2003 SLE brake upgrades

[ablebakercharlie]

I've read a bunch on brake upgrades here, and am having a little trouble with one area I hope somebody who's done this or has both can answer:

upgrading to the larger GXP rear brakes seems like a rotor and pad swap, but when I look up pads on the various parts sites (Autozone, Advance Auto, NAPA, etc.) there seems to be inconsistent or no differentiation on the pads. Are they selling everyone big pads that match GXP's but overlap the edge of SLE/SE's or little pads that under-use GXP rotor's increased size? What are the specs for the right GXP pads?

It also seems that doing the GXP front brake upgrade requires a few more parts...and suggestions abound for using morad parts. If you've done this upgrade, would you share your total $$ investment for Calipers, brackets, bolts, hoses, rotors, and pads? And once you had the whole parts complement, were there any specific hangups or problems? Thanks.

[alexcoqui]

I had the same questions you have when I decided to do the upgrade, & it costed me money. The rear system is the same for the sle, ssei, & gxp. The only differense is that the gxp caliper is painted in red & when I got mine, I had to repaint them anyway. I bougth the rotors, pads, & lines from gm, & when I had new & old togethe, I found out they were the same, #'s and all. For the front you will gxp calipers, pads, rotors, lines, & bolts. Once you have all the parts you need, it's an easy install.

[01bonneSC]

Id do an F-body upgrade for the fronts....

[ablebakercharlie]

Id do an F-body upgrade for the fronts....

I've noted a very few people mentioning this, but never with any detail -- so what does it entail/what are you upgrading/details would be appreciated.

[01bonneSC]

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8157&hilit=Fbody+brake+upgrade

[ablebakercharlie]

F-body upgrade then is a dual piston caliper and more pad area (perhaps). No increase in rotor diameter, thickness, or mass; thus no increase whatsoever in heat capacity, thus negligible increase if any in fade resistance. Pads, if larger, will last longer, but that's not my goal. My goal is to reduce fade on high speed stops. Looks like I start shopping for GXP parts for the front. Still unanswered is the rear pad question -- what pad is what? (FMVSS pad ID number would be helpful)

[01bonneSC]

But your brake upgrades through the use of Fbody stuff has a wider aftermarket range. Slotted, drilled, etc. You can useaftermarket calipers too, Baer, willwood. etc.

[01bonneSC]

And Im sure brakes on the Fbodys are superior in stock form that the GXP units.

[ablebakercharlie]

And Im sure brakes on the Fbodys are superior in stock form that the GXP units.

I don't see evidence of that. The main player in fade resistance is heat capacity. In a standard brake (ie cast iron rotor as opposed to carbon fiber or ceramic rotor) the heat capacity is mostly determined by how much iron there is, and then secondly, by how well it is ventilated/gets rid of heat.

No increase in rotor size/thickness/weight, thus no significant increase in heat capacity, so no significant increase in fade resistance.

[01bonneSC]

Unless you are racing, I dont think fade its gonna be that big of an issue for street. Ive never had a problem with stock SSEi parts.

And I think youll have to change the rear caliper bracket also, over half inch diff in stock SLE and stock GXP rotors.

[00Beast]

To set the record straight: GXP's have 12.9 in front rotors and 12.1 inch rear rotors. They use the same rear caliper as all the others, with a different bracket to make it work with the slightly larger rotor. The fronts have different brackets and calipers, and need different bolts to attach to the knuckle, which is the same as the others. SLE's and SSEi's share a braking setup, and SE's have smaller brakes than them. Unless you're doing numerous 100+ stops, my SSEi brakes are very similar to our GXP's brakes in every way, except they're MUCH cheaper to replace. Don't waste your money on the GXP stuff, just get high quality replacements for what you have. My $.02.

[ablebakercharlie]

snip

Thanks for the informative answer. This reflects what I've correlated from numerous posts; although the rear caliper bracket seems seldom mentioned.

My SLE's brakes fade on the first hard stop/slow from 80ish. The pads are at about 50% and are unknown brand. If I am going to replace pads and rotors, and relatively painless/inexpensive upgrades exist, I will do them. The car is too heavy for the stock brakes, in my opinion.

Any hints on where to source rear brackets?

[lewis26]

If your brakes are fading that quickly, it is because of your rotor and pad choices, not the size of the rotor or caliper.

I put wagner rotors and pads on my car, and make 3-5 80-0 stops without fade.

[Jrs3800]

If your brakes are fading that quickly, it is because of your rotor and pad choices, not the size of the rotor or caliper.

I put wagner rotors and pads on my car, and make 3-5 80-0 stops without fade.

I agree with that... I have Wagner Pads and rotors all the way around on my 03 and have no brake fade issues even after a long interstate run...

The Van is also set up with Wagner Pads and rotors.... Took it on a 2000 Mile trip, Pads and rotors already have 2 years under them.... No fade issue at all even after 350 Miles nonstop...lol


Some of the cheaper Advance, Autozone and or like pads suck hands down.... You get what you pay for...

[00Beast]

I have EBC Ultimax Rotors and Red Stuff Pads on my car, and they're great, but they're noisy, as Red Stuff is more of a Race comp than I really need, and I never get them hot enough to get them working well. But, they stop well and the rotors are zinc coated, so they won't rust where the pads don't contact the rotor. I would recommend the rotors as they're slotted, but get a set of Adaptive One or Ultra Premium Pads from NAPA, or another top-shelf ceramic from another store. Those will be as good as anything else.

GM spent a lot of time engineering the braking setup on here, and to change the rears without changing the fronts to match would probably throw the car out of balance. Just get a good quality stock setup and see how the car feels with that.

[00PontiRag]

snip

Any hints on where to source rear brackets?

Im curious on this to. ive sourced together a 98-02 fbody brake setup for front ive used on my grand prix to. would love to figure out the rears whats cheap and part numbers
thanks

[ablebakercharlie]

So far, the only non-dealer, non-junkyard source I've found is Rock Auto, at $25 each.