AnthonyS

So it's pretty obvious my 96 SS has the worst brakes of all 4th gen F bodies. The 98 and up brakes were a significant upgrade. I know a lot of people skip past that and go straight to C5/C6 Corvette fronts and get better brakes. I've seen lots of kits and ideas to affix various different GM brakes. I've seen really awesome 6 piston big brake kits but they are very expensive. I'm going to drive my car hard, but I'm not that good of a driver, that competitive, and probably won't go that fast. So I was perusing different options and I came across a Wilwood brake caliper upgrade for C5 Vettes. It's a direct bolt on using GM C5 rotors and gets you to 4 piston calipers with Wilwoods great pad selection. C5 rotors and Wilwood pads are pretty reasonable consumables too.

https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Br...o=140-15173-BK

These should bolt right up to UMI, BMR or Kore adapter plates. Then you'd need C5 rotors and lines. I think the wilwood lines would work as well.

Any thoughts on this combo? It looks like this could be done all in for a tad less than $1k. That's not a lot more than a plain C5 conversion. Even an LS conversion is going to cost me $350 or so to do since I already have $100 in spindles.

I'm also leaning heavily to the Xtracker hub kit from Detroit speed, since I don't want to be pulling and replacing hubs frequently. I think all of this would work together to make a front spindle and brakes capable of surviving a track day with few worries and not break the bank too much at the same time.

1bdbrd

iTrader: (12)

If it were me I would go with the ats/c7 brembo kit and upgrade to the 98+ knuckles ad all that. Then you have an OEM pad, rotor and caliper combo that you can get from anywhere and I believe the rotor is slightly thicker than the c5 setup as well. Super easy to do (bolts right on to a 98+ knuckle after you drill the mounting holes slightly larger) and uses stock style lines as well. If you really wanted a 6 piston setup there are c7 options for that as well that I believe bolt on just as easily instead but the cost goes up considerably. I have the base c7 setup on my car and am very pleased with its street performance. I want to upgrade to the z51 setup just so it fills out my wheels a little better but I have had no complaints with some pretty high speed braking sessions and they show no signs of heat at all.

jlangley

iTrader: (8)

I have the ATS brembos with the C7 base rotors and am very pleased with the setup. Huge improvement in braking on my 01 SS.

Super easy to do, inexpensive and I retain my stock wheels. (With a spacer)

quiet_storm98

iTrader: (48)

strano sells this kit all pieced together, you might be able to piece it together yourself for a little cheaper but if you buy through him he also gives you great tech advice and is very helpful
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...=269&ModelID=7

AnthonyS

Thanks for that link. I spoke to Sam earlier this week and ordered some suspension upgrades. He was very helpful. We talked about brakes a bit, but I did not know this kit already existed. Very cool. Yes I could save a few dollars doing it myself, but this way I know the brake lines will work and won't be guessing myself.

And since I have C6 Z06 front wheels all around, I have it confirmed this will fit just fine. Great news.

mikedamageinc

iTrader: (49)

This is not a track brake setup, don't even consider it. The only Wilwoods to get are the 140-14557 aero6 kit that is used for Spec Corvette. Of course you will need the track brackets to make them work.

Z28JLR

Thread resurrection. Haha! What size spacer did you use with your stock SS 10 spokes and this ATS upgrade?
Did you have to use longer wheel studs??

Could you PM me any pics? Thanks!

jlangley

iTrader: (8)

I got 1/2" spacers. They came with studs installed, I had to cut my existing studs flush after installing the spacer.

I've seen people say the got away with as little as a 5mm spacer. I didn't want to run that tight.

Z28JLR

Okay awesome, thank you!

AnthonyS

I’m putting together a C6 upgrade currently. If I need better calipers Wilwood makes a C5/C6 replacement which I referenced above.

mikedamageinc

iTrader: (49)

Those spacers don't look safe, there's not enough metal in that flange to support the new lugs, and there's not enough thread engagement of the flush nuts or what's left of the flange that is being held on by the flush nuts.

If you need to use a spacer it's always best to go with ARP extended studs or for a truck suv if you are sapcing enough to use 1"+ spacers with lugs built in, those have enough material for strength.

pdxmotorhead

I would just pay to have the hub drilled to match.. so the spacer is just a spacer..