sure everything looks in place and tightened down. Keep the wheels off, you need to bleed the brake system. YAY
Last edited by chavez885; 06-17-2008 at 12:27 AM.
04-08-2008, 08:30 PM
#2
Part 5 : Bleeding the brakes. (you'll need a 10MM wrench for caliper bleeder screws and a 8MM for ABS bleeder screw)
Everyone has their own method. This is what I did. I used a motive power bleeder http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/mot...erbleeder.html and bleeder bottles (1 set) http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/mot...r-bottles.html for this. The advantage of the bleeder bottles, is that it lets you know when the air is out, its awesome. It made it SOOOO damn easy. ***DO NOT SPILL FLUID ON YOUR PAINT, ANYWHERE!!!***
1. Siphon out what you can of the stock nasty fluid.
2. Take the brake fluid of your choice. I used DOT 4 fluid http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=2 Fill the master cylinder with fluid of choice. Test fit the power bleeder with no fluid in it, pump to 10PSI and make sure you can't feel any air leaking out of each connection, once sure no air is coming out, unscrew the bleeders cap, not the master cylinder cap, to release pressure. Then remove master cylinder cap.
Now put about a liter and a half of fluid in the power bleeder and attach cap to the master cylinder. It should line up perfect and feel just as tight as having the stock master cylinder cap.
3. Make sure the cap on the power bleeder is on good and tight. I pumped 10-12 PSI. Motive says 20ish PSI, I feel thats alot on my old *** brake lines and 10-12 PSI was more than enough to push the old fluid and bubbles out for me.
4. Crawl under the passenger rear wheel, attach the hose from the bleeder bottle to the bleeder valve. The valve is on the rear of the caliper. Open up the bleeder valve about 3/4 of a turn. The fluid should eventually turn blue, thats when u know you have fresh fluid. (assuming you are using the fluid I did) For my rear wheel alot of air came through it, you can see it through the tube on the caliper, pretty cool stuff. Once there are no more air bubbles, this may take a few minutes, close up the line and remove bottle.While it's flushing, make sure to go check for leaks again.
5. Now do rear driver, front passenger, front driver, after every wheel check fluid levels in the power bleeder and you'll probably have to pump it once in a while to keep PSI up. Once you've gotten the driver front bled, close it off but we'll be coming back to it.
6. On the abs modules there are two bleeder valves. Attach the bleeder bottle the same as you did on the calipers, only this uses an 8MM wrench. Do the rear bleeder valve and then the front bleeder valve.
7. Now keep the bleeder at around 10-12 PSI, check all corners for leaks. If it leaks with 10-12 PSI something is very loose.
8. Final bleed step, tip the motive bleeder so that its not pumping fluid, you'll see some air bubbles, don't worry the motive bleeder is setup so air goes to the top, it will not get in your master cylinder. Go to the driver front caliper and open the bleed valve (bottle attached of course) and watch the fluid level through the power bleeder tube drop. Once it drops, close off the caliper bleeder valve. Now undo the pressure on the power bleeder fully, then remove the master cylinder cap. Refill the master cylinder cap with fluid to proper levels. If you let it bleed through the caliper long, it will be low. Try to avoid that.
9. Make sure to have some jackstands and a jack or two under your car, we're gonna start the car with the front wheels off to test all lines. Make sure the master cylinder cap is ON and you've double check all lines best you can for leaks. Reason we do this is because you don't wanna get all 4 wheels on and lugged up and then find a leak, that sucks, I did that.
10. Start the car and let the idle come down. Pump the brakes slowly, don't push REAL hard but push them like you would normally. Push them down a few times. If you have a friend with you, have him look at each corner while you have the brakes pressed down and check for leaks.
11. The pedal should not travel far AT ALL, should feel like normal brakes. If it goes to the floor or feels spongy, you have air in the lines, or you didn't put the caliper bleeder screws up top.
Let me know if I forgot something guys, i think thats it.
Everyone has their own method. This is what I did. I used a motive power bleeder http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/mot...erbleeder.html and bleeder bottles (1 set) http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/mot...r-bottles.html for this. The advantage of the bleeder bottles, is that it lets you know when the air is out, its awesome. It made it SOOOO damn easy. ***DO NOT SPILL FLUID ON YOUR PAINT, ANYWHERE!!!***
1. Siphon out what you can of the stock nasty fluid.
2. Take the brake fluid of your choice. I used DOT 4 fluid http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=0&ModelID=2 Fill the master cylinder with fluid of choice. Test fit the power bleeder with no fluid in it, pump to 10PSI and make sure you can't feel any air leaking out of each connection, once sure no air is coming out, unscrew the bleeders cap, not the master cylinder cap, to release pressure. Then remove master cylinder cap.
Now put about a liter and a half of fluid in the power bleeder and attach cap to the master cylinder. It should line up perfect and feel just as tight as having the stock master cylinder cap.
3. Make sure the cap on the power bleeder is on good and tight. I pumped 10-12 PSI. Motive says 20ish PSI, I feel thats alot on my old *** brake lines and 10-12 PSI was more than enough to push the old fluid and bubbles out for me.
4. Crawl under the passenger rear wheel, attach the hose from the bleeder bottle to the bleeder valve. The valve is on the rear of the caliper. Open up the bleeder valve about 3/4 of a turn. The fluid should eventually turn blue, thats when u know you have fresh fluid. (assuming you are using the fluid I did) For my rear wheel alot of air came through it, you can see it through the tube on the caliper, pretty cool stuff. Once there are no more air bubbles, this may take a few minutes, close up the line and remove bottle.While it's flushing, make sure to go check for leaks again.
5. Now do rear driver, front passenger, front driver, after every wheel check fluid levels in the power bleeder and you'll probably have to pump it once in a while to keep PSI up. Once you've gotten the driver front bled, close it off but we'll be coming back to it.
6. On the abs modules there are two bleeder valves. Attach the bleeder bottle the same as you did on the calipers, only this uses an 8MM wrench. Do the rear bleeder valve and then the front bleeder valve.
7. Now keep the bleeder at around 10-12 PSI, check all corners for leaks. If it leaks with 10-12 PSI something is very loose.
8. Final bleed step, tip the motive bleeder so that its not pumping fluid, you'll see some air bubbles, don't worry the motive bleeder is setup so air goes to the top, it will not get in your master cylinder. Go to the driver front caliper and open the bleed valve (bottle attached of course) and watch the fluid level through the power bleeder tube drop. Once it drops, close off the caliper bleeder valve. Now undo the pressure on the power bleeder fully, then remove the master cylinder cap. Refill the master cylinder cap with fluid to proper levels. If you let it bleed through the caliper long, it will be low. Try to avoid that.
9. Make sure to have some jackstands and a jack or two under your car, we're gonna start the car with the front wheels off to test all lines. Make sure the master cylinder cap is ON and you've double check all lines best you can for leaks. Reason we do this is because you don't wanna get all 4 wheels on and lugged up and then find a leak, that sucks, I did that.
10. Start the car and let the idle come down. Pump the brakes slowly, don't push REAL hard but push them like you would normally. Push them down a few times. If you have a friend with you, have him look at each corner while you have the brakes pressed down and check for leaks.
11. The pedal should not travel far AT ALL, should feel like normal brakes. If it goes to the floor or feels spongy, you have air in the lines, or you didn't put the caliper bleeder screws up top.
Let me know if I forgot something guys, i think thats it.
Last edited by chavez885; 06-17-2008 at 12:26 AM.
Trending Topics
04-09-2008, 06:36 PM
#8
- $310 Used front and rear calipers/brackets/brake pad holding clips/caliper bolts-sliding pins/brake lines and banjo bolts from ebay
- $110 New rotors from autozone
- $250 New UMI conversion brackets
Around 670. I coulda bought it all BRAND new for around 740, I saved a little bit by going the ebay route. I had to paint the calipers myself, but i actually enjoyed doing that
- $110 New rotors from autozone
- $250 New UMI conversion brackets
Around 670. I coulda bought it all BRAND new for around 740, I saved a little bit by going the ebay route. I had to paint the calipers myself, but i actually enjoyed doing that
05-21-2008, 01:10 PM
#13
I'll try to get em this weekend, i'm going to email myself a reminder..lol
Yea a buddy told me about those AFTER i did it with my power bleeder. That is definately a great way to bleed em.
Man... that brake bleeding using those components is a lot of "to do..."
This (solo bleeders) is a nice cheap alternative.
This (solo bleeders) is a nice cheap alternative.
06-17-2008, 11:36 AM
#15
TECH Fanatic
Was it worth it? My car has been sitting for several years and the rotors are rusted like a ****. I'm considering a brake upgrade. Do most people only do the fronts?
06-17-2008, 04:12 PM
#16
Well whether its worth it depends on how much you like your car and how much money you're willing to spend. You can get LS1 front brakes for cheap and they are a very good upgrade over LT1 brakes. And yes, most people just do the fronts, the stock rear LT1 brake and e-brake works really well.
