Front Brake Upgrade

[SILENT]

Well I was wondering if can just buy the LX-I Rotors and Caliper and use my exsisting LX Hub??? The reason why I'm asking is because I saw Legend Masters 11" rotor upgrade post and he said he needed LX-I hubs... what is the difference??? do I need that to upgrade my front brakes??? Also I was Wondering if anyone has Willwood 12.2 Setup on the car??? I'm thinking if I'am upgrading the brakes I might as well get the Willwood Setup!!!

[EricW]

The difference between the LX knuckles and the LX-i knuckles is the distance between the mounting holes for the calipers from the center of the knuckle. The LX knuckles don't allow for the larger rotors that the LXi knuckles do. Technically the lx knuckles could be used as long as you had the proper adapter, but all the upgrades have been based off of the LXi knuckles.

[markmdz89hatch]

i think we may be confusing 'hubs' for 'knuckles'. The hubs are all interchangeable (if memory serves me), but the knuckle, and caliper bracket mounts are different then that of the DX/LX. Be aware though, that this LX-i (and/or SE-i) upgrade is only from the 88-89's. The 86-87 LX-i's have the same brakes as all DX/LX.

Your questioning confuses me though. If you're wondering if you can get away with not swapping out your knuckles (ref: hubs), that would lead me to believe you're cost conscious.

Contradictory to cost savings, the idea of the Willwood upgrade is extremely expensive. Has it been done? I believe one member about 5-6 years ago did swap to Willwood's which just required a custom fabricated caliper mounting bracket. The only thing to consider with this is a min of a 16" wheel is required, but only a select few 16's will work. General rule of thumb with the willwoods or AEM 2-piece big-brake-rotor upgrade (yes, that's been done a few times) is that you need a min of 17's.

That said, if you're seriously considering going with Wilwood, I'm behind you 110% (because eventually, when funds allow, I'll be exploring this option too), and due to the need to custom fabricate caliper brackets, you can use fab it to adapt to your LX knuckles, or LX-i knuckles.

Hope this helps.

[A18A]

these would be perfect!! http://www.3geez.com/forum/sr_classifieds.php?do=ad&id=185 to use with your current setup

[SILENT]

Hey markmdz89hatch basically I planning a sei rear disk swap and i read on how to forum you need to upgrade front brakes on dx and lx's!!! so that was i was trying to ask... I wasnt sure what you really need to do to upgrade front brakes I assumed hubs but I guess i assumed wrong!!! Basically I want to upgrade the front brakes... what do I need in order to do that (I would be going with Sei rotors and calipers)???

[turabaka]

You'll need the lx-i or sei knuckles along with lx-i or se-i rotors and calipers. I believe everything else on the front is the same. For the rears you need the same thing. Se-i knuckles with rotors and calipers, and the e-brake cables. They're different from the drum's cables.

[markmdz89hatch]

sorry, I didn't mean for my response to sound argumentative, so if it came across that way, sry.

anyway, yes, in that case, if you're aim is to get up to an SE-i setup, you'll need 88-89 LX-i or 89 SE-i front knuckles (fully loaded /w calipers, caliper brackets, hub and rotor), SE-i prop valve, 88-89 LX-i or 89 SE-i master cyl, SE-i rear knuckles, calipers, brake lines, rotors and e-brake cables (all rear).

That said, if you're serious about going with the Wilwood fronts, and can justify the need by some rediculous amount of power you're making, or intend to make, then I'd say unless you need new lower ball-joints, and your calipers and/or hubs are shot (any of which would justify the upgrade to a good pair of LX-i/SE-i knuckles), then stick with your stock knuckles an fab up a bracket to get the willwoods mounted up.

[SILENT]

alright thank you guys for clearing that up for me!!!

Hey Turaka you said you have a dx right... howz much did u spend in total to upgrade your brakes... I know itz a personal question but if you can answer just so I can get an idea of how itz going to be.

Thanxx again you Guys!!!

[turabaka]

I payed about 200 bucks for all of the stuff I needed to do it, but I got it all from when Bitesize parted out his hatch. So I got a bunch of other stuff along with the brakes.

[markmdz89hatch]

I did the same thing. I have a DX hatch, and have the full SE-i setup.

Paid $250 shipped (from ebay) for the rear knuckles loaded w/ calipers, brackets and hub, but ended up having to buy rebuilt calipers and brackets from AutoZone (if I remember right, they were about $50 each side). Another $100 for new e-brake cables (I didn't want to mess around with old stretched out ones).

For the fronts, I picked up an '89 LX-i hatch with a bad motor for $400, and pulled all parts from that, along with a bunch of other stuff.

Add to this another $15 for an SE-i prop valve from a pick-n-pull, and a new master cyl from somewhere online for $25 shipped.

Then you have to think about what kind of rotors/pads you want to go with. There are plenty of inexpensive, but good options out there. I ended up with Brembo c/d rotors, Axxis Metal Masters pads, and BFG SS brake lines, but lucked out on the Brembo's b/c I was able to get them used, but still true and without any gouging.

All in all, even though I would guess my all-in to be somewhere around 1K for the full swap, you should be able to do it for under $400.

IMO though, it's well worth the time and money especially if your current brakes are shot and need replacing.

[turabaka]

^^ Completely worth it. My car stops so much faster now that I upgraded my brakes.