97 bonny ssei...i thought they came with rear disc's but mine has drums. how hard is it to convert it to a disc setup? thanks

_________________
Hoping to return to an H-Body soon!

Rear discs weren't available until the '00 remodel. People have posted before about looking into it, but I can't remember seeing it done.

_________________

WHITE WHINE - 1992 SSE Supercharged 236.26 ci (.040 Over) 15.090 at 90.2 MPH on old engine w/ slipping trans & melted O2 sensor - Gen 3 M62 and matching TB, Gen 2 Pully, Zillamotorsports Ported LIM, YT 1.72 Roller Rockers, SII FPR & Injectors, Hypertech Thermomaster chip w/ 160 Thermo, TransGo Shift Kit, Infinity/Pioneer Speakers & a 10" Alpine Type R Sub, all the watts, 140 amp Alternator, Ricepipe CAI w/ heatshield, Pilot Angel Eye Foglights, Clear Corners, '02 17" Chrome Bent 5's, Magnaflow F-Body Muffler and Hi-flo Cat, Ceramic Coated Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Fan Override, Monroe Reflex struts, red calipers
2009 G8 GT - Sport Red Metallic, loaded, SOLO Axlebacks, Rotofab Intake, Tuned, autodim mirror, removed intake manifold cover, HSV GTS triple gauge pod, two tone red-hot shifter and HSV SuperSport steering wheel, GXP rear sway bar and diffuser, 3.45 diff and various Camaro suspension bits, LED Taillights

anyone else have any input on this? i really hate drums!

_________________
Hoping to return to an H-Body soon!

Why? Your first priority should be the front brakes, as they do 75% or so of the braking force anyways. The rears just keep the car in line and assist the fronts. Make sure they're in good shape and working properly and you should have no issues. The reason Semi Tractor-Trailers use drums is because they have much larger surface area and shed heat quicker due to the larger area of the drum. If it's good enough for 80,000 lbs at 70 MPH, it's good enough for a 3,800 lb sedan, IMO.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Adjust the adjuster in the drums, and let them be. They really do work well once they've been adjusted properly.

_________________
2012 Chevrolet Cruze Eco - Current car

1999 Buick LeSabre Custom - Former car

Learn from the mistakes of others, that way when you mess up you can do so in new and interesting ways.

I have asked this question before. To my knowledge no one on the board has done this, but I read a thread on another board where it was done. I haven't been able to locate the thread, but if you did do a conversion, you couldn't pass safety inspection because you wouldn't have a parking/ emergency brake. Me, I wouldn't be caught dead with out a parking/emergency brake. Why? Because I've had a total brake system failure many years ago and the only way I was able to stop was with the parking/emergency brake. Scared the living you know what out of me. Take everyone's advice and leave it alone. JMHO - BC

_________________
In Memory of Brad - 1/21/1977 .. 10/23/2013 ...... Aaron - 1977 .. 2017 .....
2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport ..... 1992 Bonneville SSE 1SB 170 HP L27 4T60E retired/sold to MattStrike ..... 2005 Bonneville SE 1SC 205 HP L36 4T65E - retired/salvage yard ..... PBCF user 2321

My drums have been trouble free for at least 8 years now. The front discs on the other hand....not so much.

Have you ever worked on H-body drum brakes? They are much, much nicer than the ones from the '80s.

_________________


1993 SSE Since 11-12-2000
2011 Camaro 2SS
2006 Silverado 3500 4x4

i havnt even tried taking the drums off yet haha, so no, i dont know even know what they look like besides what the haynes manual shows.

on a side note, i looked at my front brakes..plenty of pads/rotor left, but one of the calipers has a torn boot on the piston. its not wet, but i will be replacing it asap.

_________________
Hoping to return to an H-Body soon!

Pay attention to how well the caliper slides on its pins. My calipers rusted inside the rubber bushings which locked the bushings against the pins causing them to drag. Easy to fix, just pry the bushings out and brush out the rust.

_________________


1993 SSE Since 11-12-2000
2011 Camaro 2SS
2006 Silverado 3500 4x4

I know that this thread is quite old at this point... But has anyone succeeded at taking the rear knuckles from a 2000+ Bonneville and used them to convert to disk rear breaks?? Or... is it so different that this would not be possible? Just a thought.

_________________
"Not Your Gramps Bonnie"

There's an even better option. It bolts right in, just have to get luck at a junkyard and find a '85 Seville with rear discs and grab everything. I've got the write-up around here somewhere.

Here:
performance-brainstorming/topic39657-60.html

_________________
Boost addict


The Fleet:
'93 SSEi - Twincharged + manual Build thread
'97 Camaro - Top swap
'05 STS - V8, AWD, her DD
'92 Trofeo - Fair weather DD
'99 Montana - top swap 3800
'04 Sierra 2500HD - LLY Duramax

Current project:
Something cool, trust me.

Upcoming projects:
'92 Bonneville SSE
'87 LeSabre T-type
'67 LeSabre

Gone to greener pastures:
'84 Sierra Classic - Twin turbo 3800
'97 LeSabre - Top swap

RIP:
'86 LeSabre - pictures
'93 SE - L67

When I sold my 1997 Bonneville it had 203,000 miles on it and rear drums were never touched!
On my 2000 & 2001 I'm changing rear brakes every 40,000-50,000 miles.
Like mentioned above 75-80% of the braking is done with the fronts.
I believe car manufacturers went to rear disc for looks and less weight.
Nothing wrong with rear drums.