12" rotor upgrade DONE! (writeup included)

Well I finely finished my 12" rotor upgrade. The stopping power is amazing! 300% better then stock! Here is a small writeup with part numbers.

All parts pulled are for the 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue

The calipers are the same as our stock calipers, so if you have no reason to replace yours, you can pick up just the brackets from the $tealer$hip.

Parts Needed
Break Cleaner
Dot3 Break Fluid
12" Rotors ($43.99 each Duralast - Autozone Part #55034)
Break Pads ($59.99 Duralast Gold CMax - Autozone Part #DGC699)
Caliper kit w/calipers, brackets, bolts, dust boots, and crush washers ($44.88 w/$55.00 Core each - NAPA part #242-2233 & 242-2232)

Total Spent after core charges refunded $252.30 + Tax

First assuming you have done breaks before, remove Caliper, Bracket and Rotor.





Using break cleaner, remove all grease off of the new rotors.

Slide on new 12" Rotor onto the hub.



Mount new caliper bracket into place of old one, put lube on the back of the break pads and slide into the bracket.

Slide new caliper on and bolt into place.

Replace the break line onto the new caliper with the new crush washers on both sides of the fittings. Make sure the old crush washers are removed! Tighten everything down.





Now with someone helping you, bleed the breaks just like you would on any other car (pump and then hold break peddle down and loosen bleed screw at the same time, doing this multiple times to ensure all air is out of the line)

Mount wheel, repeat for the other side and then break in the new pads before doing your normal driving.

Good write-up, the rotors look huge. What is the size of the stock rotors?

Look at that clearance hahahahaha

Good writeup but you got wrong name.

It is call brake. Not "break". I never understand why some people call it "break"? I guess same thing like soda vs. pop.

man look at how easy it is to get to the oil filter!

good write up though... you ought to paint the edges and stuff so they don't rust

I hope you let the pads and rotors seat and break in before you went out and stomped on them.

Good luck with the duralast pads & rotors. The rotors are fine China steel that are slathered with oil when you got them so they don't rust in the box. I've seen very few duralast pads that don't squeak.

I bought caliper brackets from guy parting out an Impala for $15 last year, Wagner Thermoquiet pads from Orileys for $45 after $15 rebate, and R1 D/S rotors for $125 shipped.

nice writeup! I agree with chevman. I too have duralast rotors on my front and they are VERY rusty! I will never buy duralast rotors again.

I've never had a problem with them. Then again in AZ it doesn't get rusty. When I have some extra money, I am gettind DS from R1.

Sorry about the spelling, lol, ment to put brake (I suck at spelling)

I think stock is like 10.8 or something like that.

I am very impressed with the Duralast Cmax, they are extremely quiet.

Not problem. I thought you call it as break. There are some people call it too. I just like why world they call it? "Big truck cut me off and I have to hit break for avoid it." Sound like don't make sense right?

Rusty rotors is pretty much normal. Every brand cars get that no matter what. My both cars get rusty and they will go away if you drive it.

I love those wheels, aside from those and Torque stars I cant find any other 16" wheel I like.

So the caliper brackets are for Montes/Impalas, correct? If so I'll have to make a trip to my local salvage yard sometime.

Yes, 00-04 Monte Impala brackets are what you want. Possibly 05, but not sure. You also need the long bolts that go thru the brackets that the calipers ride along.
The wheels are SLP unclearcoated polished aluminum. I do not run them in the winter, as the salt kills them. I swap to Bullitts. I use Mothers aluminum polish and Rejex to protect them. I use nothing but car wash soap after that on them as to not remove the protectant with harsh chemicals.

I'm shopping for a decent set of 16" wheels. But not looking to spend a fortune, I wish I could find a set of flawless or near flawless torque stars for a decent price to run around on in the summertime with some decent performance tires.


The ride on 17" wheels sucks, horribly.

I think they are 10.9in, but close enough. lol

Duralast rotors to rust fast, but I've had mine on for 48,000 miles and they brake as smooth as they did new.

The rust is only an issue if you leave your car sitting for weeks at a time after they are wet and rusting.


Nice writeup - I plan to upgrade my rotors as soon as I have the cash.

I love how palsut is calling people out on spelling.

My R1s rust as well after driving in the wet and sitting for a couple of days.

The new Camaro at the race track this weekend the rotors already had a nice orange sheen to them just from sitting friday till sunday.

so if i already have the rotors and pads, i need the brackets and bolts?

correct.

Yes. You need the caliper brackets. Iirc you can keep your stock calipers but the brackets are key.

With a little fabrication work I think you can grab some four pot calipers off a late model Fbody and install those.

how about kits on ebay ? worth the money

Ebay set up

Good write-up, thanks for including the part numbers. This also brought up good questions that will be invaluable to others that are considering this mod, or are trying to diagnose problems arising from this mod.

those are just pads and rotors. but go to R1 on ebay if you want brakes.

00-04 Montes and Impalas have the caliper brackets you are looking for, you use your stock calipers.

I just did the 12" front upgrade as well and went with R1 blank rotors. Feels better and it looks better behind the front 18" wheels.

Guz- How much did the R1 blanks cost you?

Actually, I didn't call out for spelling. I thought he use wrong word. Did people really call it "break"? All I know they call it brake.

I just used the wrong "break/brake" Break is like break time, and brake is like disk breaks

They were about $90 shipped for the set of front and rear rotors.

Here is a pic showing how the 12" rotor looks behind an 18" wheel.

PSA

12" rotors will not work with the OEM 16" cross-lace wheels.

will it work on torque stars?

Yes.

awesome.

I prefer the F-Body upgrade... Dual pot aluminum calipers. Not that bad price wise either.

is there any way to fit those 12" rotors on the stock crosslace rims i know they say you cant. but thats never stopped me thats why my SE can out run a monte carlo SS royaly pissed him off. would i be able to fit them if i put 1/2" spacers and longer studs on the front rotors?

Uhhh, first off your SE can outrun a Monte Carlo SS because it has the same 3800 motor as your car (assuming by mods list that your SE has a 3800 not a 3.1) and you have mods done.

And the reason we say you can't run 12" rotors with crosslace rims is because the simple fact that you can't. We wouldn't say something if we didn't mean it, but by all means go ahead and try.

Also Guz, did you get your rotors off of eBay? If so, link please?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy-Mon...sQ5fAccessories

There is no clearance between the caliper and the rim if you try to put a 12" rotor with the cross lace wheels. The just won't fit.

i know im being stubborn but would the clearance issue be fixed by spacing the rim outwards or is it the ID of the rim stopping it

i know im being stubborn but would the clearance issue be fixed by spacing the rim outwards or is it the ID of the rim stopping it

i just like the way the rims look and would like to keep it a sleeper for as long as possible big rims are too flashy for me

Sorry, it is not fit for your rim. If you want keep crosslace rim then I think it is no reason to put 12" rotor because this wheel didn't show rotor.

BUT......

Since you love your crosslace rims. I remember I read other 12" rotor thread (not this site) will work for 1992-1996 Pontiac Grand Prix crosslace wheel. I can't find this link at other site.

those rims dont curve the the post 96 style i have them on my 93 bonneville SSEi but with lots of curbrash oh well ill give up is nybody selling the chrome style thats in palsuts pic?

On the cross lace wheels the ID is too small. A big enough spacer will push the wheel out too far.

Thanks, I'm assuming the Impala's and Monte's have the same size rear rotors as us correct?

I believe they are the same size.

Yes, they are the same size. There are really only 2 readily available upgrades for wbody rear brakes.

1) An F-body setup BUT they are outrageously expensive. I believe wbodystore has them for 600+.

2) Grand Am calipers - I wouldn't really consider them an upgrade but some do switch to them because they are made out of aluminum instead of cast.

Grand Am calipers are for weight reduction. The stopping power is reduced.

I really want F-body brake set up. They look very awesome. Maybe I will get lucky at junk yard. There is some few firebirds at local junk but it is old model. Maybe this year I might get lucky like I found some goodies last year.

I didn't know grand am is work on grand prix. Thats interesting.

All I know

04+ GXP brake setup
F-body brake setup
this thread
Grand AM brake setup

Patrick, if you can find any 00-04 impala there they should have the calipers you need for 12" rotors, which is the same look as F-bodies.

I don't imagine you want the F-bodies because they actually work better, I figured you just want the look.

Yeah, I want it as good look too. Mine is really old and rusty since 2002. I figure it is time to upgrade. Oh course, I will have 18" wheel install too.

At my local grand prix meeting today. I met member who have GTX wheel but he has stock rotor. I just like whoa that's really tiny rotor with 18" wheel on it. lol

Thank for remind about Impala. I didn't know about that too.

**** ok u win now would it be better to get vented rotors in the stock size or new rims and non vented 12" rotors

Sorry, miss that post. If you want that wheel from my sig.

Maybe you like this one? They are same as my sig. Oh they are polish. Not chrome.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/16-FACTOR...sQ5fAccessories

good - cross drilled and/or slotted rotors
better - 12" blank rotors
best - cross drilled and/or slotted 12" rotors

Yes they do. The rear I got from this kit went on just as easy as the front. I did paint the rotor hats black since they are plain and will eventually show rust. The rotors do look nice and they have been great so far.

Did you do just the Impala/Monte brackets or did you do the entire F-Body upgrade calipers included? Sorry if you already stated what you did I'm just trying to figure out what would be the most effective way to do this upgrade.

I did the impala/monte carlo brackets. I did not go with the f body set up.

Perfect. Now just to find time to get to a junkyard that's got an Impala or Monte.

Best bang for the buck brake upgrade is stainless braided brake lines.

yes those are nice but like ive heard people say b4 i want to be able to look at them and throw them on a spin balancer to see just how true they run and for 300 i could get cheap 18s or some sweet 17s with my work discount but like ive said i want to look real close to stock but run like a champ.

Herc, or anyone, know if you can buy just some brake lines from summit or jegs that work.
I know zzp has some, but I've heard of some issues with theirs.

Yep that's the reason I'm going to do the 12" upgrade before I consider the SS brake lines, I've heard of too many problems with them.

so how exactly does the 12" upgrade help if the pads are still the same size???

Yeah, ask Mike about his incident.

I heard.
So what about buying lines from ones those vendors I mentioned?

I'm not really sure. I know a guy who just went to a local shop, and they made custom lines for him. It wasn't very cheap, though.

Because the rotor is now a longer lever. Plus more surface area equals faster cooling less brake fade.

As for the SS brake lines what problems have you guys heard of?

Local member was cruising, hit the brakes, and no pedal. ZZP line just broke.

That would be a quality issue at ZZP. The other places like Summit, Jegs etc should be fine.

ooooohhh, I likey!!! this is something that I will be trying to accomplish in about a year or two. Thanks for the pic, Alex. You still the poo even if you are from a really cold Yankee state.