[chris_mac]

G'day

i'm consider doing rear disc conversion and first step is to get front rotors & callipers from LWB 1.6 EFI 4 door vitara. it is bolt on swap as i was told and checked in here. there is a problem with bleeding them. i found out that:

To bleed you need to remove the caliper and rotate so that the nipple is at the top.

i bleed only once my sierra brakes and it does involve pressing the brake pedal as in all cars, so how can i remove the caliper from the disc and bleed it? is it what you should do? completely unbolt it take of the rotors and than bleed? can someone explain it to me pls.

i did few calls and wreckers had callipers for about $110 each plus two rotors $90 and new pads around $40 (i guess) so altogether $350.
is the braking performance gain worth the money spent on it?

i also am worried that my high steering kit which bolts to the callipers will make the swap impossible. has anyone who did the conversion have high steering like that:

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/suzuki/s ... r-kit.html

[Ben_Sierra]

Is this car going to be registered?

If so you'll need to sort out something with the handbrake...

[steak_knife]

you don't have to push the brake peddle, you can as I did gravity bleed em, run a clear plastic tube off the bleeder so it goes above the caliper & crack the nipple, the nipple still has to be the highest point of the caliper, keeping an eye on the fluid level in the res..
the idea behind the clear tube is 1. so you can see the bubble's. 2. so air can't get back in, as the air want to go to the highest point..

Couldn't tell you about high steer tho.

[steak_knife]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

Is this car going to be registered?

If so you'll need to sort out something with the handbrake...

[alien]

i've had vit front brakes... off a 1.8l 4dr vit... you need to cut the brake shroud a bit then its a straight bolt on - however the caliper cylinder sticks out half way over the 4 king pin retainer bolts, making any hi-steer that picks these up impossible to fit.

as for increased braking performance - it didnt feel different under hard braking other than they didnt fade anywhere near as much - however i had vented vit rotors from solid sierra ones, so could have been that.

running solid front sierra rotors and calipers now with 31s and hi-steer and its just fine.

If you're finding brakes are a bit mushy - try checking your rear drums and cylinders... replacing my rears made a MASSIVE difference to my braking.

You should also note that fitting the vit brakes is very illegal =)

[CairnsZook]

Does your high-steer setup use the king-pin bolts?
Here's a front-on pic of my drivers side LWB Vit caliper. As you can see, the caliper sits just above the king-pin bolts.

[CairnsZook]

alien wrote:

You should also note that fitting the vit brakes is very illegal =)

Mine will be engineered with the engine conversion and a few other things.
I might have to clean all the mud off so they look new

[jdk81]

The vit vented rotors and calipers makes a huge difference, it is more obvious when using muddies, fully loaded, or towing.

Driving on the road with the muddies on used to be a chore, and stopping in emergency situations was not going to happen.

Fitting the vented rotors and calipers made such a big difference. With the muddies on, it now stops like it does with stock tyres on.

I got the subaru brake upgrade from LROR, and sourced the subaru calipers etc intending to fit them, and I haven't found the need since doing the front brakes.

[chris_mac]

thanks Steve for a good bleeding explanation

CairnsZook wrote:

Does your high-steer setup use the king-pin bolts?
Here's a front-on pic of my drivers side LWB Vit caliper. As you can see, the caliper sits just above the king-pin bolts.

thanks a lot for the picture

my high steering bolts only to the callipers, but by the look it might be hard to fit vit ones, i'll check that tomorrow

i was afraid that upgrading your brakes, thus making your car safer for everyone on the road might be illegal. i was thinking about rear conversion with callipers having hand brake, so it wouldn't be issue with that. It looks like i'll drop the idea of better brakes

cheers guys

[banga]

out of curiosity what subaru calipers did you use and for what end

[Hybrid]

alien wrote:

If you're finding brakes are a bit mushy - try checking your rear drums and cylinders... replacing my rears made a MASSIVE difference to my braking.

What was shagged on your rears alien? I take it you got new cylinders?

[Hybrid]

alien wrote:

If you're finding brakes are a bit mushy - try checking your rear drums and cylinders... replacing my rears made a MASSIVE difference to my braking.

What was shagged on your rears alien? I take it you got new cylinders?

[BlueSuzy]

banga wrote:

out of curiosity what subaru calipers did you use and for what end

Use that shape in your avatar!

Front calipers have handbrakes.

(I have some for my bundy diffs, vented discs all round.)



OR


You can go the old boxy magna rear calipers, meant for a solid disc and has handbrake lever. Tiny contact patch also as they are tiny discs..

[alien]

Hybrid - my shoes were worn and cylinders were completely stuffed (looked fine on the outside but completely gone inside).

[tanshi]

also suzuki baleno gtx clalipers and ford corsair

[chris_mac]

CairnsZook wrote:

Does your high-steer setup use the king-pin bolts?
Here's a front-on pic of my drivers side LWB Vit caliper. As you can see, the caliper sits just above the king-pin bolts.

by the look at vit calipers on sierra in that pic and my high steering kit which bolts only to the calipers ( use same bolts) i really doubt that they would fit,

tanshi, are you saying that suzuki baleno gtx and ford corsair calipers will fit with sierra? vit? or different rotors in front or you mean them for the rear disc conversion/

[tanshi]

rear disk conversion, they both have handbrakes which are similar to sierra WT ones and small pads to help with brake bias