I have heard that you can get th s-10 spindles to work on chevlles, Am I hearing this right or not??

If so how exactly do they work?

any info would be great!!!

thanks

The spindles for an S 10 are not a bolt on. The front disc brakes for the S 10 aren't adaquate to stop a 3600 pound Chevelle, just ask any Grand National owner they use the same brakes.

Question,
The s-10 disc's, 10.5 inch, are not up to the job of stopping a chevelle? Are they then better or worse than the stock drums that came on my 65? I am currently going the route for a disc conversion by way of brackets and turning my hubs down to fit the s-10 rotors. If this is the case than what about slotted or drilled performance rotors?

I am not looking for autocross performance, just a daily driver to enjoy. I currently drive five minutes to work on a heavy traffic day. My 86 f-350 gas pig versus that little 'ol 230 must be better than ten per gallon and stop in a shorter distance than my truck. I can live with this quite easily if so.

John C.
Pensacola FL
1965 2 door 300 wagon.

Q-ship why do you say they won't stop the Buick. You refering to a stock GN or one that is modified? I own a Buick Regal Turbo coupe and it stops just fine. S-10 and G body cars weigh the same as a Chevelle so why do you think they are too small and lack enough stopping power? Most problems with poor braking performance can be related to the quality of the pads/shoes being installed. Drum brake performance can be greatly improved by using quality shoes. Same with disc pads. Use the cheapest you can find and have more chance of having short pad life, lots of black dust on wheels and poor stopping.

Kev there are other things to consider if you do this swap. You need special lower ball joints, different upper ball joints, tie rod ends, brake hoses and hard lines. Also a different master cyl and a proportioning valve. You can use the same upper control arm because the G body/S-10 are not tall spindles, about the same height as the stock Chevelle spindle. All the parts are readily available.

I tried this on my car. I had an 86 S-10 sitting in the yard that my son had totalled out. Though it is similar and will bolt in if you install the right ball joints, there is that issue of the 10 inch disc. I could have made it work, but I decided to wait and either install a factory style conversion kit or go with the tall spindles from an Impala or 73+ Monte or Chevelle.

Originally posted by 64elcamino:
Q-ship why do you say they won't stop the Buick. You refering to a stock GN or one that is modified? I own a Buick Regal Turbo coupe and it stops just fine. S-10 and G body cars weigh the same as a Chevelle so why do you think they are too small and lack enough stopping power?

I think he refering to folks who drive their cars hard. "G" body cars are terribly underbraked from the factory, I'd be real suprised to see sub 150ft' 60-0. Pretty much anybody driving a GN other than as a commuter are upgrading. When I worked at the Goodyear next to the Specialty sales store we did a bunch of Baer kits on GN's, as well as some Stage 3 kits :D

I have a Word file that details how to install B-body spindles onto a Chevelle. This gives you 12" brakes. Do you want it.

The spindles do add a fair bit of bumpsteer. Many people feel they work fine while others felt the car steered poorly because of them. I'm still working on a fix for it.

Peter

We did a full and complete 2" Dropped Superior Spindle (Very Beefy Construction) conversion on our '69. We're just finishing up adding the AFCO Coil-Overs front and rear.

Will we be happy?

We Went with 10.5" Autospecialty Power Stop Slotted Rotors, Autospecialty 9-1-1 Extreme Performance Brake Pads, Kelsey-Hayes Semi-Loaded Calipers, and Autospecialty 9-1-1 Extreme Performance Brake Shoes and Parts Kit(s) at the rear (All are TRW Companies). We still need to purchase the correct booster/master cylinder, and prop. valve (Any suggestions are needed and appreciated).

As others have stated, you need to change all of the ball joints, and the outer tie rod ends. We used Hotchkis Tie Rod Adjusters, plus we had the upper control arm cross shafts machined (You can purchase something simular to these from several companies), and we had the lower control arms beefed up with a plate we designed simular to the one Pete Lohr sells. We also purchased the Armor Coated Hardware from Pete, and it is really a neat setup.

To put all of this in perspective, our neighbor Carl down the street recently sold his "Pristine" '70 Chevelle (Big Motor, Rock Crusher Trans, Heavy Duty Suspension (Everything you could add on), and he had the tall spindle conversion (Great Braking).

He purchased an '87 Gran National ("""""FAST"""""), it has 10" Rotors, and it stops on a dime. I know this, because I have driven it several times (No fade whatsoever).

So, as we are "Rookies", we can't really tell you what is the best conversion for you.

But, we are happy to date, and we will be happy when our S-10 Conversion is finished.

You can purchase everything without a hastle from most suppliers, and in fact, we beat Summit pricing thru a local outlet here in Las Vegas (Parts Distribution Services, Inc).

As a footnote, we have to unhook the front brakes when we run this summer at El Mirage and Bonneville (Parachutes and Rear Brakes Only).

Hope this is somewhat helpful, but listen to all of the Team Members who know these conversions, as they have done them.

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Originally posted by Q-ship:
The spindles for an S 10 are not a bolt on. The front disc brakes for the S 10 aren't adaquate to stop a 3600 pound Chevelle, just ask any Grand National owner they use the same brakes. They changed the brakes considerably in 98...went with larger calipers that stop MUCH better compared to pre 98 trucks. A loaded 4x4 S10 weighs close to what a Chevelle does anyways.

From the info I have a 2001 (my 2001) S-10 weights about 3200lb. I still find the brakes are lacking since I start getting rotor pulsing after about 10k miles. I'm not impressed because if they were heavy enough they wouldn't start to warp like that. A lot of vehicles seem to have this problem nowadays though.

Peter

In reply, I have never personally owned a GN or a Turbo Regal, but I have had a Monte SS which use those way under sized brakes. The rotors used are way to small for a 3300 lb car and warp at the first serious stop, and I'm not talking racing stop. Let me put it this way I have driven many A-bodies with disc brakes and never wore or warp the rotors and I have put lots of miles on my car 100,000 or more. The Monte SS I warped a pair of rotors in less than 20,000 miles. I have friends who use 78 - 87 El Camino's for pool cleaning service vehicles and they have to do new rotors on a regular schedule, when they used a 68 with 69 brakes it went over 200,000 without needing rotors. GM screwed up when they did these brakes, way too small for the car weight, barely exceptable for the Monza they went on originally. They 11" single piston stuff is a bolt on, without the geometry problems, and it works correctly.

Originally posted by Peter F.:
From the info I have a 2001 (my 2001) S-10 weights about 3200lb. I still find the brakes are lacking since I start getting rotor pulsing after about 10k miles. I'm not impressed because if they were heavy enough they wouldn't start to warp like that. A lot of vehicles seem to have this problem nowadays though.

Peter Interesting because I have a 98 S10 4x4 ZR2 lifted with large tires and I find the brakes to be more that adequate for the job...even after switching to the large heavy tires. I believe they put larger calipers and disks on the 4x4's though because of the wieght difference. My truck wieghs around 3900 lbs, give or take 100 lbs.

Q-ship thanks for the response. I have a 78 El Camino and the 79 Regal. Both over 100k and both with the original rotors and never have had any problems stopping either one. The Buick is getting a V8 this summer so I will look into putting the 11" brakes on it if I start to have problems.

>>GM screwed up when they did these brakes, way too small for the car weight, barely exceptable for the Monza they went on originally.>>>

Q, don't know where you got your info, but they didn't go on a Monza originally. The Monza uses an even smaller braking system. I know, I've owned three, and I own a '74 Vega with an S-10/G-body spindle conversion. It's the way to go on an H-body, but I would probably agree that it's not enough for serious performance on an A/G body. It HAS GOT TO BE better than the stock drums though, don't you think?

I agree with Q-ship. FWIW,good-feeling brakes and effective brakes are two totally different animals. S10 front brakes are most likely better than the factory drums but that doesn't mean they are adequate for a car the size of an A-body.