front brake upgrade with a twist

[hotrodelrod]

Hey all!

I am building a 54 Chevy Truck. Front clip is a Gbody and rear is an Ford 8.8 rear. I have $2k in wheels and tires from another build with the 5x4.5 Ford/Mopar bolt pattern. I am trying to upgrade front brakes (i know there are lots of kits out there) BUT, want to have the 5x4.5 bolt pattern so I can use the wheels i have. I think Speedway has a rotor swap for stock pieces but I would really like to upgrade the single pot Metric Caliper. Any ideas?

Thanks for any help!
Rick

 

[crucial118]

Bolt on adapters would work.

 

[darbysan]

If the speedway rotor is the Stock G body size, you can upgrade to the "Large" metric single piston caliper easily ( Wilwood, Speedway both have these. I like the Wilwood a little better)). Wilwood and SSBC also make a dual piston caliper that will fit. From listening to several others that have done the Large Piston swap, they were very happy with the results. I called Wilwood on the Dual Piston model, and they did not recommend it for the stock G body Rotor Diameter,l as only about 2/3 of the pad actually contact the rotor. A slightly larger diameter rotor would work well.

 

[pencero]

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=54675&p=461245&hilit=s10+brake#p461245

Consider the s-10 Brakes upgrade which would allow you to use larger equipment. It's a much more appropriate set-up for a truck although it does require some minor research so you get all the right size parts/ fittings the first time around.

 

[pencero]

PS it is also a manual style set-up meaning it still has some stopping power even if the brake line / rear equip fails. Perfect set-up for a hot rod you are still doing test-runs on.

 

[ssn696]

Instead of wheel adapters, consider a little research project. The 98-02 S-10 knuckles use a bolt-on packaged hub/bearing that has the G-body 5x4.75 bolt pattern. I know that the front-drive GM cars also use a packaged bearing, but they have a smaller lug bolt circle ~ 5x4.53. The trick to make sure is that the three bolts that hold it onto the knuckle are the same pattern. If you have a U-Pull-It nearby, you could pull one off and measure to see if I am right. You'll need to use rotors from the same car, and then you will need to see whether you need to use the S-10 calipers or the FWD ones. You may be able to use the two-pot S-10 calipers which are better than the G-metrics.

 

[hotrodelrod]

Thanks for the info guys.