Corvette calipers on Tahoe?

smoothfrc · Apr 1, 2008

I know the BIG brake kit's run some serious coin... By why couldnt we just have someone fab a bracket up to run the corvette calipers on a larger rotor? The calipers themselves can be had for a few hundred at most and I would think they would have plenty of stopping power for these trucks. (they are only 2 piston though if anyone cares).

Does anyone know how we could engage someone to make a bracket? I could try to fab up a bracket with MDF or something and send it off?.....

Just thinking out loud here.

JsnChristianson · Apr 1, 2008

That sounds like a pretty unique idea, I would be interested in seeing how it would turn out. What generation of Tahoe are you interested in doing this to, GMT 400, GMT 800, or GMT 900?

smoothfrc · Apr 1, 2008

I originally wanted to do this for a buddy of mine with a 96... but now i have an 08, so i was thinking of following through with the idea myself!

I am not an engineer or anything, but i imagine it could be done pretty easily. Other items like brake proportioning may need to be considered as well. Not really sure though.

Hell, even if they diddnt improve braking, they sure would be a nice bling mod

Black Dog · Apr 1, 2008

Do you know what the difference is in the surface area of the two pads? And the difference in rotor size?

johnebgoode · Apr 1, 2008

What about clearance on inside of wheel?

smoothfrc · Apr 1, 2008

Black Dog said:
Do you know what the difference is in the surface area of the two pads? And the difference in rotor size?

I havent even begun to look at this yet... This is all just an idea i had. I am hoping to pull a whell off the hoe and take some measurements and look over the pads, etc.

What about clearance on inside of wheel?

Have you ever seen the clearance on a corvette? There is nothing, the rim is barely away from the caliper (1/8th inch?) but that is because of the offset of the wheels. Again, i would have to look at the tahoe, but because it is a simple 2 piston caliper, i dont see wheel clearance being an issue.

I was really hoping to put a larger rotor on... i imagine you would need at least an 18" rim to clear the caliper and rotor when all is said and done. The rotors may be the pricey piece... I imagine i would be looking at a two piece deal from bear or stoptech.

Time for homework i suppose.....

strangeengine · Apr 2, 2008

Black Dog said:
Do you know what the difference is in the surface area of the two pads? And the difference in rotor size?

Swept area of the pad is irrelevant (if you need more force on the rotor, you just push harder on the pad).

Rotor size is important - it's a heat sink. There's also some lever arm advantages to larger diameter rotors, but it's pretty insignificant next to the heat storage ability of the rotor mass.

Frankly, the best way to improve braking performance is stickier tires. If the stock brakes can lock the tires, well, you've got plenty of braking performance already.

Doesn't look as cool as blingy big brakes, though.

- Mark, club racer
2007 Yukon XL Denali pending

Black Dog · Apr 3, 2008

strangeengine said:
Swept area of the pad is irrelevant (if you need more force on the rotor, you just push harder on the pad).

Rotor size is important - it's a heat sink. There's also some lever arm advantages to larger diameter rotors, but it's pretty insignificant next to the heat storage ability of the rotor mass.

Frankly, the best way to improve braking performance is stickier tires. If the stock brakes can lock the tires, well, you've got plenty of braking performance already.

Doesn't look as cool as blingy big brakes, though.

- Mark, club racer
2007 Yukon XL Denali pending

Makes sense to me... so how do you test your stopping power, unplug the ABS and try to lock em up?

GMz71 · Apr 13, 2008

so is there any conclusion on this?

smoothfrc · Apr 14, 2008

I do plan on taking measurements and such, just havent found the time yet.

May be a while... new baby arrived 8 weeks early on friday.

Grillmaster · Apr 14, 2008

I did a brake upgrade on my Regal and went from the stock 10.9 inch rotor to the "police package" 11.9 in rotors and the difference was AMAZING. All that was needed was a larger caliper bracket and a new rotor. Does anyone have a list of what parts are upgraded on the gmt900 platform for law enforcement vehicles? For GM W-Bodies police cars got larger brakes, larger radiator, beefed up stabilizer bars, higher output alternator and other misc. stuff that just bolts right in. I would assume police Yukons and Tahoes got upgrades, but I haven't been able to find specific part numbers for comparison yet.

txshriner · Apr 15, 2008

you can have disc brakes on your tahoe!

the LTZ that comes with the 6.2 motor and 6 speed trans has 4 wheel disc brakes so i assume that you can order all the parts.

smoothfrc · Apr 16, 2008

All tahoe's, yukons, burb's, etc... have 4 wheel disk brakes.

chris6789 · Apr 18, 2008

corvette weighs about 1500 lbs. less than tahoe. not a good idea. i would convert rear to disc and go with aftermarket front brake upgrade. safety is worth the money.

chris6789 · Apr 18, 2008

smoothfrc said:
All tahoe's, yukons, burb's, etc... have 4 wheel disk brakes.

tahoes thru 99 are rear wheel drum. rear disc wasn't available until 2000 model year.

strangeengine · Apr 18, 2008

chris6789 said:
tahoes thru 99 are rear wheel drum. rear disc wasn't available until 2000 model year.

We are in the 2007+ Technical Forum.

73shark · Apr 18, 2008

chris6789 said:
tahoes thru 99 are rear wheel drum. rear disc wasn't available until 2000 model year.

Since this is the 2007+ section, I think that was to what he referred. :yesnod:

smoothfrc · Apr 28, 2008

Police package

I read an article that stated the police package does indeed have larger brakes from the factory.

I have asked a contact of mine who deals with gm parts if he could throw a package togethor with the brackets and the rotors. I am assuming they use the same calipers, but asked him to find that out as well.

He should be able to physically see if the corvette calipers bolt onto the brackets as well (just to de-bunk the theory one way or the other)

Will keep everyone updated on what we find.

TN Tahoe · Apr 30, 2008

chris6789 said:
tahoes thru 99 are rear wheel drum. rear disc wasn't available until 2000 model year.

Well, since this is the 2007+ forum section I would assume he is thinking everyone here is talking about the newer models. In that regard GM did not put drum brakes on any of the current production models, 4 wheel disc is standard.

TN Tahoe · Apr 30, 2008

I don't think your going to gain anything really by putting Corvette brakes on the Tahoe unless you look at the 6 piston C6 Z06 calipers. As far as rotor size the Tahoe already has as big or bigger rotors then the Corvette. My 96 Corvette had 13.5" rotors and my 2004 Corvette has 12.6" rotors. Keep in mind the car comes in around 3100lbs. so that is a lot of stopping power on that light of car. The new Tahoe has 13.5" rotors on it from the factory. If you want to increase stopping power I think your going to have to look at an aftermarket kit to do that.:thumbsup:

Corvette calipers on Tahoe?

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