brake conversion?

[gw84]

I haven't been on in a long time. But seems like I remember someone talking about doing a brake conversion at one time. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't think it was drum-disc or disc-drum...but I could be wrong. For some reason I want to think they were talking about converting from '93 brakes to '94....not sure of the difference though. All I know is every year or so I have to shell out a couple hundred bucks to have brakes/rotors replaced when my calipers lock up...it's a '93. Was this problem resolved on '94 models? hopefully someone can remember what I'm talking about

[jamesmetairie]

Originally Posted by gw84

I haven't been on in a long time. But seems like I remember someone talking about doing a brake conversion at one time. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I don't think it was drum-disc or disc-drum...but I could be wrong. For some reason I want to think they were talking about converting from '93 brakes to '94....not sure of the difference though. All I know is every year or so I have to shell out a couple hundred bucks to have brakes/rotors replaced when my calipers lock up...it's a '93. Was this problem resolved on '94 models? hopefully someone can remember what I'm talking about

don,t know if this applys to your case. i read somewhere about late 90,s lumina,s getting larger rotors fom monte carlo,s for shorter stopping distance. personally my 1998 base Lumina with no abs has the worst barkes i,ve ever seen on a car . i,ve repalced em with ceramic,etc. all with little improvement. most recently the mechanic adjusted the rear as much as he could. it helped just a little. i,m disgusted.

[Bearwulf]

Which style caliper is on it, early or late? Early ones are the same as a '91, late ones were much bulkier & mounted differently requiring different hub & backing plate set-up.

[gw84]

Originally Posted by Bearwulf

Which style caliper is on it, early or late? Early ones are the same as a '91, late ones were much bulkier & mounted differently requiring different hub & backing plate set-up.

not sure...next time I get a chance I'll take a photo and post

[jeffcoslacker]

Disc systems have different bias in the equalizer block than drums...another thing to consider. If you have ABS, and intend to use it, I don't think it's gonna like it....

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by jamesmetairie

don,t know if this applys to your case. i read somewhere about late 90,s lumina,s getting larger rotors fom monte carlo,s for shorter stopping distance. personally my 1998 base Lumina with no abs has the worst barkes i,ve ever seen on a car . i,ve repalced em with ceramic,etc. all with little improvement. most recently the mechanic adjusted the rear as much as he could. it helped just a little. i,m disgusted.

I agree somewhat, my '97's brakes always seemed kinda iffy...it's a disc/drum setup.

But I honestly don't think it's the front that's the issue...I noticed at some point that after using the parking brake (which also adjusts the rear shoes), the brakes felt a bit better.

I took a look, and found the adjusters nearly siezed, the backing plates had no lube on the contact points, and the shoes were nearly new thickness, despite being 8 years old with 115,000 miles at the time...this tells me they are back there doing virtually nothing...

So I disassembled, cleaned everything, lubed the contact pads, freed the adjusters and lubed them, and now I have a considerable increase in stopping power, along with a nice decrease in pedal effort required to stop...and no more front brake pulsation after heavy use..

Not surprising, the front were probably doing 95% of the stopping...

Look into it...

gw, if your calipers are properly lubed (use Sil-Glide or equivalent) and you use the e-brake from time to time, they shouldn't lock up...but they might need some attention once a year or so, just to make sure everything is still moving properly...