RamAirTA95

I am in the middle of doing the C5 front brake conversion on my 02 WS-6 and need to change the rear pads and was wondering if I could put the Z06 rear calipers on while I am at it to match my front Z06 Calipers. I have seen alot of posts asking weather this will work or not, but no conclusive answers.

TIA

Admins: I know I already posted this in the Suspension Forumn, but I have not gotten any bites over there.

Silver

Looks like you're SOL in this forum too. I just had a suggestion - maybe buy a set for the Z06 at a parts store and if they don't fit you can take them back... or if they do fit take them back anyway and get used

anasazi

the rear brakes in an f-body don't do much of the stopping so its not worth it

6speedZ28

From what I have heard they are a direct swap

JasonD

I have been asking this myself and I never got a straight answer. I don't think anyone really knew for sure.

I finally bit the bullet and bought some rear Z06 calipers to find out for myself. What we discovered that the C5/Z06 calipers DO indeed fit on the rear of an LS1 f-body. However, there is a little spring clip (one per caliper) that don't fit from the F-body caliper to the C5 caliper due to slight design differences. I didn't have this clip, so I couldn't completely assemble and test the rear calipers. I have to order it to complete the swap for testing. However, SO FAR, short of actually road testing...the rear C5 calipers do fit without modifications on an LS1 F-Body.

Anyone interested this needs to do the install and then verify for themselves that there are no compatibility issues. We couldn't see any possibility of problems, but without being able to road test them, I gotta cover my butt.

Of course, this will not give much of performance increase, if any. I think that the rear C5 calipers may be pressure cast like the fronts. That MAY help, but I am only speculating on this.

As always, YMMV.

RamAirTA95

Thanks Jason!

Glad I finally got an actual answer. Is the spring you are explaining the one that fits in the actual caliper?

I am planning on doing this just so the front and rears match. I know there is not really anything to be gained in breaking performance (the rear f-body breaks are actually PBR's), but I want everything to match.

Anyway's my whole brake project is on hold because I had initially done the front C5 conversion because I thought I kept warping my rotors which I thought was giving me a steering wheel shimmy. Turns out the problem is something different. To date I have changed the following parts in an effort to solve the problem:

New Rims - They are straight, checked on a Hunter 9000
New Tire - Road Force balanced on the same Hunter 9000
New Rotors - C5 / Baer Cross-Drilled & Slotted
New Calipers - C5 / Z06
New Pads - Hawk HPS

Ball Joints seem to be fine w/ no play.
Tie Rod ends seem to be fine w/ no play.

Had the alignment checked and everything was within specifications.

Car has never been in a wreck and only has 25,000 on the odometer.

As of now the only thing that may be the culprit is the rack and pinion which seems to be leaking as it is covered in PS fluid. The tires are also showing a strange wear pattern which would indicate an issue with the alignment from time to time. I am thinking there is play in the rack and pinion which is allowing changes to the alignment while driving.

Anyone have any idea's? If I can't find the cause of this problem I think the next purchase is a for sale sign.

JasonD

Yes, I think it is called an "anti-rattle" spring. It is not a coil spring but more of a clip. It is what fits in the center slot of top of the the caliper (if you rotate it to the 12:00 position on the rotor). I believe it pushes the pads down tight to the rotor. Kinda hard to explain. There are also two other springs somewhat similar to this that go on both sides of the abutment bracket. BTW...the stock f-body abutment bracket fits the C5 caliper fine.

That is why I am doing it as well. I am adding some rear caliper covers to round out the appearance combo.

lateapex

Jason,

Did you measure the diameters of the LS1 rear caliper piston and the C5 rear caliper piston? It would be helpful to know if they are the same, or what the difference in displacement is between the two.

Also, did you fit the C5 caliper over the LS1 rotor, or did you change to C5 rear rotors?

Bob

JasonD

We did not measure for exactness as we were just sorta mocking it up. However, aside from a casting difference that was very minor and made no difference as far as fitment, everything LOOKED exact as far as piston, location, etc. When I do the final install, I will be sure to measure everything.

I used an LS1 (f-body) replacement rotor (slotted and dimpled). I did not use a C5 rotor.

trackbird

"Strange" wear can be from a dead shock, maybe that's your problem. It's something to check.