Technical write-up

CTS-V Brake Upgrade: 4th Gen F-body

This is a basic write-up on the CTS-V V2 brake upgrade for the
th
4 gen F-body equipped with the 98-02 style uprights. I am not sure if
the rear brake upgrade will work on cars with the 4-channel
ABS/Traction control as this install was done on a 3-channel ABS car,
and modifications might need to be made.
Make sure that you have enough room to either side of the car to
remove the axle shafts from the rear end housing. You dont want to
get halfway into the removal process to find that your axle is hitting the
wall of your garage. Please make sure your car is supported on jack
stands or on a lift that allows the front and rear suspension to relax,
this makes the majority of the work much easier. If you just have a
bottle jack or some rigged means of supporting the car, do not
try to attempt any work on your carat all.
Not all 18 wheels are guaranteed to fit, especially depending on
spoke design and offset. Some have a high pad option to choose
from. Determine whether the wheels you plan to run ahead of time fit
or not. Some might fit with the use of a wheel spacer. That is all up to
you. Otherwise, you can contact your wheel manufacturer and they
can give you an idea if it will clear or not.
You might need to fine tune braking manners by running a more
aggressive brake pad up front and a less aggressive pad in the back
or utilize a proportioning valve if you perform an ABS delete. Pad
knockback can be prevalent on track or spirited driving when wheel
hubs are worn and rear end axle play is excessive even with the stock
floating calipers. This can be combated by using new replacement
components, tapping the brake pedal to seat the pads (common

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practice in road racing), anti-knockback springs installed in the
calipers or residual pressure valves in the main lines.
Machining necessary:
Modification to the existing uprights is necessary to fit the new caliper bolts as
well as the hub bore diameter on the CTS-V brake rotors. This requires you to drill the
two holes open a little on the spindle, you can use a 9/16 drill bit as listed above. You
can do this on the car, or off. I used a drill press to keep things squared, others have
freehanded it. Take your time; use some oil to help the bit do the work more efficiently.
If you arent sure of yourself in keeping it squared, you can have it opened up at a
machine shop (where youll need to go anyway for the rotors).

To have the rotor hubs opened up to fit the standard F-body bore, a machine
shop should be able to open up the CTS-V brakes up to match the hub bore of your car.
If youre not sure what diameter to use, you can take in your existing stock size f-body
rotors to get the hub bore diameter matched which for the late 4th gen is 70.7mm

Parts Used:

Adapter: A.I. Engineering Conversion from Big Brake Upgrade

Parts included in my order (can be custom tailored, just ask):
AIE Conversion brackets, Stainless rear lines, parking brake
cables, parking brake assembly w/ backing plates, hardware.

Front Rotors:
Optional 2-piece GM Part #20795300 and #20795302

Original 1-piece GM Part #25851237 (Left & right)

Rear Rotors: GM Part # 92245929

Front Calipers: (J56 Brembo)

GM Part # 22885106 & 22885108 RED
20982719 & 20982734 YELLOW
25912967 & 25912477 SILVER

Rear Calipers:
GM Part # 22885101 & 22885103 RED
20982644 & 20982647 YELLOW
25911233 & 25911138 SILVER

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Brake lines:
Front: Flynbye Performance #4GCTSVLINES6POT
Optional: Flyinbye Perf. Rear T block line #LS1REARTLINE

Pin/Caliper Kit: Front: GM Part #19264181

Rear: GM Part #19264180

Caliper Bolt: GM Part #11570788

Washers/spacers: Grade 8 M14 or washers

Drill bit: 9/16 Drill bit

MISC: Brake fluid, differential fluid + posi additive

OPTIONAL: Wilwood Residual Pressure valve: 2 x 260-13783
PFC Knockback Springs 2 x PFC900.900.106.02
1 x PFC900.900.106.01
Front Piston Bore: 38/34/30mm
Rear Piston Bore: 32/28mm
Strano Parts Master Cylinder Brace: SP9302

Front brakes:

Disassembly:

1) Raise car up safely where all four wheels are free to rotate. Securely placed jack
stands or a lift is preferred. It is easier to do the work on the rear end with the
rear axle left hanging and the jack stands or lift pads on the chassis.
2) Remove front wheels
3) Remove brake caliper and bracket from the spindle (two bolts), move the caliper
to the side for now without disconnecting the brake lines. This will cut down on
fluid loss and decrease the chance of you running the master cylinder dry.
4) Remove stock rotors; mark them for reference (LF/RF).
5) Using the 9/16 bit, open up the two spindle holes. Clean surface off/out and test
fit with new bolts, you can even test fit the calipers as well to make sure
everything sits flush on the machined pad on the spindle. Start of by hand
tightening so you dont cross thread that expensive caliper! Take caliper off once
youve made sure everything fits properly.

This is actually a great opportunity to install ARP wheel studs, especially if you
plan to use wheel spacers in the future or actually produce some respectable
horsepower. Just be careful with the wheel speed sensors.

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Assembly:

1) Install new rotor. I like to snug the rotor down onto the hub with some open end
lugnuts w/ washers as it is usually tight the first time. This will help with aligning
the caliper on the rotors.
2) Install new caliper. Use the spacers/washers to align the caliper to where it is
centered over the rotor. Torque to 96 lb ft.
3) Install brake pads.
4) Unbolt f-body brake line in the wheel-well; install new CTS-V conversion brake
line.

Rear Brakes:

Disassembly:

1) Drain differential fluid into a drain pan. While this goes on, move to #2.
2) Remove rear wheels.
3) Make sure parking brake is released, unbolt calipers, and move aside.
4) Remove rotors; mark (LR/RR).
5) Remove parking brake cables.
6) Remove thrust plate from differential or whatever retaining plate depending upon
the center section you have. You might need to put car in neutral.
7) Push on the axle hubs towards the centerline of the car, this will relax the c-clips.
Remove the c-clips (label left and right).
8) Remove axles (label left and right).
9) Remove backing plate from axle tube (4 bolts each side).

Once again, this is actually a great opportunity to install ARP wheel studs!

Assembly:

1) Rub some axle grease on the seals on the end of the axle tubes as well as the
bearings and axle splines (grease on the splines helps keep those c-clips from
falling off and helps keep the seals from leaking).
2) Install new AIE Brackets onto axle tube, caliper pads facing towards front of car.
3) Install CTS-V backing plates.
4) Reinstall axles, push in all the way but make sure you dont scratch the bearings
with the axle splines.
5) Install c-clips, then pull on axles to seat them. Reinstall thrust plate to spec.
6) Install CTS-V rotors.
7) Install CTS-V calipers. Hand tighten the bolts, then torque to 88 lb ft.
8) Run new parking brake cables. You may or may not need a return spring on the
end of these. Some brakes might return to neutral with ease, others might need

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 some extra persuasion. I used the springs off the original f-body cables and
installed them. You might need to adjust the parking brake cable for proper
engagement.
9) Install brake pads, then the new brake lines (I installed a braided T-line from the
chassis to axle so everything is completely upgraded).

Final steps:

1) Bleed brakes alternating inside caliper bleed screw, then outside. Starting from
passenger rear, drivers side rear, passenger side front, drivers side front. Do
this until fluid runs clear and you have a firm pedal.
2) Reinstall differential cover, refill.
3) Reinstall wheels.
4) Test brakes for safe operation!

Links businesses where parts were sourced:

1) Brackets, cables, backing plates:

http://www.bigbrakeupgrade.com/aiengineering.html

2) Rotors/Calipers/Pins/Pads:
http://sdparts.com/

3) Brake Hose/Adapters:
http://www.flynbye.com/

4) Strano Parts Master Cylinder Brace:

http://www.stranoparts.com

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dane Arnold
Social Media/Marketing, Tuner at TES Performance
Former VP of Mexico Racing League
All modifications done to my car were self-taught with
extensive research on parts selection beforehand,
built primarily in my two car garage.
I do some autocross racing in my spare time and now
slowly moving towards larger venues on the national
circuit as funding allows.

@ProjectWarShrike

@WarShrike

www.youtube.com/WarShrike

Anything worth doing, should be done to wretched excess.

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