Improved 11.25" brake setup

The Dark Side of Will · Thu Dec 30, 2004 12:13 am

I've been looking at the "normal" 11 1/4 brake setup using LeBaron rear rotors and 3rd Gen Camaro front calipers. I've never been really satisfied with it, as the location of the banjo fitting on the Camaro caliper is very close to the mounting ear on the Fiero knuckle and interferes with things too much for my taste. The fitting is so close that factory hoses can not be used and aftermarket braided steel lines MUST be used. Yes, it does work, but it always seemed like backyard engineering to me.
I just found a solution that satisfies my finicky sense of design. I took the front caliper from an '84 4WD "S10" Blazer in a junk yard. It is EXACTLY like the 3rd gen F-body caliper EXCEPT for the position of the banjo fitting. Instead of being on the bottom of the caliper as with the F-body unit, the Blazer banjo fitting is on top of the caliper, right next to the bleed screw.

IOW, the Blazer caliper will bolt directly in place of the F-body caliper on all 11 1/4" kits, but will not require longer brake lines, and can be used with factory hoses. Slight modification to the Fiero fitting will be necessary, but this can be done with a file.

Application:
The calipers come from 4WD '83-'94 "S10" Blazers.
The left is CarQuest P/N 18-4129 and the right is CarQuest P/N 18-4128 for unloaded calipers.
The loaded caliper P/N's are 16-4128(9) for right and left, respectively.

Do NOT get 2WD calipers. Those are exactly the same as the F-body calipers.

The 4WD S10 pickup of course also uses these calipers.

ILoVeJOlie · Post by **ILoVeJOlie** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:20 am

:afrocool:

Ultimate 85 · Post by **Ultimate 85** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:22 pm

Whoa! Slow down egg-head - jK. So you are using 11.1/4 front and rear(?) Chysler rotors re-drilled to 5x100mm pattern? So you are using 4x4 blazer front calipers front and rear? Maybe instead of playing of playing 20 questions I should have asked if this is 4 wheel application or just front or rear.

Forgive my ignorance, I'll try to be less of a moron in future posts.

:blah5:

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:34 pm

I have the 5x115 conversion rear, which gives me 10.5x1 rotors and larger piston calipers (although no hand brake... looking into that).

What I'm talking about is for the front. It uses 11.25" LeBaron rotors. These already have the 5x100 pattern. Normally, people use 3rd Gen Camaro calipers, but those have issues with hose placement. The Blazer calipers are identical to the Camaro calipers except hose placement.

Ultimate 85 · Post by **Ultimate 85** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:27 pm

I imagine you've already read about this brake buildup? http://home.earthlink.net/~david.cole/f ... t/walt.htm
sounds interesting anyway, too bad I already paid the overinflated price for the stock rotors. Canadian tire prices suck ass. :thumbleft:

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:33 pm

That's exactly the front setup that I'm talking about improving.

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:34 pm

Ultimate 85 wrote:I imagine you've already read about this brake buildup? [url]

That's exactly the front setup that I'm talking about improving.

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:33 pm

Will, does this require adapter blocks to fit the calipers to the Fiero's front spindles/knuckles? Got specifications? I was wondering about modifying my control arms to accept 2WD S-10 spindles/knuckles, and their balljoints, but then I'd have a bolt pattern for which there are no wheels that would stay inside the fenders. Still, a taller knuckle would give a better camber curve.

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 3:44 pm

Also, If I could adapt the rear brakes from my '84 Trans Am WS6, (4-wheel discs) then the Trans Am booster and master cylinder and proportioning/distribution block would be perfect, except that the Trans Am is nose heavy while the Fiero is tail heavy.

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:38 am

didn't we go over not using the camaro calipers like 2 years ago and decided that the blazer and cadillac calipers were the same part number so to just use the front and rear calipers off the cadillac?

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:53 am

Yeah.

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:55 am

which actually i have a full set of the brackets cutout i am looking to sell. still need to be tapped but i should have the right tap for them.

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:14 am

I figured the Blazer front calipers would use the same piston dia. and travel as my T/A front calipers, and I already have this stuff, since putting a stroker 454 in the T/A means calling Baer for some bigger brakes. And has anyone compared those Cad rear calipers to T/A calipers? GM did much more interchange back then.

Kohburn · Post by **Kohburn** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:35 am

we did all the leg work like 2 years ago comparing the calipers - the route to go was to use both the front and real cadillac calipers from i think it was a 95 seville?

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:41 pm

I'll just hope some guys will weigh in on the knuckle/balljoint conversion. That'll solve my front end completely IF it's a go. Guess I'm stuck pioneering the rear.

The Dark Side of Will · Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:27 pm

I think it was an '85 Seville.

There's a lot more to the knuckle swap you propose that just interfacing with the control arms. The tie rod end has to be located properly at the knuckle end or the car will have bump steer afterward.

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:32 pm

I had thought about that. But there are bumpsteer kits for 2WD S-10s, and there are offset steering rack bushings, so this seems the easiest part.

Fastback86 · Post by **Fastback86** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:51 am

Hmm, I still have my brackets sitting in a box somewhere. Only thing that ever stopped me from doing the conversion was getting some front hubs/rotors to turn down. That, and the price of buying all the stuff.

lucky · Post by **lucky** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:23 am

what's the current build with the lebaron rotors? that link won't work for me. are they just turning down the fiero rotor into a hub and sliding a rotor over it? i had gotten bored one day at the parts counter and started running the numbers on a hub style lebaron (89?) rear rotor to slide over the fiero spindle. IIRC it seemed like it was gonna work, I think even the outer bearing was the same BCA#, but that was as far I as got; i didn't find a bearing for the inner.

Atilla the Fun · Post by **Atilla the Fun** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:32 am

had I known there was demand, I coulda and woulda grabbed that pair of '84 Fiero front rotor/hubs a week ago Friday. Only $10 each, IIRC.