ok i have 33s right now and next week ill be putting 35s on and as of now my brakes suck well they work and are still good but they still take awhile to stop is there anything i can do? any good brands?

Thanks Dan

 

have you read the post about the upgrade for rear drums? if not search for it (by the burning rom)

thats good upgrade for the rears, as for fronts i dont really know

 

Well, the jury is still out on wether or not you should replace your wheel cylinders with Chevy/GMC (or Dodge) 1-ton dually units. The 3/4-ton guys have been doing it for some time and are quite pleased with the results. A handful (um ... 2) of 1/2-ton owners (myself included) have done it here and so far are pretty jazzed. Braking is VASTLY improved. The only problem I have is that in the month or so since I've done it, I've not seen a drop of rain. I don't have any idea if I'm going to swap ends the first time I have to really hop on the brakes when it's wet.

Stand by for updates.

 

When you guys swapped the wheel cylinders, did you do anything with the proportion valve? I did the 1 ton GM swap but wasn't impressed. I've been considering changing the the p-valve to give me a bit more pressure back there. I was hoping for a big difference, but mostly just got a softer pedal. It's a bit stronger, but considering the total surface area on the cylinders increased 60%, I thought I would actually feel the rears "bite"

I'm puzzled how anyone can run anything bigger than 33's, I have 265/75/16 and the thing is borderline dangerous.

Did I just get lucky with my gem or do you guys feel the same about your factory setup? Seems like theres room for improvement in the hydraulics.

95 1/2 ton

 

Did you bleed the rears when you did the swap (the write-up says it's optional)? Whan you adjusted them ... how far out did you go? I bled mine and adjusted them until they were scraping and then backed them off a TOUCH. The pedal's not hard but rides a lot higher than it did on the 1/2-ton cylinders and I can feel them bite for sure.

Oh, and mine CAME with 265/75/16's ... these 285's are rock solid. It feels very sure footed.

 

is there anyway you could upgrade to the 2001 dual piston brake calibers?? i know your year is just a single piston.. but mine is a dual.. stops very smooth and quick

 

I set mine up the same as TMS Bill, but I'm thinking it's the hydraulic principles that are at fault.

I'll look into the dual piston. The pads are quite a bit bigger and the rotor is bigger, just the increase in swept area would be nice. If the capliper mounts the same maybe I can make it work.
Anyone have a bore size for the 2001 dual piston calipers? The single is 2.94"
The '01 master cylinder listing is 1 1/4" and my '95 1 1/8", so I might need to upgrade that if I don't get enough fluid volume.

This is the route I'm thinking I should go.

Anybody good at designing fluid power systems?

 

EGR pads and rotors, and a hydroboost unit if you have a vacuum booster.

 

You can, but you have to change out the hubs as well. Not a cheap upgrade

 

What is it that's different about the hubs?
I'm curious about any options, especially the cheap ones.