carsNskis
New member
I thought this was a single piston caliper. Did you confirm otherwise?
Camaro Brake Swap
- Thread starter minitrucking02
- Start date
minitrucking02
New member
Zzp is twin piston off a 99-03 camaro, encore rotors, camaro pads
carsNskis
New member
I understand that, I asked if he confirmed that the GMpartsguy set is two piston. Can't tell from the pics
Auto35069
New member
So did you get the caliper brackets from the junk yard? or did they come with the new calipers?
minitrucking02
New member
Calipers come "semi loaded" which means with the bracket.
A "loaded" caliper is supplied with the pads.
Auto35069
New member
Got it, and just for sh!ts and giggles, would the C5 Z06 calipers bolt up to the Camaro brackets?
minitrucking02
New member
I didn't look too deeply into that. I believe they would but its a fatter case, so make sure your wheels can fit them.
And again, from what I read on the Camaro forums, the Camaro caliper has a higher clamping force, where the Corvette is just a larger surface area.
The choice is yours lol
Auto35069
New member
No biggie, I figure I would run down to the nearest parts store and see if they would fit. I have some spacers on the wheels so space shouldn't be an issue. I just got an immediate hard on when I vision red "corvette" calipers on the front of the Sonic.
Auto35069
New member
Just came across this in a Camaro forum, good enough for me:
The C5/ZO6 caliper will fit with the stock 98+ FB bracket if using the stock sized rotor. The C5/Z06 calipers have cooling fins that the 98+ FB calipers don’t have. The lowest fin may need to be trimmed. Use stock caliper frames (PAB) also. If you set a caliper from each next to each other, you will see that they are almost identical. Another diff is the mounting tabs on the caliper, the C5/Z06 ones are thinner.
The guide pins are #13. The bolts (#14) used on a ZO6 caliper have a larger head on them than the 98+ FB. However, the thread size and pitch are the same. It's a direct bolt on.
The C5/ZO6 caliper will fit with the stock 98+ FB bracket if using the stock sized rotor. The C5/Z06 calipers have cooling fins that the 98+ FB calipers don’t have. The lowest fin may need to be trimmed. Use stock caliper frames (PAB) also. If you set a caliper from each next to each other, you will see that they are almost identical. Another diff is the mounting tabs on the caliper, the C5/Z06 ones are thinner.
The guide pins are #13. The bolts (#14) used on a ZO6 caliper have a larger head on them than the 98+ FB. However, the thread size and pitch are the same. It's a direct bolt on.
minitrucking02
New member
Yea, it'll work. One of the motivators to me not going corvette was that my company supplies the calipers without the bracket, and I'm not putting a junker bracket on. I get parts at cost, so I got the Camaro calipers for $24 each, to find a Corvette caliper with bracket was like 63 so...
minitrucking02
New member
and to reiterate- Corvette calipers have larger cooling fins and large pad surface area versus the Camaor caliper, which has better clamping force. Yes, it would be badas* to powder coat and label the calipers to say Corvette across them (especially when you go in for your free oil change/ tire rotation) but for the money, a giant red caliper is a giant red caliper.
I wish the RS had blue stitch and emblems, the red on black is so cliche...
I wish the RS had blue stitch and emblems, the red on black is so cliche...
SlayerAk23
New member
Sorry guys, not subbed to the thread. But thatgmpartsguy's kit is dual piston.
Also, the rotors are not encore rotors. They are from the GMPP kit that got discontinued for the sonics. Though, looking up the p/n of the rotors, they might be what comes on the trax from the factory.
Also, the rotors are not encore rotors. They are from the GMPP kit that got discontinued for the sonics. Though, looking up the p/n of the rotors, they might be what comes on the trax from the factory.
minitrucking02
New member
trax, cruze diesel and encore utilized the same front brake setup from what i've found
The 4th gen F-body/C5 rotors are 1.25" thickness. The Encore are 1". Is there a possibility of over extending the pistons as the pads wear? Minimum rotor thickness is typically only 2mm-3mm from max thickness. As a result, to even make contact with the Encore rotors, the caliper pistons are sticking out over double the amount at the allowable wear limit for the correct rotors. This is on a new set of pads...
Blue Moon Sonic
New member
This has piqued my curiosity as I also found out you can buy ZZP's rotors from their sonic/cruze big brake kit on request. They don't have a part number, but the rotors can be sold separately for maintenance purposes. I think I'm going to hit up my friend over at the local boneyard to see if I can score some calipers from any camaro's laying around.
Subbed.
Subbed.
Stew
Sedans Rule!
Cruze diesel is right rotor diameter, wrong bolt pattern, but you can add the Volt to the list of compatible 11.8" front brakes and rear discs for our Sonic.
This is a really great mod, to get better braking for a relatively inexpensive price. At least compared to the Brembo kit..
A couple things i did notice during the swap was that the caliper bracket was not centered in relation to the rotor. A trip to the local friendly machine shop fixed that. Machining .10'' off the mounting hole mounts mostly centered the brackets to the rotors. Another thing i learned the hard way, i was in a hurry, and i used the original Banjo bolts off the Sonic calipers. I kept tightening them into the Camaro calipers but could never get compression on the copper washers. After some online searches, i discovered that the Camaro calipers use some funky thread pitch, like M10x1.0 . So basically i trashed 2 calipers by stripping out the Banjo Bolt threads. lucky i was able to return them..
Anyway Dorman has off the shelf bolts that work, pn 13912
But yes, in the end it was all worth it. The front end dives when i hit the brakes now.
A couple things i did notice during the swap was that the caliper bracket was not centered in relation to the rotor. A trip to the local friendly machine shop fixed that. Machining .10'' off the mounting hole mounts mostly centered the brackets to the rotors. Another thing i learned the hard way, i was in a hurry, and i used the original Banjo bolts off the Sonic calipers. I kept tightening them into the Camaro calipers but could never get compression on the copper washers. After some online searches, i discovered that the Camaro calipers use some funky thread pitch, like M10x1.0 . So basically i trashed 2 calipers by stripping out the Banjo Bolt threads. lucky i was able to return them..
Anyway Dorman has off the shelf bolts that work, pn 13912
But yes, in the end it was all worth it. The front end dives when i hit the brakes now.
MyLonewolf25
New member
minitrucking02
New member
I contacted HAWK and my company's HQ to see if it would be possible to custom makes pads.
Yea that's a no.
When I was doing the install, with pistons fully retracted there wasn't too much slop. I took the shims off a set of cheap pads, used that anti-squeak aerosol and glued them to the shims on the pads. So far I haven't had any issues.
minitrucking02
New member
It's not centered, but the top of the pad just hits the top of the rotor. I checked mine and I have no grooves on the upper lip of the pad nor the rotor. Which is why I heavily suggest coated rotors because otherwise the bottom 1/2" near the hub is gonna look terrible in about a month.