Montana Brakes

[marcjsmith]

Hi folks....

I'm a car junkie at heart. I however sold my 94 Impala to buy the Montana. after 4 trannies in the IMpala in 87K miles enough was enough....Plus the wife wanted a more freindly daily driver(i think hey, what's more frienldy than a 2.5 ton beast with 300 horses and big fat tires, great brakes, great handling and a new tranny everyother year) I guess she didn't it was so great....

Her problem with the montana is with the brakes. Obviously she wont get sports car brakes, but the stock brakes seems too wimpy. are there any performance type pads available for our vehicles...I have seen that in my own searching that some companies will reference the same P/N for brakes for the montana and the Pontiac Grand Prix, but some will list different numbers..... Before I purchase a set of pads Id like to get you'alls collective knowledge.....Id love to get a set of Hawks or EBC red stuff...

I plan on doing pads and bleeding all fluid and replaceing with ATE Super BLue Fluid. I'm not rally concerned about the rear drums at this point, If I can get a grabbier front pad I'll take my licks on rotor/pad replacement every couple years...

Marc (hoping for better brakes)

[GTP Dad]

I like performance friction carbon metallic pads. They wear very well and give you good performance. You may want to also consider a set of slotted rotors, they will give you better gas disipation and therefore better braking. You may also benefit from changing the stock flex line to a stainless braided line. No bulging when you apply the brakes and therefore better braking pressure.

[marcjsmith]

I did the stainles steel braided lines on the impala and I had a set of the slotted rotors as well, but I began to notice small cracks radiating outward along the gooves....so I took them off of the impala and put back the smooth face vented rotors.....

The SS lines Made a HUGE differennce in the pedal feel, well worth the money, and the every other year brake fluid flush makes a big difference as well. The wife hates when I bleed the brakes....her legs get tired from pumping..

I did my own reasearch and GM uses the same caliper on the 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix and the Montana. actually GM uses the same caliper on several vehicles. I think I might go with the EBC Redstuff pads.

BTW I used the Performance Friction Z Rated on the IMpala. Big Difference, too bad they dont make them for the Montana...A bit more dust, but not a big deal...

[2pontiacs]

You have the same tranny in the Montana that you had before. Another headache.

4t65e

[1Bradymichael]

Originally Posted by 2pontiacs

You have the same tranny in the Montana that you had before. Another headache.

4t65e

No 4T65E in the 94 SS.........this was the big version Impala with the juiced up 5.7 liter

[tmorris1]

I second the Performance Frictions. I put them on my Montana and it made a world of difference.

[2pontiacs]

Originally Posted by 1Bradymichael

No 4T65E in the 94 SS.........this was the big version Impala with the juiced up 5.7 liter

Sorry, I didn't read close enough. I don't think you would find that tranny in that big boy!