The install went great except for a really stupid mistake on the part of the installer...
I decided to get a head start on Friday evening and was going to put the new rotors, pads and SS lines on the rear. I figured I could get that done pretty easily and get started removing the front so when my buddy showed up on Sat. we'd have a head start.
First SS line I tried to install I wasn't paying attention and cross threaded the fitting. BAD, BAD, BAD! The damage was just on the first couple of threads so I though maybe if I took my dremmel and took those off I could get it to catch. No such luck.
That brought the evening to a stop as I called a friend and ran to AZ to see if they had a replacement hard line. No luck. After beating myself up for such a stupid mistake I continued on and got the rest of the rear completed without incident.
The next morning first thing I had my buddy run me by NAPA and I found what I needed to fix the problem. Fortunately, the used calipers/lines I got from TNAuto still had the hard line fitting in them. They simply cut the hard lines and pulled the calipers out with the rubber lines still attached. That meant luckily I had the fitting I needed I just needed a way to get it onto the end of the hard line. NAPA had a 3/16" coupler that worked perfectly. I cut the hard line, replaced the fitting and repaired it using the coupler for a total cost of $3.42.
With the rear hard line repaired we finished and bled the back lines and took it for a test drive. I wanted to make sure the rears were working properly before I tore apart the front. They did.
Next up we tackled the front.
Here is what the LS1 knuckles looked like Before cleanup, After and Painted:
Everything went well there, after another trip to AZ to get an allen wrench for the front calipers. I could not for the life of me find the one I purchased a few years ago. Rather than spend another hour tearing the garage apart looking for it I bought a set of allen sockets from AZ and the work continued.
To remove the old knuckles I rented a tie-rod puller and a 3-jaw puller from AZ.
The large puller worked for the lower ball joint and the tie rod puller worked for the tie rod end and the upper ball joint.
Now, when I say it worked for the upper ball joint it did take some work. The puller was just barely too small. I mean fractions of an inch too small to fit over the top end. The inside edge of the puller had a small casting lip on it so I took my trusty dremmel and ground it smooth. That and little "persuasion" from my big orange mallet made it fit. I did have to do the upper joint last so I could move the knuckle around and get the puller onto the top.
Once that was done everything went back together quite easily. After I re-attached the tie rod ends I eyeballed the alignment and it looked fine. In fact once we got everything back together and the front bled I was in such a hurry to go test the brakes I forgot about the possible alignment problems. On the test drive I didn't even notice a difference from before the swap. I am still going to take it in for an alignment but I guess I got lucky in that sense.
I also installed speed bleeders on all 4 calipers. They work just as advertised. You open them about 1/4 turn and pump away. I had my buddy helping me but if you needed to bleed your brakes solo they would allow you to do it.
One note on the SS lines: I had some initial difficulty finding the correct lines for this project. I originally called Earls and told them what I needed. (front lines for 98+ style calipers and rear lines for 97 style calipers with lines for traction control as well) After reacting like I was reinventing the wheel or breaking new ground or something they told me I would need to buy 2 kits and swap parts. I got forwarded to their tech line and explained to them what I needed. They said they would look up the specs and get me a parts list to order pieces individually. (Summit sells individual lines and fittings) A week and a half later I do get a call back with a list but the lines that I needed are for off road use only and not DOT certified, plus one of the adapters I need they don't even sell as an individual piece. A little fed up I called Russell/Edelbrock and spoke to their tech dept. They knew exactly what I was doing and looked up the specs with me on the phone. They told me the rear lines for a TC vehicle are identical for 97 and 98 vehicles. So, I ordered the kit for a 98+ vehicle with TC and all 6 lines (2 front 2 rear and 2 for TC) fit perfectly. Thanks Russell for being on the ball.
I can definitely tell a difference from before on the sensitivity of the brakes. They seem about the same on a normal stop under light steady pressure but when you hit them firm or hard they STOP!!! I like it.
For my swapped I used:
LS1 Brake swap kit from Tennessee Auto
Rotoworks Slotted and Drilled Rotors and Hawk HPS pads from WS6Store.com
Russell SS brake line kit and Speed Bleeders from Summit Racing
Tie Rod End Puller and 2/3 Jaw 5 ton Puller "Loaned" from AutoZone
Thanks again to everyone for their help on this project including my friend "Peg" who ran me to AZ Friday night looking for repair parts for my screw up and my buddy Brian who ran me around on Saturday and actually got his hands dirty helping with the swap as well.
I decided to get a head start on Friday evening and was going to put the new rotors, pads and SS lines on the rear. I figured I could get that done pretty easily and get started removing the front so when my buddy showed up on Sat. we'd have a head start.
First SS line I tried to install I wasn't paying attention and cross threaded the fitting. BAD, BAD, BAD! The damage was just on the first couple of threads so I though maybe if I took my dremmel and took those off I could get it to catch. No such luck.
That brought the evening to a stop as I called a friend and ran to AZ to see if they had a replacement hard line. No luck. After beating myself up for such a stupid mistake I continued on and got the rest of the rear completed without incident.
The next morning first thing I had my buddy run me by NAPA and I found what I needed to fix the problem. Fortunately, the used calipers/lines I got from TNAuto still had the hard line fitting in them. They simply cut the hard lines and pulled the calipers out with the rubber lines still attached. That meant luckily I had the fitting I needed I just needed a way to get it onto the end of the hard line. NAPA had a 3/16" coupler that worked perfectly. I cut the hard line, replaced the fitting and repaired it using the coupler for a total cost of $3.42.
With the rear hard line repaired we finished and bled the back lines and took it for a test drive. I wanted to make sure the rears were working properly before I tore apart the front. They did.
Next up we tackled the front.
Here is what the LS1 knuckles looked like Before cleanup, After and Painted:
Everything went well there, after another trip to AZ to get an allen wrench for the front calipers. I could not for the life of me find the one I purchased a few years ago. Rather than spend another hour tearing the garage apart looking for it I bought a set of allen sockets from AZ and the work continued.
To remove the old knuckles I rented a tie-rod puller and a 3-jaw puller from AZ.
The large puller worked for the lower ball joint and the tie rod puller worked for the tie rod end and the upper ball joint.
Now, when I say it worked for the upper ball joint it did take some work. The puller was just barely too small. I mean fractions of an inch too small to fit over the top end. The inside edge of the puller had a small casting lip on it so I took my trusty dremmel and ground it smooth. That and little "persuasion" from my big orange mallet made it fit. I did have to do the upper joint last so I could move the knuckle around and get the puller onto the top.
Once that was done everything went back together quite easily. After I re-attached the tie rod ends I eyeballed the alignment and it looked fine. In fact once we got everything back together and the front bled I was in such a hurry to go test the brakes I forgot about the possible alignment problems. On the test drive I didn't even notice a difference from before the swap. I am still going to take it in for an alignment but I guess I got lucky in that sense.
I also installed speed bleeders on all 4 calipers. They work just as advertised. You open them about 1/4 turn and pump away. I had my buddy helping me but if you needed to bleed your brakes solo they would allow you to do it.
One note on the SS lines: I had some initial difficulty finding the correct lines for this project. I originally called Earls and told them what I needed. (front lines for 98+ style calipers and rear lines for 97 style calipers with lines for traction control as well) After reacting like I was reinventing the wheel or breaking new ground or something they told me I would need to buy 2 kits and swap parts. I got forwarded to their tech line and explained to them what I needed. They said they would look up the specs and get me a parts list to order pieces individually. (Summit sells individual lines and fittings) A week and a half later I do get a call back with a list but the lines that I needed are for off road use only and not DOT certified, plus one of the adapters I need they don't even sell as an individual piece. A little fed up I called Russell/Edelbrock and spoke to their tech dept. They knew exactly what I was doing and looked up the specs with me on the phone. They told me the rear lines for a TC vehicle are identical for 97 and 98 vehicles. So, I ordered the kit for a 98+ vehicle with TC and all 6 lines (2 front 2 rear and 2 for TC) fit perfectly. Thanks Russell for being on the ball.
I can definitely tell a difference from before on the sensitivity of the brakes. They seem about the same on a normal stop under light steady pressure but when you hit them firm or hard they STOP!!! I like it.
For my swapped I used:
LS1 Brake swap kit from Tennessee Auto
Rotoworks Slotted and Drilled Rotors and Hawk HPS pads from WS6Store.com
Russell SS brake line kit and Speed Bleeders from Summit Racing
Tie Rod End Puller and 2/3 Jaw 5 ton Puller "Loaned" from AutoZone
Thanks again to everyone for their help on this project including my friend "Peg" who ran me to AZ Friday night looking for repair parts for my screw up and my buddy Brian who ran me around on Saturday and actually got his hands dirty helping with the swap as well.
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