07+ Brake upgrade on a 00-06 NBS, is it worth it?

[Rocket Man]

@Fosscore I also replaced my brakes about a year ago so I know the struggle you're having justifying this before you wear the other stuff out! I had installed drilled/slotted rotors and EBC pads. I looked back and saw I had only paid $135 for all 4 rotors so the front brakes only cost me about $130 including pads. The bigger rotors are more expensive I found out. Like twice as much. But... I decided to just go for it. I was waiting and waiting, looking at my brake pads every few days hoping they were getting worn out..pretty funny.

 

[Rocket Man]

I did when I did mine. It's really easy if your using a vacuume bleeder. Just keep the master cylinder topped off. You are correct in the order, r rear, l rear, r front, l front.

Did you just bleed them until you could see new fluid coming out? Also, do you remember how much fluid you needed? I don't have hydroboost.

 

[David Paul]

Did you just bleed them until you could see new fluid coming out? Also, do you remember how much fluid you needed? I don't have hydroboost.

My fluid was pretty new to start so it was hard to tell when the new fluid started coming out. I gussestimated about a 1/3 of a quart for the r/ rear, figuring that got all of the fluid out of the master cylinder and the long line to the back. Then less then 1/3 for the l/ rear. About 1/4 for the r/ front and then the rest for the l/front, the shortest line. Not an exact science but worked for me. So all together 1 quart.

 

[Fosscore]

@Red Rocket

Thx that info. I thought I remembered you having upgraded your NBS setup recently similar to mine. The Powerstop pads and rotors weren't that much in the grand scheme of things and my buddy and I did the labor at his shop for free. If your report on this NNBS changeout gets good marks, it may find it's way on my list. Thx man. Standing by.

 

[Rocket Man]

Ok, today I installed everything in the front and was going to wait on the rear lines for another day. I tried bleeding the fronts only and I'm failing. I'm not sure if I need to start at the rear and then do the fronts. I'm using a pneumatic bleeder and it seemed on the right front the bleeder valve was letting the bleeder suck air instead of from the line. It seemed loosely threaded, so I removed it and added pipe tape and reinstalled it. I think I'm getting all fluid now but it's hard to tell, the tube is translucent instead of being a clear tube. Before starting, I sucked the old fluid from the reservoir so I'm hoping I didn't get air in the system. so...any advice would be appreciated. I think I'll call it a day. Hopefully tomorrow I can get this done.

 

[Rocket Man]

Tried it some more, replaced the hose with a clear one and started at the right rear, then left rear. Got clear fluid out of both so I'm sure new fluid got to the rear. No air bubbles and I pulled about 3/4 of a quart through there. Then I went to the right front and now I can see I'm getting mostly air. Same with left front, so I'm not sure if it's the bleeder valves leaking so I'm not getting good suction. Sorry to hijack the entire thread but I need help!

 

[Rivieraracing]

I do the same thing when I bleed brakes on old fluid! I'll suck out most all the fluid out of the master cylinder until just before it hits the bottom (don't want air in the system) and bleed the crap out of the lines till I see newish fluid!

I have all this next week off after tonight at work so looks like I might actually get a chance to do this NNBS style mod with the calipers and rotors I've had in my garage for months! Also hoping I get time to also change out my drivers door hinge pins to get rid of the air noise coming through the door while driving!

 

[Rocket Man]

OK I finally got everything bled. I did the fronts the old-fashioned way: a hose stuck in a bottle of fluid, loosen the bleeder and pump the pedal until there's no more air. I could watch the driver side and for the passenger side, I just pumped about 1/2 quart through. Took it for a drive and so far so good but I can't do a hard stop until the pads are broken in. I'll keep updates coming. Looks great though! In the 3rd pic you can see I was able to reuse the factory clamp for the line by bending it open and then reclamping it on the protective Goodridge sleeve.

 

[Rocket Man]

A few more pics. I was surprised that the pads weren't much bigger. In fact they look shorter but fatter, so maybe they're about the same surface area. And now I need to wash my truck, especially the wheels.

 

[Rivieraracing]

I actually got around to finally installing the '07 brake setup I've been kicking around in my garage for about a year now just today and I'd say it was a worthy upgrade. Not night and day, not sure if that is because I went with a completely stock setup of rotors, calipers, and pads but is really an improvement overall! Nothing at all nice as Red Rocket ended up with but then again mine isn't anything to look at so no need to start now! lol
Gonna give it a few days of driving it around to get a full feel of it all but at least my front brakes actually feel like they are doing something unlike before so that is a good thing! Going to start collecting parts to perform the Hydroboost swap as I think once I get the squishiness out of the brake pedal it will be a way better experience using the brakes on this tank!

So far so good fellas, and the best part is it is all completely 100% bolt up with no modifications needed to install it all!

 

[Rocket Man]

I'm not going to be able to say whether or not the upgrade by itself is night and day but what I did to mine seems that way. I don't know if it was because I installed the stainless steel hoses or the fact that my brake fluid was really old , but my brakes are waaaay better now. Stops much faster it seems, and the feel at the pedal is so much more solid.

 

[ScottyBoy]

Those of you who have upgraded to stainless steel brake lines, did you do just the front or all 5 brake lines? If I do just the front, is that pointless? Reason I'm asking is because I JUST replaced my rear brake lines less than 2-3 months ago with stock rubber type replacement hoses. I know the front will probably be due soon, so I can probably swing the cost of SS lines, but to replace them ALL will hurt or even kill my budget which is already severely hurting as it is because I am still unemployed at the moment.

 

[Sasquatch]

I just did the fronts, I figured since the front brakes do most of the stopping i`d be cheap and not bother changing the rears.

 

[David Paul]

Those of you who have upgraded to stainless steel brake lines, did you do just the front or all 5 brake lines? If I do just the front, is that pointless? Reason I'm asking is because I JUST replaced my rear brake lines less than 2-3 months ago with stock rubber type replacement hoses. I know the front will probably be due soon, so I can probably swing the cost of SS lines, but to replace them ALL will hurt or even kill my budget which is already severely hurting as it is because I am still unemployed at the moment.

You'll be fine just replacing the fronts. Since you just replaced the rears I'm not sure you would notice much of a difference if you did do the SS in the rear. You've already replaced the 15 year old lines.

 

[ScottyBoy]

I just did the fronts, I figured since the front brakes do most of the stopping i`d be cheap and not bother changing the rears.

Did you notice a huge improvement in changing just the front lines to stainless?

You'll be fine just replacing the fronts. Since you just replaced the rears I'm not sure you would notice much of a difference if you did do the SS in the rear. You've already replaced the 15 year old lines.

I just remembered that I still need to change that 5th hose on top of the rear end. If I can find that one hose in stainless for not much more than the rubber one, I'll go ahead and change that one too I guess. If not, I'll replace that one with a rubber line just like I did on the two rear calipers.

 

[pnwdan]

I'd bet since most of your stopping comes from the front you won't notice a difference with the rears


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[Sasquatch]

I can`t say if i felt a huge difference because i switched to the 07 calipers SS lines and drilled and slotted rotors at the same time. But it feels like the pedal was more firm afterward.

 

[bigblue05]

i used GM armored car/ special service vechile rotors and pads i don't think they'd be available for you 6 lug guys I'm a 8 lug guy

 

[TheAutumnWind]

Well @TheAutumnWind I didn't get away quite that cheap but it wasn't too bad considering what you end up with. I shopped around and Amazon had the best prices shipped on everything except the EBC pads.The rebuilt OEM calipers were 238.63 shipped after core return, the powerstop drilled/slotted rotors were 141.17 shipped, the Goodridge stainless lines were 130 shipped, and the EBC 7000 series pads were 73.41 shipped from EBay which turned out to be from Auto Anything. I use EBC pads in all my vehicles after finding out about them from the motorcycle forums I'm on. Best pads I've ever used. Anyway after adding it all up....583.21. Plus another $20 or so for caliper paint and brake fluid. So...call it $600. I'm sure you could buy some cheaper parts, you don't HAVE to replace the brake lines, but I figure if I'm doing this I'm doing it right.

My numbers were my best guess for about as cheap as possible. Obviously you stepped it up a bit. I'd really like to run EBC pads, the biggest thing for my wife is she HAS to have pads that don't squeak. Performance pads I have installed years ago would squeak and weren't great unless they were hot. I'd be interested in checking out the EBCs if that isn't an issue with them. I wonder why those 7000 series pads are small? I read that in another review of them. I'll have to compare and contrast the 6000vs7000

Thanks for sharing, your setup looks great!

I've considered akebono pro act pads too... and still might go with those.

 

[Rocket Man]

I received my AC Delco / Amazon rebate today for the calipers even though I returned the GMT800's instead of the GMT900's. So either they didn't care or they didn't notice. It did take almost a month.
Oh, and @TheAutumnWind the EBC 7000 series pads are the same size as anybody else's pads or the 6000 series , the pictures just show that the GMT900 pads have a different footprint than the GMT800. And dont buy the 6000 series EBC pads unless you don't mind brake dust, according to the reviews. The 7000 series have zero dust. Oh, and they don't squeak.