Thread: Stupid brakes are spungy

Actually....if you upgrade to the Stainless brake lines, it takes a lot of that spongey-ness out of it.

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Fbody brakes would make it worse because they have larger pistons I believe and they brake booster would not handle it well. They will work and stop the car, but if you think OEM ones are spongy, the Fbody brakes will be worse. I can see where one would consider our brakes spongy, but they are no worse than any other cars Ive been in.

They have two pistons, but smaller than the one single stock one, but require more fluid to move them both = spongy brakes. If you do the F-Body brakes, you MUST run stainless brake lines to firm them back up.

The GF's GTP has some of the firmest brakes I have ever set up. I powder coated and rebuilt her calipers at least 4 years ago now, and still going strong. I believe the shape and condition of the master cylinder, and brake booster have a lot to do with brakes and how they preform.

Mine are soft compared to hers, but still firmer than other cars I have driven.

~F~

I run the Goodridge SS lines I bought through PFYC.com.

They are stock W-Body lines, and the fronts were just a little shorter for my liking, so what I did was "adjust" / "massage" the brake line hanger thats attached to the body so the line was relaxed at full extension of the strut, and also adjusted the bracket to make sure the line would not rub the tire turning one direction or the other.

It took some work and time to do it, but they work just fine.

~F~

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

I run the Goodridge SS lines I bought through PFYC.com.

They are stock W-Body lines, and the fronts were just a little shorter for my liking, so what I did was "adjust" / "massage" the brake line hanger thats attached to the body so the line was relaxed at full extension of the strut, and also adjusted the bracket to make sure the line would not rub the tire turning one direction or the other.

It took some work and time to do it, but they work just fine.

~F~

if you get a chance, do you think you could snap a picture of the end shape of the bracket that mouns to the body for the line ?

Originally Posted by hercman

How old is the brake fluid?

Brake fluid over time does collect water which dilutes the brake fluid reducing it's ability to "push" the pistons.

That was my first thought when I hear spongy brakes!! Change your brake fluid, it made a huge difference when I did a brake job on the 'ole GTP.

I'm sure SS brake lines also lead to big improvement in feel, but I can't speak to that from experience. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Crap, I was going to get all excited. How can it be smaller and you still need to take out the EGR?

.... you still have to take out the old one, you know

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Yeah, but I dont want to permanently remove my EGR, at least no yet anyway. But if that booster works better, then I want to get my hands on one for sure.

no, i think he meant that it would only take 20 mins to swap if the EGR was not in the way of removal/install.



here's a picture of one of the impala boosters installed in a grand prix.. egr and all

Originally Posted by SyntheticShield

Oh, well call me a Moron, I completely missed that inference.

Toasty, do you have this installed in your car? If so what did everything cost you? Any write ups on the process?

no, i dont. someone on one of the regional GP boards swapped it out, but only gave like 4 pictures. didnt give any more info :/


as far as a write up, i'd immagine it'd go something like this:


get associated parts to do the swap
procrastinate about actually doing work
start swap
loose blood, sweat, tears, and skin
remove old booster
rest and recuperate
install new booster
loose more blood, sweat, tears, and skin
test drive with big smile on face
clean up
colapse, vowing to never do that again