1 ton calipers?

[bpodskalny]

newer member here, ive been reading alot of threads here and this is byfar the best tahoe specific forum around. i am an ASE master mechanic, and work as a toyota technician. i am very well versed in auto tech, however its all involving yotas.

the wifes truck is a 99 tahoe 1500 4dr 4wd. it has front disc and rear drum brakes, and the kelsey hayes anti braking system (not a typo)

brakes on my tahoe suck, and its esepecially apparent because i myself have a 2wd 06 silverado as a daily driver. im not talking about towing, i mean just out running errands. brakes seem to lag, then grab suddenly. but only at certain times. rear brakes have been adjusted, and brake fluid has been changed with no effect.

i got to thinking. why not upgrade both with calipers from a higher rated truck/van?

i searched the forum and elsewhere, and wasnt able to find a the info i needed. i did find a thread stating that it is possible to use 8500gvw 3/4 ton calipers

ive found many overlaps in GMs caliper usage. for example, most 1500 series trucks/suvs use the same calipers. even 2500 trucks use them in many common instances. however...

99 police package tahoe calipers =
99 3500 single rear wheel (non-dually) =
99 2500 suburban 8600 GVW.

so these are the larger ones im looking for.

The 1500 7700gvw caliper cups have a 2.95 inch bore (75mm) and the 2500 8800gvw had a 3.1 (79mm) inch bore.

they have the same size brake hose inlet, and as far as i can tell they are direct boltons.

however! if my knowledge of hydraulics serves me right, a larger diameter piston cup will exert more force at the expense of more pedal travel. and im having a much harder time finding the right stats about front brake rotor, mastercylinder, and rear brake cylinder specs/swap info.

has anyone done/seen this performed? any helpful fitament info?

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

i'd like to know this as well. be another nice upgrade.

 

[SunlitComet]

Wouldn't performance rotors and pads be more cost effective for you and less hassle to change out? I would think if you change the caliper size your master cylinder and ABS effectiveness would change.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

welll... abs wouldn't change anything on mine. i have read that the 3/4 ton calipers are a direct swap, basically the piston is a little bigger but still works with the master. parts are cheap as well.

 

[bai78]

Would the 1 tons have hydroboost versus the 1/2 tons?

 

[99Yuk]

I personally have recently done the 3/4ton caliper upgrade.
My shop was worried too about brake pedal travel due to the bigger pistons.

Due to an ordering error, I ended up with 3/4ton Hawk performance ceramic pads.
But for a three week period until the 3/4ton pads were ground down to fit, I was running a cheapo set of 1/2ton pads.

While running the cheap pads, my pedal sucked sh*t, it was very soft. After changing to the Hawk pads it feels good.. Hard. Not quite to the top as my wife's Jimmy, but good enough that I feel confident about braking again.

My rears are fully adjusted, front rotors are new, etc.

Long story short. Don't worry about pedal travel using 3/4ton calipers. It's the pads that make a difference. Can't say enough good things about the mod.
See this thread...

Now a 1ton caliper...would that fit?

 

[bpodskalny]

so your saying that you have swapped on the larger piston calipers, and the extra brake pedal travel wasnt noticable?

 

[99Yuk]

so your saying that you have swapped on the larger piston calipers, and the extra brake pedal travel wasnt noticable?

It's a yes and no answer.
I did the rotors, cheap pads and calipers on the same day.

The Hawks pads are 1/8" thicker each than cheapo pads for a total of 1/4" per side thicker than normal pads.

So with cheap new pads, I didn't like the pedal travel, sunk to far down for my tastes, worse than when I started. So I had the shop bleed them three times, still no dice. But with the thicker pads, I do like the pedal travel - firmed it right up closer to the top, and braking is solid with no fade.

I don't think it's the bigger caliper piston making the difference, I think it's the pads.
Or put another way, if the bigger piston is a problem, then the thicker Hawks pads offset the difference and then some.

Ergo, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the bigger caliper with some new Hawks pads, on any new rotor set. Not so much with thinner new pads.

Why I can't directly answer your question is because I changed my pads and callipers at the same time. The ****** brakes may have been the bigger piston, or it may have been thinner new pads. When I realized the Hawks wouldn't fit without grinding, I ordered the cheapest set of pads they had to tide me over. They may have been thinner than OEM, I don't know. So who can say why it was bad.
But I do like it now!

Hope that helps.

 

[bpodskalny]

Wouldn't performance rotors and pads be more cost effective for you and less hassle to change out? I would think if you change the caliper size your master cylinder and ABS effectiveness would change.

calipers for this truck are CHEAP even getting the bigger ones. hawk pads cost more than a set of 8800 gvw calipers.

imo new rotors will give me the least bang for my buck. i have genuine gm rotors on there now, and properly surfaced with properly seated pads they will work just as well except in the most extreme wet situations.

hawk pads are on the way, i know the generic pads that were installed on the vehicle when i purchased it are my major problem. i usually prefer genuine oem pad material, but i am interested if these pads will do all they say.

 

[99Yuk]

calipers for this truck are CHEAP even getting the bigger ones. hawk pads cost more than a set of 8800 gvw calipers.

imo new rotors will give me the least bang for my buck. i have genuine gm rotors on there now, and properly surfaced with properly seated pads they will work just as well except in the most extreme wet situations.

+1
Me too. Upgraded calipers cost less than the hawks pads. 1/3 less.

After this experience, I also don't think that fancy rotors do anything for you.
Although I ended up with ATE Premium slotted, that's because they were on sale, and also cost less than the hawks pads.

hawk pads are on the way, i know the generic pads that were installed on the vehicle when i purchased it are my major problem. i usually prefer genuine oem pad material, but i am interested if these pads will do all they

Now, I'm really curious for someone to measure the thickness of the new Hawks pads vs new OEM pads?

What Hawk part # did you order?
Are you buying the bigger calipers?
How about SS lines? buying those as well? I bought some, but havn't installed them yet. Some guys can tell the difference, some can't. We'll see.