C5 brakes on a Camaro

GrandmaLS

GrandmaLS

Club Member
I need some links about the C5 brakes on a 98+ F-body. I need to see if the conversion will work with my rims and what is all involved. I was thinking of selling my calipers/pads/rotors to a buddy and just have him buy me the conversion kit with the caliper brackets and brake lines. Want to see if that's a fair deal.
 
your assumign they are substantially larger. They are not. 12.75 front vs 12.82 front and the rear are they same size on both vehicles. I would upgrade the pads and rotors.

GrandmaLS said:
huh? You're saying there is no advantage to running the larger C5 brakes over stock TA brakes? I'd find that extremely hard to believe!
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ive got a set of the brackets that I never installed if you decide youre gonna do it. I ended up selling my trans am before i had a chance to install em
 
Sean said:
your assumign they are substantially larger. They are not. 12.75 front vs 12.82 front and the rear are they same size on both vehicles. I would upgrade the pads and rotors.
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I know the rotor isn't that much bigger but isn't the caliper much better? Also, I planned on doing C5 D/S rotors, not the standard ones.

cjmatt said:
ive got a set of the brackets that I never installed if you decide youre gonna do it. I ended up selling my trans am before i had a chance to install em
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PM me a price
 
I run the "Trackbrackets" C5/C6 kit. For me it was one of the best mods i've done. The stock fbody rotors are 11.8" and C5/C6 rotors are 12.8 and a bit thicker iirc.

For a car that will never see the road course, a good pad will do on the stock LS1 stuff, but for any sort of performance braking the stock stuff sucks balls. The C5 conversion is the way to go because there is more availability for Corvette brake pads than fbody. The 13" vette rotors are larger and dissapate heat better, the C5 calipers are slightly stronger, C6 much stronger.

The Trackbrackets kit is what I recommend. Its about $230 or so for the brackets and comes with the hardware to mount. You have to shave off one of the nubs on the spindle, not a big deal if you have some kind of grinder. You will have to buy C5 or C6 front calipers and pad abutment brackets. You'll also need the caliper/bracket hardware like the guide pins, guide pin bolts, guide pin boots and anti-rattle clips. The great thing about the C5/C6 stuff is you can get the china special cheapo rotors for $20 at murrays, lol. Cheaper than stock fbody stuff.

I also run Stoptech front and rear steel braided (and coated) jumpers and a Hotpart steel braided and coated line for the hardline to rear axle jumper.

You'll need a 17" rim minimum for the C5 conversion to fit.
 
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1) The Trackbrackets bracket installed with the lower nub shaved on the spindle. Stock caliper in the background.

2) all the stuff laid out

3) complete with GM C6 rotor. I now run the cheap $20 C5 rotors
 

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1BADAIR said:
is the factory mount still usable after it has been shaved?
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Unfortunately not. The bottom nub is as large as the top one that is still there in the pic and gets shaved completely off. I sprayed some black paint on the spindle where I cut it.

I'm never taking these off the car, they're awesome.
 
Thanks for all the help John! I've got C5 rims on my car so there isn't an issue there. Overall, how much $$$ would you say is wrapped up in the complete conversion?
 
I don;t personally think the caliper is that much better IMHO. I think the pad choices are much better.

GrandmaLS said:
I know the rotor isn't that much bigger but isn't the caliper much better? Also, I planned on doing C5 D/S rotors, not the standard ones.



PM me a price
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The C5 calipers are pressure cast not gravity cast --- makes em stronger and longer lasting :)

The rotors are also directional from the factory, providing better cooling as well :)




I think it's a great mod. I'm thinking about doing it myself!
 
I am not disagreeing here but the performance of the brakes is not going to change substantially. They will work better however when hot vs cold but that would require aggressive lapping.

Quick86 said:
The C5 calipers are pressure cast not gravity cast --- makes em stronger and longer lasting :)

The rotors are also directional from the factory, providing better cooling as well :)




I think it's a great mod. I'm thinking about doing it myself!
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When you compare the price of C5 brakes VS big brake aftermarket kits... It's worth it :) The number of pad and rotor combinations available make it great, plus the fact that brake parts can be had over the counter at your local parts dealer instead of having to order them online, if you're in a pinch you can get it back going quick! :)
 
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I would go with some slotted factory rotors and a good set of F car pads.


Quick86 said:
When you compare the price of C5 brakes VS big brake aftermarket kits... It's worth it :) The number of pad and rotor combinations available make it great, plus the fact that brake parts can be had over the counter at your local parts dealer instead of having to order them online, if you're in a pinch you can get it back going quick! :)
Click to expand...
 
Quick86 said:
The C5 calipers are pressure cast not gravity cast --- makes em stronger and longer lasting :)

The rotors are also directional from the factory, providing better cooling as well :)




I think it's a great mod. I'm thinking about doing it myself!
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The slight difference in casting process makes the C5 calipers slightly stronger but the C6 seems to be a little beefier than the C5 and they changed the "window" in the caliper for better cooling I would assume.

For street only, there's really no need to go bigger. You can get better brake performance with some good pads and good fluid. But if you want to autocross, do open track days or just dead set on a bigger brake kit I highly reccomend it.

For everything its probably going to run about $700 if you use the cheap rotors, and not including lines. FYI Nobody except the rich porsche guys run drilled/slotted stuff on the racetrack lol.
 
Yeah the drilled/slotted rotors are for bling. You'll find that out at your first track day. I made the mistake of buying them before I knew better.

Here's a parts list for you:
http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=8196

PM trackbird for a deal on a set of track brackets...

Many, Many guys on the frrax.com upgrade to the C5 stuff. Got to be one of the best bang-for-buck mods there is. I have them on my 3rd gen and am happy.
 
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