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-   -   D52 caliper upgrades (https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=394128)

N2TRUX 03-25-2010 10:25 PM

D52 caliper upgrades
 
In response to the recent post by Chuck "My whole braking system - thinking out loud" and the ensuing conversation regarding updating the rear brakes to disc with calipers that match the fronts, I did some research.

The stock front caliper (D52) is very common on many GM trucks and cars. There are several direct replacement units available, but they aren't really considered an "upgrade". My focus on this search was to find direct bolt on calipers that would offer better braking than the stock single piston D52.

The applications below meet that criteria with the exception that some do require replacing the flex house as well. I also included several replacement rotor choices.

Keep in mind this does not cover any "Big Brake" upgrades. I feel that is an entire different category in it self that I hope to cover in another post.

If you have any other options please post them along with a source link.

D52 options-



Summit-
Wilwood GM D52 Calipers
Brake Caliper Aluminum,
164.99 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...937-rd_w_m.jpg

Power Stop AR-8600SL
69.95 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...ar-8541l_w.jpg

Power Stop AR-8600L
79.95 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...ar-8600l_w.jpg



POL-
#18346- DUAL PISTON CALIPERS
GM TYPE 389.00(PAIR)
Requires braided stainless brake hose kit #-DPSBH. Add $79.10
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18346

#19569 LARGE GM D52 ALUMINUM CALIPERS
DUAL PISTON 349.99 (PAIR)
Upgrade to polished, add $75.
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=19569

#18292 CROSS DRILLED AND GAS SLOTTED ROTORS
79.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18292

#18290 CROSS DRILLED ROTORS
49.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18290

#18288 GAS SLOTTED ROTORS
49.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18288

lolife99 03-25-2010 11:13 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Ken,...
I assume those pictures of "hat style" rotors are just "sample photos" of the slots or drilled holes, since they obviously won't work on the front of the 67-87 trucks?

smashingchuck 03-25-2010 11:49 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Wow the POL rotors are cheap!

*EDIT* Price does not include rotors only the machine work...

Captainfab 03-26-2010 12:40 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
While they don't have the 'Bling' of the Wilwood dual piston D52's the factory option JB7/JD7 calipers have 3 5/32" dia pistons. I'm about 90% certain these are based on the D52 caliper castings. My computer is running extremely slow, or I would find some verification tonight. I'll look some more tomorrow. IIRC the standard JB5 and JB6 calipers have 2 15/16" pistons.

tasian 03-26-2010 09:52 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
carcraft put the wilwood calipers on a few cars and said they worked amazingly better

Alvin 03-26-2010 01:27 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-87...item2303780ba6

POL has the "ugly" wilwood dual piston on eBay for $249/pair right now.

N2TRUX 03-26-2010 08:43 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by lolife99 (Post 3882534)
Ken,...
I assume those pictures of "hat style" rotors are just "sample photos" of the slots or drilled holes, since they obviously won't work on the front of the 67-87 trucks?

That's the stock photo from each companies site. I just used their pic to show the style that was available.

I know most of the referenced thread is referring to calipers for a rear conversion, but your going to need rotors to match so I pulled that up as well.


This is here so we can discuss options with out mucking up Chuck thread.

Custom 68 03-27-2010 10:15 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
so these take you from a single piston to a dual piston. These will fit where ever the stock calipers fit assume?
looks like a decent upgrade. My brakes work good right now but I would guess be much better after this...
Thanks
Dave

SCOTI 03-27-2010 12:05 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Custom 68 (Post 3884874)
so these take you from a single piston to a dual piston. These will fit where ever the stock calipers fit assume?
looks like a decent upgrade. My brakes work good right now but I would guess be much better after this...Thanks
Dave

From what I've read, braking performance might be improved, but only marginally @ best over a properly functioning OE disc set-up. The total piston area is not changed by much, it's just distributed slightly farther out by virtue of the smaller dual pistons vs. the single, larger, OE centered piston.

With out a doubt.... they look better ;) .

BossHogg69 03-28-2010 03:54 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Alvin (Post 3883434)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/71-87...item2303780ba6

POL has the "ugly" wilwood dual piston on eBay for $249/pair right now.

So these POL calipers are made by Wilwood too? I like the looks of the new Wilwood D52's, but for the money, I think these will be fine for me. I was looking at getting the POL ones above before I knew about the new WW D52's.

Custom 68 03-29-2010 09:50 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by SCOTI (Post 3885015)
From what I've read, braking performance might be improved, but only marginally @ best over a properly functioning OE disc set-up. The total piston area is not changed by much, it's just distributed slightly farther out by virtue of the smaller dual pistons vs. the single, larger, OE centered piston.

With out a doubt.... they look better ;) .

Scoti, thanks. I think it would be cool to have the better brakes but mine work great so I wasnt sure on how much they could improve. They do look cool tho...

DKN 03-29-2010 08:15 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Total piston area per caliper:
OE C10 = 6.777
D52 = 6.584
CPP Big Bore S-10 = 5.940
OE S-10 = 4.909
Corvette 40mm = 3.896
Corvette 38mm = 3.516

The D52 is the most close to the OE piston area. We use 52mm pistons in our big brake kit with the 13" rotors. One advantage with our claiper is the pad area is much larger. This gives better performance, lower pad temps, and longer pad life. You also might have noticed how small the Corvette cliper is.

Danny Nix
CPP

chevyc10lover 04-01-2010 01:12 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
do you know what are the thickness of those rotors.
i´m planning on using mcghaughys drop spindles on my ´67 c-10 but i read that they must use heavy duty rotors. do you know if the rotors in this post fit these spindles?
or know another rotor caliper combo that fits the spindles.
tnks




Quote:

Originally Posted by N2TRUX (Post 3882381)
In response to the recent post by Chuck "My whole braking system - thinking out loud" and the ensuing conversation regarding updating the rear brakes to disc with calipers that match the fronts, I did some research.

The stock front caliper (D52) is very common on many GM trucks and cars. There are several direct replacement units available, but they aren't really considered an "upgrade". My focus on this search was to find direct bolt on calipers that would offer better braking than the stock single piston D52.

The applications below meet that criteria with the exception that some do require replacing the flex house as well. I also included several replacement rotor choices.

Keep in mind this does not cover any "Big Brake" upgrades. I feel that is an entire different category in it self that I hope to cover in another post.

If you have any other options please post them along with a source link.

D52 options-



Summit-
Wilwood GM D52 Calipers
Brake Caliper Aluminum,
164.99 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...937-rd_w_m.jpg

Power Stop AR-8600SL
69.95 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...ar-8541l_w.jpg

Power Stop AR-8600L
79.95 Each
http://static.summitracing.com/globa...ar-8600l_w.jpg



POL-
#18346- DUAL PISTON CALIPERS
GM TYPE 389.00(PAIR)
Requires braided stainless brake hose kit #-DPSBH. Add $79.10
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18346

#19569 LARGE GM D52 ALUMINUM CALIPERS
DUAL PISTON 349.99 (PAIR)
Upgrade to polished, add $75.
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=19569

#18292 CROSS DRILLED AND GAS SLOTTED ROTORS
79.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18292

#18290 CROSS DRILLED ROTORS
49.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18290

#18288 GAS SLOTTED ROTORS
49.00 (PAIR)
http://www.performanceonline.com/sto...roductid=18288


Captainfab 04-02-2010 02:09 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
You will need to use the 1.250" thick rotors with the McGaughy's spindles. You can get the Wilwood D52 calipers to fit the 1.250" rotors, or you can use OEM style D52 calipers for the 1.250" rotors.

Ackattack 04-02-2010 10:34 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
I used the POL D52 calipers along with summits drilled/slotted rotors.

IMO you can change rotors and calipers, but don't over look the brake pads too. You can gain a lot of performance by upgrading the brake pad even on the stock rotors/calipers.

BossHogg69 04-02-2010 11:45 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Yesterday I ordered the POL calipers that Ackattack has (thanks to Alvin's heads up in the post above), along with some zinc plated drilled/slotted rotors. I am using Impala rotors on the rear with Glock's brackets running the Camaro calipers. The front is CPP drop spindles (the regular 73-87 version) and CPP tubular upper/lower arms.

chevyc10lover 04-02-2010 01:01 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Captainfab (Post 3896297)
You will need to use the 1.250" thick rotors with the McGaughy's spindles. You can get the Wilwood D52 calipers to fit the 1.250" rotors, or you can use OEM style D52 calipers for the 1.250" rotors.

are the wilwood calipers available in 1.25" rotor thickness or should use thiner pads??

chevyc10lover 04-02-2010 01:13 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ackattack (Post 3896586)
I used the POL D52 calipers along with summits drilled/slotted rotors.

IMO you can change rotors and calipers, but don't over look the brake pads too. You can gain a lot of performance by upgrading the brake pad even on the stock rotors/calipers.

in your proyect bruiser which spindles used the first time?
didi you use heavy duty rotors??

BossHogg69 04-02-2010 02:00 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by chevyc10lover (Post 3896793)
are the wilwood calipers available in 1.25" rotor thickness or should use thiner pads??

Yes, the Wilwood D52's are available in two versions, one for 1.25" (heavy duty) rotors, one for 1" rotors.

Ackattack 04-02-2010 07:34 PM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by chevyc10lover (Post 3896802)
in your proyect bruiser which spindles used the first time?
didi you use heavy duty rotors??


Initially I used ECE 2-1/2" drop spindles, but swapped them out for the CPP modular drop spindles since I didn't have enough back spacing on the front wheels.

I used these rotors, they're 1-1/4" thick

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-DSEP-5516L/

chevyc10lover 04-03-2010 01:01 AM

Re: D52 caliper upgrades
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ackattack (Post 3897280)
Initially I used ECE 2-1/2" drop spindles, but swapped them out for the CPP modular drop spindles since I didn't have enough back spacing on the front wheels.

I used these rotors, they're 1-1/4" thick

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-DSEP-5516L/

tnks x link.

by the way great truck that bruiser!


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