By far, one of the most rewarding upgrades someone can make on their vehicle is brakes. Let’s come to a quick understanding: If you haven’t been directly affected already, stock brakes on 1988-98 Chevy are not a favorite. Sure, there are tips, tricks, and a million how-to YouTube videos on adjusting and reusing GM brake parts to more affordably fit your needs and get you by. But when you are simply tired of random brake fade, weird noises, ugly drum brakes, and constant adjustment, a disc brake upgrade all around is the easiest solution. It may sound scary to most to completely tear off the die-hard GM brakes, but by popular opinion over the years, a disc brake upgrade is not only less maintenance, but incredibly easier and cleaner to work on.
Start the takeoff of your stock brakes, including the spindle.
America’s most beloved and utilized truck deserves better braking power, especially when some are pushing 500-plus horsepower. But who to rely on with a complete kit that doesn’t require crazy and unnecessary work? Well, with over 20-plus years of experience installing Wilwood products on high-performance muscle cars, everyday driver trucks, and hot rods, to us it was more a question of what do they offer for 1988-98 Chevy trucks? Fortunately, we learned last year of their new XRS calipers rolling out: a street version of the XRZ race calipers with a forged aluminum body, increased caliper stiffness, and just as lightweight.
Our original spindle is Belltech, the most common choice for a “sport truck” and the geometry versus Wilwood is almost identical, with a main difference being the provisions made for stronger caliper mounting—(two) 5/8-18 bolts create a sturdier mount point.
We installed this kit with control arms that had been modified for a “body-dropped” truck and Belltech spindles, and as we expected it did not require us to do any modifying to make the new spindle fit. We always recommend following the very informative and helpful instructions provided with each kit and always reach out to the Wilwood team if for some reason you may be having trouble. Remember that we may have done a few things a little differently than the instructions; be sure to assess appropriately and do what works for you.
After removing the stock spindle, slide the Wilwood spindles on just as you would the stock ones—they fit exactly the same—and bolt them on for good. Be sure to take the time to replace any bad ball joints or boots.
In this “brakedown” install, you will see just how well Wilwood delivered on putting together an exceptionally nice, high-performance, straightforward install you can 100 percent do in your home garage—just like us! Stay tuned for next month when we wrap up the rear discs and install Wilwood’s proprietary master cylinder.
Apply a small amount of grease on your spindle shaft ahead of time before sliding the bearing/hub on.We decided to use the wheel as a vise to prevent damage to the hub and confirm the lug pattern needed. You do not have to do it this way, but however you choose, just make sure the bolt pattern is correct and you don’t damage the hub.Once the lug pattern is confirmed, remove studs one by one and reinstall using red Loctite and supplied torq specs from Wilwood.
While the wheel was on ground, we decided it would be easier to assemble the rotors to help prevent unnecessary damage. Using blue Loctite on each stud, torq to supplied specs. Again, not everyone has to do it this way, it’s just a preference. For added safety you can safety wire the bolts per Wilwood’s instruction.The fun part! To each their own on this process, just make sure it’s packed full. Always use a high-temp wheel bearing grease.Set your hub on a flat surface, lay your bearing inside, lay your seal on top, and gently tap the surface edge in a square pattern to ensure evenness on the way down. You will know you are done when it stops moving. Do the same for the ABS pickup ring as pictured.Slide the hub onto the spindle until it bottoms out. Adding everything we just did will give it a snug fit as you push it on.Install the front bearing—packed with high-temp grease—push inside until it sits against the race inside.Install supplied spindle washer, nut, and cotter pin. Tighten the castle nut until there is no play in the bearing and it still spins freely.Loosely install the caliper bracket to check fitment, slide your rotor on, and use your lug nuts so the rotor is seated against the hub.Slide the caliper on—it’s just that simple. Studs on the bracket help guide it into place. Snug the provided 12-point nut for now.Using supplied shims from Wilwood, space your caliper bracket until both brake pads are centered on the rotor. Remove the caliper and install pads using retainer pins. Take out and reinstall hardware with red Loctite and supplied torq specs.
Install the brake line fitting supplied by Wilwood using thread sealer. You can do this before or after the install.Wilwood also supplies a braided stainless soft line allowing for suspension travel.To adapt the Wilwood soft line to the factory steel brake line, use the supplied adapter and retainer clip in the kit.Take this time to get your wheel on, check brake backspacing and overall wheel backspacing. Visually this setup is a significant upgrade. In just a matter of a few hours, the frontend is completely transformed. This new caliper is called the XRS, a street version of the XRZ calipers, just as light and stiff with the same cooling benefits. Offered in a variety of custom color combinations, we chose Infineon Blue with white writing. Wilwood is proving once again why they are number 1 at a reliable, proven, and stylish yet simple brake upgrade.
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