Possible '06+ Monte/Impala Brake Upgrade

While I've been out of the riv scene for a while now, I decided to stop by and share something I read that could be a possible brake upgrade for the riv crowd. While researching my own upcoming brake project I read a lil something on an aroura board that may be of interest to those that want the increase in braking ability of the f-body brakes without the worry of drilling and tapping or shimming to make it work. Allegedly the dual piston front brakes off of an 06+ monte carlo/impala will bolt right up to a riv. You would need the dual piston caliper, the caliper brackets, and rotors all for an 06+ monte/impala. The article I read mentioned that it would only work on 97+ arouras or others that were converted to the 97+ style a-arm. Since both cars are nearly indentical this could apply to the riv as well. The main differences between this and the f-body brake mod is that these calipers are not aluminum and there should be no need to drill and tap the caliper bracket. I have not/cannot verify that this will work, only putting it out there for debate. Hope this helps someone.

Wow, thanks for sharing this. Great idea, and I'm betting it works. Now for the next question:

If the brackets from 06+ Monte/Impala do in fact bolt up to the Riv, then could you bolt up F-Body aluminum calipers to those brackets?

I'm thinking no, but I can't verify that. Been doing a lot of reading on this, as it also applies to my GTP, and from what I can tell the calipers are simialr but not identical. First difference is the camaros use a thicker rotor than the monte/impala 1.25 vs 1.19. Second difference is the pistons in the monte caliper are a little bit smaller than the f-body (edit upon further research the piston are both 45mm). That's not necessarily a bad thing as the pistons in the monte calipers displace almost the exact same amount of fluid as the stock gp calipers, elimanating the mushy pedal feel. One cheap way to tell for someone that has the fbody calipers laying around would be to purchase a caliper bracket for the monte and do a mockup, if it doesn't fit return the caliper bracket. Another small point of difference is that the camaro rotors are 11.9 in and the monte are 11.7 I believe. Again all this is second hand knowledge that I've read on many other boards. Also read how someone put 2002 dual piston caddy brakes on their aroura, which if I'm not mistaken uses the same rotor as the monte/impala, but there was very little info as to how that was done.

I see, so the rotors are thinner. Question #2 would be: can these thinner rotors keep up with the braking (cooling) demands of 4000+ lb front heavy Riviera slowing from high speeds? Maybe it can, and the lighter rotor should help in the handling department. This is certainly interesting.

I don't see why there should be a problem, if I recall correctly the camaro rotors are thicker than the rivs as well. Just a guess but I'm willing to bet that the monte rotors and riv rotors are the same thickness. Plus you get the extra benefit of the dual piston design, which should help with the warppage issue most rivs seem to have. The front rotors in my riv were only 10.8 vs almost 12 for the montes, and as every guy knows that extra inch can make all the difference lol. Seriously tho an impala/monte isn't THAT much lighter than a riv, plus in all my reading I've skimmed pages where ppl have put these on a park ave which I think is about the same or heavier than a riv.

Rivieras got an upgrade to ~12" rotors for the '97 year, and they are the thicker ones (same part number as '00 Camaro Z28 & SS). I have to wonder if the extra mass was intended to help with solving the warping issue? The Camaro is lighter, but reaching higher speeds. One reason they would have used the thicker rotors is to deal with the heat.

Even with the thicker rotors, I've still managed to warp them, even with 2-piston F-Body calipers. I don't think the calipers help much with that issue. Imo, the problem is the amount of heat generated from stopping so much weight from high speed. It maxes out the pad compound, leaving uneven deposits (heat spots) on the rotor face. Using higher temperature pads has solved my issues completely.

I think someone could run the thinner rotors + 2-piston calipers from the Monte/Impala and still be alright - if they use a quality pad. My fear is, they won't.

Really? I wasn't aware that the rivs had the 1.25 in thick rotor, I thought they were 1 in. Ok well here's some food for thought: it appears that the riv has similar brake mounting points as a w-body so therefore most brake kits that fit the gp/impala/monte should fit a riv with little or no modifications. Which would include the direct bolt on 13 in dual piston gxp brakes or other 13 big brake kit (17in wheels required).

Yes, we had a member who was in the process of fitting a 13" disc with CTS-V 6 piston calipers, but he got rid of the car and bought a Bonneville instead. I think it's in the F-body thread.

Which brings us to the possibility that any big brake kit made for a camaro might be able to be made to work on the riv. Like I said I'm not in the riv world anymore but I will be watching this thread to see if anyone tries it and what their take is. For now I'm out of ideas but if I come across something else on interest I will be sure to post it.

The big brake kits absolutely will fit, with the right wheels. I've come across at least one kit for a reasonable price (StopTechs also fit, for a bit more). But these are extreme - no one really needs them unless they plan to race a Riviera on road course track regularly, or you just like the looks. You could replace a dozen sets of warped rotors for the price of one of these kits!

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t7324-big-brake-kit-13-front-128-rear-for-1997-1999

Well if we're correct that any kit that fits a gp will fit a riv, then you should check out the w-body store at www.wbodystore.com as they have a sale on a 13 in big brake kit going now. The kit includes 'lightly used' dual piston calipers (whatever that means), brackets, and ceramic pads with the option to purchase rotors as well for under $270 not including rotors. That's a crazy low price for a 13 in brake kit but the lightly used part gets me. My guess is that simply means used. They may have passed some sort of arbitrary visual inspection but they are not rebuilt and it doesn't mention a brand or make for the caliper. Sounds kind of shady to me but I've heard nothing but good things about the w-body store. They also carry the fbody kit pre-machined so its simply bolt on and go. Turns out there's a lot more options for the 97-99 rivs then I ever thought lol.

If anyone is interested I found the information about the impala brakes for auroras here: http://aurorah.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=sale&action=print&thread=17077 sorry for the long link

Thanks for the info, Derek. I'll look into it.

As for the W-Body store, I think that's a decent deal. If anything's wrong with the calipers, they can be easily rebuilt. I would consider buying that set, but I already have everything except the rotors and the brackets! Also, I like to put my 16" OEM wheels on during the winter...

No problem AA happy to help. I got lucky when I stumbled across it on my phone. If you happen to find anything else about the sts dual piston brakes that applies please let me know cause I'll be doing some sort of upgrade eventually. The f-body brakes may have more clamping force but so far I'm leaning towards trying the impala brake mod for the better pedal feel. Besides more total clamping force is irrelavent once the abs triggers, its equally exerted force and good modulation that will do the most for you, at least that's my opinion.

The main reason for going 2-piston is not really for the clamping force. You won't actually lock up the wheels much more easily by changing the calipers, although lots of people think so because they also upgrade the pads. What you do see is a lot more even pad wear, even under abuse. And because the pads are larger, they'll last longer. Since both the pads and calipers are larger, you'll have a slight advantage in managing heat from high-speed stops, which is good for rotors, and it scrubs off high speed (but the decreased thickness w/ Monte/Impala rotors works against this).

In addition to the above things, the F-Body calipers are aluminum, which means even better heat dissipation. The F-Bodies also give you loads more pad options, including track compounds, so you can experiment. I am not sure if you get the same variety of pad options with the cast iron version. This is the main reason I did the mod, as it allowed me to eliminate warping under extreme abuse. It also lets me stop confidently from high speeds without fade. As much as I like the idea of 13" rotors, I really don't need them. And the pedal feel is debatable; I don't mind it. Once you get past the first .25" of stroke, there's nothing mushy about it.

Just want to correct some info in this thread. Upon further research it appears that the monte rotors are 1.19 in thick vs 1.27 for the fbody with both rotors being 11.9 inch in diameter. Also both the f-body and monte calipers have a 45mm piston bore vs 40.5mm for the corvette, which also uses f-body caliper brackets. Another thing I noted of interest is that ZZP has redesigned their f-body kit. Former kits used the sleeve method for mounting the caliper bracket which is allegedly a failure point but newer kits say they come with a 'new GM caliper bracket with the correct 14mm mounting holes'. Whether that means they've found a new source for them or they take a new bracket and drill it I don't know.

Good info, thanks. I'd bet ZZP just drills out the brackets themselves, unless the Monte/Impala bracket works with F-Body calipers. What other bracket could it be?

I've tried the sleeve mount method, and it's correct they do fail. Drilling and tapping the brackets is the only way to do this mod safely.

Yeah that was my thought too, either monte bracket or in-house re-drill. I'd love to be able to verify whether that monte bracket fits an f-body caliper but short of buying pieces to make a mock-up I don't know where to find the info. Another interesting thing to note is that on rockauto the camaro and corvette calipers are almost the same price with the exception of the core charge. Both list for about $55 but the f-body has an $8 core vs almost $50 for the vette.

I got mine for $100 used for the pair, including brackets, no core, from a salvage yard. I did a partial rebuild, as the pistons looked to be in good shape.

Sorry to revive an old thread. But, wondering if anyone has tried the Impala caliper upgrade yet? If I need to I can start a new thread and delete this response.

Derek wrote:

If anyone is interested I found the information about the impala brakes for auroras here: sorry for the long link

That's my thread.

Yeah, the Impala front calipers are a great, easy, cheap upgrade. Impala/Monte Carlo/Lucerne V6 will work with 16" wheels on late '96 (aluminum lower control arms) and up Auroras and I would think also Rivieras, although I don't know for a fact they fit on Rivieras. If you have 17" or bigger wheels you can use Buick Lucerne V8 Calipers and rotors, those are even bigger and also a bolt on upgrade.

These rules below apply to Auroras, but we have the same design, so I think it will be exactly the same for Riviera, but I don't know for fact.

On Auroras you need the '06 Impala caliper, caliper bracket, rotor and pads, if you have an Aurora earlier than '98 you have to change the brake dust shields or bend them a little, they changed the shield design in late '97, so some do have the '98 + shield design. It's all a bolt and bleed affair, very simple, no drilling. I used my stock brake lines, and bolts, too.

Calipers are cheap at salvage yards, I got my current set with brackets and rotors for $40, I put a set on my '97 Aurora and my brothers '06 Grand Prix which surprisingly still had the same caliper design as the original Aurora style. These caliper/bracket assembly are also all over ebay for $25 each, and also easy to track down on car-part.com.

When you do your brakes make sure and use caliper lube on pins and all pad contact points that could cause friction, except the pad surface area, lol. I have seen this before not too long ago. It is very important to properly torque your lug nuts, do it very carefully, don't overtorque and go over them twice, sometimes on aluminum wheels the first 2 bolts will loosen with the tightening of the others. If you don't torque your wheels properly your rotors will warp, 10 lbs off will warp your rotor. Properly torquing can sometimes even straighten a warped rotor, I have done it personally a few times.

Here is a link to my latest brake swap I did on my '97 Aurora with some more appropriate information. Wait, I am to newbie for that, maybe later, lol.

Hi Randy, and thanks for the info. I am interested in this caliper swap for our members, although I personally will keep using the F-Body aluminum 2-piston units (just ordered a new pair for this spring). This seems like a very cost-effective upgrade. Are the Monte calipers cast iron or aluminum?

RockAuto's cross-reference shows 97-99 Riviera and 97-03 Aurora calipers are interchangeable, so there's a very good chance the Monte brakes will fit.

Really appreciate you reviving this thread and making us aware of this mod. Hoping one of our members will try a pair and create a write-up. Randy, what would you guess are the total costs for the upgrade, including needed brackets and all modifications/parts?

Sweet. I'd like to know if they are lighter than the Fbods.

F-body calipers are 6 lb each compared to 9.65 lb ea for Monte. I'm guessing cast iron. Brackets are 3 lb for F-body, 4.7 lb for Monte.

F-body pads are 2.13 lb per wheel, Monte pads are 1.94 lb per wheel. This means F-Body pads are a bit larger. (OEM Riv pads weigh 1.90 lb per wheel)

Total weight for loaded F-body (est): 11.13 lb/wheel

Total weight for loaded Monte (est): 16.29 lb/wheel

Total weight for loaded OEM Riv (est): 15.8 lb/wheel

So according to AutoZone's weight spec, Monte calipers are about the same size as stock but add 2 pistons, so are heavier than stock and much heavier than F-Body. Still an upgrade over stock having 2 pistons, though.

Most importantly, F-Bodies will give you far more pad compound choices, by the very nature they were used on Camaros. Pretty much any type of race pad made will fit F-Body. According to Tire rack, the best pad you can buy for Monte is Hawk HP+, a good street/autocross pad, but not suitable for serious race-level stopping.

However, Monte rotors weigh only 18.8 lb ea vs. 19.8 lb per wheel for Riv and F-Body. Imo, you want more mass in the rotor to deal with heat and prevent warping, which our Rivs are known to do when braking hard.

Very good information. Thanks! I would check the Autozone website a little harder, the specs you posted are a little bit off. If you check the Impala rotors again, you will see that the severe duty rotors are the lighter version ??, lol, 55126SD 18.8 lbs, the regular rotor Autozone sells for '06 Impala weigh 19.329 lbs each. I have stock rotors, I did not buy aftermarket,, mine came off a wrecked Impala,, so mine could even be a different weight. Compared to the Aurora/Riviera rotor, they looked almost exactly the same as far as thickness and size go, there is just a slight different design, that's why you have to use the Impala rotor. Here they are stacked on top of each other. I think the Impala calipers are cast iron, I have not thought to check before. I also compared some weights of loaded calipers, they had a 2 different sets for the Aurora, the regular loaded caliper is 9.5 lbs, the super stop version, as they call it, is 15.5 lbs. That's quite a difference!

Impala rotor on top, Aurora rotor on the bottom.



One of the biggest differences I noticed was the pad size, the Impala front pads are way bigger in surface area than stock Aurora/Riviera pads. If you have bought any Autozone pads lately, you will notice they have an angle on each side, so when the pads are new they make a lot less surface contact, less braking area, and the pads wear out quicker. Junk. I would not buy them in my opinion. That could also have an effect on the weights Autozone have on their website, they have started doing this in the last year or so, so I don't know if that's taken into consideration with the weight of the pads.

Impala pad on the bottom, old style Aurora/Riviera Duralast gold on top, Duralast pads do not look like this anymore.



Auroras are also known to be hard on brakes, that's why I make sure they are torqued properly, 10 lbs off will warp the rotors. I have done many 0-100-0, the Impala brakes hold up great, I don't have any problems with them. The Riviera weighs 3,788 lb, the Aurora is 3,967 lb. I do like the idea of the F body calipers being lighter and more accessible to better parts. Braking is only as good as you tires, so for most people, upgrading the brakes will not make your car stop faster, but having bigger brakes will have less fade and longer pad and rotor life.

Some more pics.





Stock Aurora before.






Aurora with Impala caliper. Yeah, I know it should have been turned or polished, but I don't like the idea of having rotors turned, and the pads eventually polished it out. Feel free to give me crap about it, I understand. lol. Just to clear it up, I would not do brakes this way on a customers car. I have yet to also paint my new calipers, I need to get another set to paint and swap, I gave my brother my extra pair I had for that reason.






So, the total cost for me was $40, I used used stock gm pads too, so that saved me some money, labor to install was free, I do all my own work. I think most people could do this for $50-$200 depending on if you go with new or used parts.

Well.... some useful info here. Thanx.