$100 brake upgrade (Page 12/43)
Fastback 86 JUN 12, 02:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by triker:

Fastback, if your brakes are so great, why are you going to upgrade to 11 1/4's. Try this simple and cheap mod and you too will be saying "wow". I have two Fiero's, one of them since it was almost new. Though the brakes on both have always been adequate, they've never been awe inspiring. Now, I keep looking for excuses to make panic stops instead of trying to avoid them!




Cheesy sales pitch aside, you're missing the point. Did you do any work to repair or replace your stock brakes before you did this modification? If I can lock the wheels with the stock brakes, why would I need to upgrade them with this mod? Increasing the force on the brakes isn't going to do anything if I can already lock them, it'll just make them easier to lock. My point is, if you haven't made sure your brake system is in perfect working order (no old bulging hoses, no old fluid, no leaks in the vacuum booster, no leaks in the master cylinder or the calipers, no sticking calipers, etc etc), then how can you know that this mod was so beneficial?

Now in my case, I'm interested in all around improvement. Locked wheels are useless, so I want more stopping power before I get to the point of locking them, which the larger brakes will afford me. Even more beneficial over the stock brakes is that the new ones will be larger and vented and will not overheat nearly as easily, which will be much nicer (not to mention safer) when driving hard on windy roads. On top of all of that, I figure if I'm going to replace all the brake parts anyway, why replace with stock stuff when I can spend a little bit more and get a lot more performance?

Also note that, if I can't get enough stopping power out of the stock booster and master cylinder, I will be doing this mod.
fierogt88 JUN 15, 11:57 AM
Well in my case I'm running larger wheels and much stickier tires on my car. My stock brakes were in perfect condition, but I was not able to lock them up after putting on big wheels and sticky tires. I upgraded to the 13" corvette rotors, and now I can lock them up. I see this upgrade as the same kind of thing. What you say is true about stock parts, but there are other parts that are getting upgraded on fieros all the time (such as my wheels and tires) and at some point the braking system can be the weak link in the total package even though it's in perfect condition. With my 13" upgrade, I achieved the better braking I needed, but I also picked up unsprung weight. I highly doubt this one adds as much weight to the car, and what weight it does add goes in the front cargo bay instead of at the wheels. I plan on doing this upgrade, even though I can lock them up now, because when I eventually get back into autocrossing I'll probably go with even stickier tires and go back to stock sized rotors.
bspring JUN 15, 01:58 PM
Would using the S10 master cylinder be a viable braking solution along with the booster as well? I have read a few don't do it posts in the past, but thought I would bring it up for current discussion. I have an 88 Fiero with Carbomet pads and vented discs.

Billl
Fastback 86 JUN 15, 03:56 PM

quote
Originally posted by fierogt88:

Well in my case I'm running larger wheels and much stickier tires on my car. My stock brakes were in perfect condition, but I was not able to lock them up after putting on big wheels and sticky tires. I upgraded to the 13" corvette rotors, and now I can lock them up. I see this upgrade as the same kind of thing. What you say is true about stock parts, but there are other parts that are getting upgraded on fieros all the time (such as my wheels and tires) and at some point the braking system can be the weak link in the total package even though it's in perfect condition. With my 13" upgrade, I achieved the better braking I needed, but I also picked up unsprung weight. I highly doubt this one adds as much weight to the car, and what weight it does add goes in the front cargo bay instead of at the wheels. I plan on doing this upgrade, even though I can lock them up now, because when I eventually get back into autocrossing I'll probably go with even stickier tires and go back to stock sized rotors.



Well said. In non-autocross/racing situations, the stock brake system works fine if its well-maintained. I was able to lock up slightly larger than stock wheels (15") with good tires with my stock brakes. I haven't tried yet with my 16s, but that extra weight and rotating mass will make a difference. The only time I've ever had a problem with the stock brakes is a) the stopping distance, since you can only put so much force on those little rotors with one piston before the lock, and b) the fade under hard driving/racing conditions.
Fastback 86 JUN 15, 03:58 PM

quote
Originally posted by bspring:

Would using the S10 master cylinder be a viable braking solution along with the booster as well? I have read a few don't do it posts in the past, but thought I would bring it up for current discussion. I have an 88 Fiero with Carbomet pads and vented discs.

Billl



Personally, I would only do the S10/Blazer Master Cylinder WITH this large booster mod. Increasing the fluid capacity of the system (the master cylinder) really doesn't do much with out more force to work on it, which is where the large booster would come in.
FierOmar JUL 29, 01:38 AM
Anyone experience any problems yet?

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FierOmar

RKSmallwood JUL 29, 02:41 AM
Neet Idea! Unless I am mistaken there is a differance between pounds per square inch and vacum. the both will affect a diaphragm in its intended manner. I work on valve operators in power plants the force that is applied is measured by finding the surface area of the diaphragm and multipling by the amount of psi applied, in the case of brakes it would be vacum, surface area would be Pi times the radius squared. then multiply this number by how many inches of vacum. this would give you the amount of force being applied to the MC. please correct if I have made a mistake. These are the kind of tips needed to help keep our toys where they belong on the road cruising
jstricker JUL 31, 08:53 AM
You should not have a soft pedal. We have more than one car with the Blazer MC and we do NOT have a soft pedal. The brakes require more effort, that is pounds of force, to apply, but the pedal is not soft. If you have a soft pedal you generally have one of two problems. Bad rubber hoses that are expanding under pressure or, more likely, you don't have all the air out yet.

John Stricker

quote
Originally posted by Quickster:

But I have a revelant question.........Does replacing the Master Cylinder with a Bigger one have an affect on the pedal? I replaced my M/C with a Bigbore and the brakes haven't been the same since! Now,...if I replaced the Booster with the aforementioned S-10 option,...would that help my "soft Pedal" problem?
Hudini JUL 31, 10:08 AM
I'm hoping he meant the pedal goes further towards the floor before engaging the brakes. A soft spongey pedal is bad no matter what brakes you have. That is air being compressed.

EDIT: or the rubber hoses expanding as stated above. (Thanks, missed that one)

[This message has been edited by Hudini (edited 07-31-2007).]

WisconsinGT JUL 31, 03:39 PM
CAn someone please put a list together on what is needed as well as a step by step of what has to be done? Thanks! Pictures would be welcome as well.