Posted by Pioneer on October 11, 19100 at 07:25:11:
As promised I am letting you know how the conversion on my 96 K1500 burb went. I purchased a drum to disc
conversion kit through Stainless Steel Brakes (800 448 7722), it (kit #a126-4) ran $795 + tax and shipping. I
planned to install it myself. I AM GLAD I DIDN"T! Mike a mechanic at a small garage near me spent
7 hours trying to make it work. He indicated to me that the instructions were very non-vehicle specific and were
not consistent with the illustrations. So do it yourselfers be warned. The slotted rotors that came in the kit
both turned out to be warped out of the box. We found this out well into the install so we had no choice
but to put them on anyway. Also we were forced to fabricate brackets to secure the brake lines to the
body, I thought this was something that should have been in the kit. After the kit was installed we found
the emergency brake cable was rubbing on the inside of the tire, this is something else that should be paid
close attention too. We had to really work to get enough length out of the drivers side e-brake cable in
order to attatch it to the caliper. I also had Mike flush the system wit dot 4 brake fluid and install a set
of Praise Dyno pads on front. After it was all done the brakes other than being warped felt better.
On a scale of one to ten I would say a seven compared to a five before the install.
Monday morning I called Stainless and informed them that the rotors were warped, the person I talked to
who never announced his name was very unhelpful. He told me that I would have to pay to ship the
SUSPECTEDLY bad rotors back to him and that THEY would determine IF they would give me a credit.
I told him that the were on my truck as I had no choice but to install them, he then was very unsure
on wether or not he could even help me. He wanted to know how he was to be sure that I didnt warp the
rotors. I explained that I had the rotors on for a day and that there wasn't any chance that
I had warped them. Mike and I had put the rotors on the brake lathe and seen the wobble from side to
side. The customer service person reiterated that I would have to ship them there and if I wanted
replacements I would have to buy them first, and they would determine wether or not to credit me toward
the purchase. I was pissed!
I decided to call back about 4 hours later (after I cooled off) and talk to Shawn the rep who sold me the kit.
He was alot nicer about it but the end result was the same. I bought new rotors for 62.50 each (their cost)
and he asked me to use the box from those to send old rotors back on their dime.
Was it worth it?
To me it was, stopping better is very important. The install time on this kit was a conservitive 6 hours
mostly due to the poor directions. A better kit like the one Stillen makes may take less time therefore
less money to install.
mods: cost:
Stainless Kit A126-4
+shipping and tax 795.50
replacement rotors 125.00
Praise Dyno Pads 96.00
Install of kit for rear,
Install front Praise
pads turn rotors
front, brake flush 528.46
Total 1544.96 OWCH!