VrWagz1
The Wagon on Wheels..
- Joined
- May 5, 2008
- Messages
- 2,438
- Reaction score
- 29
- Points
- 48
- Location
- wollongong
- Members Ride
- VE SSV MY09 Auto Wagon
Ok, so got some mad awesome Brembo calipers and rotors off FleaBay. They were used but otherwise ok, and came only with the rubber brake line still attached and bracket, nothing else.
Problems I found
- Caliper Bolts are different: The thread that holds the calipers onto the car is in the caliper itself, and not just a clearance hole to bolt down into the car hub assembly. As such Calipers off a VE S2 Redline are a M12x1.75mmx45mm Thread. VE S1 are M12x1.5mmx45mm. You will need this GM P/N:92139080. This is the new correct bolt. x4(2 each side)
*Just as a side note, i cant verify this as i havnt seen it myself, but apparently anything off a VF has a 14mm Caliper bolt which would mean drilling out your hubs caliper mount holes from 12mm to 14mm clearance.....somthing i would say NO to.
- Steel Brake lines on S2 VE redline have a different flare in the female end that bolts to the rubber caliper line under the gaurd, compared to VE S1. While the VE S2 rubber Brembo line fitting screws in a few turns still, it dosnt seal at all as it is a ball flare on VE S1 and in the end of the factory Brembo lines its different(not sure what it is...but its no good).
On the caliper end there is a different size (in length only) banjo fitting too: Ok, to explain(refer pic below). I didnt want to undo the rubber lines on the Brembo calipers initially as they were second hand units, already had factory VE S2 rubber lines attached, and mainly due to not wanting to replace the copper washers(that i didnt have on hand). But I had since already abandon this idea due to the incorrect flare issue mentioned above. So to get around this whole problem so i could get these things on and going, I just dock the end off my factory VE S1 rectangular banjo fittings with a hacksaw to make it square shaped(again see pic below), its easy and took like 30sec in a vice with a hacksaw. This basically makes it identical to bolt straight up to the brembo caliper, and problem sorted.
So long story short just use your factory S1 VE lines on your car and dock just a few mm off the end of the banjo fitting and it will bolt straight onto the Brembo caliper. see pic =1000words ect....
- Wheel off-set measurements, and found wheels dearer then brakes. Also very hard to find reasonable solid info on what wheels will definatly fit:
So the usual question, will my wheels fit. Most likely the answer is no if you are doing this upgrade as you likely dont have a VE/VF redline (or HSV) already with correct wheels. The problem is not size either (although 19"s atleast will be needed). Its the off-set of the wheel. So basically buy anything HSV/hsv replica, as they have these/similar calipers fitted from the factory. Or buy known Redline wheels(which are those hideous chrome ones), so NOT SS/SSV/Calais ect... these wont fit. If you have after market wheels and want to measure them, heres what i found is the measurements using my own misfortunes.
You will need a straight edge(nothing flash, just maybe a new hacksaw blade that sits flat on its side), a school ruler and a texta.
On the straight edge(hacksaw blade) measure 125mm from 1 end and mark with a texta. Now get your wheel and lay it face down on the ground(so the face that bolts to your hub is facing up). Lay your hacksaw blade across the face of wheel that bolts to the hub and try to get your texta mark in the exact center of the wheel, and let the end you measured from hang out over one of you spokes(like a clock hand).
Using your school ruler measure directly down at 90degrees from this end of the hacksaw blade to the high point of your spoke. You will likely get a measurement around 35mm if you have normal wheel. From my experience(i used spacers on my 3rd party wheels, on the hoist to work this out) you need around 46-47mm on this measurement to the spoke to clear the calipers. Obviously use some common sense here if you have any high points in some odd ball lightning bolt wheels with chrome bits going everywhere. You might have to measure a few points on your wheels. I have 12mm of spacers in this pic to get the required off-set to get these to sit over the calipers. However even if I/you wanted to be shonky and do this there was no thread left on the studs to get the wheel nuts on more then about 2 threads. (also note the scratch line in dust in the rim where the ruler sits, this is where the caliper started fouling.) Which is the 125mm mark from the center of the wheel.
Im going to bed now and will edit/format/spell check this more tomoz. This might just help someone out. I could seriously not find anyone that had the actual mm off-set needed to fit these calipers.
Problems I found
- Caliper Bolts are different: The thread that holds the calipers onto the car is in the caliper itself, and not just a clearance hole to bolt down into the car hub assembly. As such Calipers off a VE S2 Redline are a M12x1.75mmx45mm Thread. VE S1 are M12x1.5mmx45mm. You will need this GM P/N:92139080. This is the new correct bolt. x4(2 each side)
*Just as a side note, i cant verify this as i havnt seen it myself, but apparently anything off a VF has a 14mm Caliper bolt which would mean drilling out your hubs caliper mount holes from 12mm to 14mm clearance.....somthing i would say NO to.
- Steel Brake lines on S2 VE redline have a different flare in the female end that bolts to the rubber caliper line under the gaurd, compared to VE S1. While the VE S2 rubber Brembo line fitting screws in a few turns still, it dosnt seal at all as it is a ball flare on VE S1 and in the end of the factory Brembo lines its different(not sure what it is...but its no good).
On the caliper end there is a different size (in length only) banjo fitting too: Ok, to explain(refer pic below). I didnt want to undo the rubber lines on the Brembo calipers initially as they were second hand units, already had factory VE S2 rubber lines attached, and mainly due to not wanting to replace the copper washers(that i didnt have on hand). But I had since already abandon this idea due to the incorrect flare issue mentioned above. So to get around this whole problem so i could get these things on and going, I just dock the end off my factory VE S1 rectangular banjo fittings with a hacksaw to make it square shaped(again see pic below), its easy and took like 30sec in a vice with a hacksaw. This basically makes it identical to bolt straight up to the brembo caliper, and problem sorted.
So long story short just use your factory S1 VE lines on your car and dock just a few mm off the end of the banjo fitting and it will bolt straight onto the Brembo caliper. see pic =1000words ect....
- Wheel off-set measurements, and found wheels dearer then brakes. Also very hard to find reasonable solid info on what wheels will definatly fit:
So the usual question, will my wheels fit. Most likely the answer is no if you are doing this upgrade as you likely dont have a VE/VF redline (or HSV) already with correct wheels. The problem is not size either (although 19"s atleast will be needed). Its the off-set of the wheel. So basically buy anything HSV/hsv replica, as they have these/similar calipers fitted from the factory. Or buy known Redline wheels(which are those hideous chrome ones), so NOT SS/SSV/Calais ect... these wont fit. If you have after market wheels and want to measure them, heres what i found is the measurements using my own misfortunes.
You will need a straight edge(nothing flash, just maybe a new hacksaw blade that sits flat on its side), a school ruler and a texta.
On the straight edge(hacksaw blade) measure 125mm from 1 end and mark with a texta. Now get your wheel and lay it face down on the ground(so the face that bolts to your hub is facing up). Lay your hacksaw blade across the face of wheel that bolts to the hub and try to get your texta mark in the exact center of the wheel, and let the end you measured from hang out over one of you spokes(like a clock hand).
Using your school ruler measure directly down at 90degrees from this end of the hacksaw blade to the high point of your spoke. You will likely get a measurement around 35mm if you have normal wheel. From my experience(i used spacers on my 3rd party wheels, on the hoist to work this out) you need around 46-47mm on this measurement to the spoke to clear the calipers. Obviously use some common sense here if you have any high points in some odd ball lightning bolt wheels with chrome bits going everywhere. You might have to measure a few points on your wheels. I have 12mm of spacers in this pic to get the required off-set to get these to sit over the calipers. However even if I/you wanted to be shonky and do this there was no thread left on the studs to get the wheel nuts on more then about 2 threads. (also note the scratch line in dust in the rim where the ruler sits, this is where the caliper started fouling.) Which is the 125mm mark from the center of the wheel.
Im going to bed now and will edit/format/spell check this more tomoz. This might just help someone out. I could seriously not find anyone that had the actual mm off-set needed to fit these calipers.
Last edited:
.