Big brake retrofit for 2500 trucks?

[Rayyy]

As I’m sure you’re all aware of the big brake swap possible to simply bolt on the larger rotors and 4 piston calipers from 2019-2021 Silverado onto 1999-2014 1500 trucks…

But, I’m wondering if a similar upgrade exists for the 2500 trucks?

I believe the 2019+ Silverado/Sierra 2500 trucks also have 4 piston calipers…

Would those rotors/calipers fit NBS/NNBS 2500 trucks??

 

[strutaeng]

Someone posted the same question on the performancetruck.net forum a few months ago.

IIRC, no one over there was aware of such upgrade for the 8 lug trucks...

I can't recall if it has to do with the change in lug nut change in like 2011.

They do have aftermarket brake upgrades though.

 

[Rayyy]

Someone posted the same question on the performancetruck.net forum a few months ago.

IIRC, no one over there was aware of such upgrade for the 8 lug trucks...

I can't recall if it has to do with the change in lug nut change in like 2011.

They do have aftermarket brake upgrades though.

Interesting. Ya aftermarket is cool, but I prefer oem retrofit.

What lug nut change took place in 2011?

 

[strutaeng]

Interesting. Ya aftermarket is cool, but I prefer oem retrofit.

What lug nut change took place in 2011?

They changed the lug nut pattern to metric (8x6.5 to 8x180 according to Google). So the newer wheels won't work on the older trucks and vice versa. Unless you run adapters.

Now it does look like the 2011+ they got new frame, suspension, lug nut pattern and larger brakes, but body remained the same.

 

[intheburbs]

I hate the brakes on my half-ton trucks. Best way I can describe it is they're "under braked." Rotors prone to warping, excessive pad wear (even with ceramics) and they just seem to need more-frequent maintenance/replacement.

My 2001 half-ton Suburban has the JC5 braking system (7200 lbs) and a 7200-lb GVWR. 4-wheel discs. Zero "excess capacity."
My 2009 Denali has the JD9 7700-lb braking system, and a 7,000-lb GVWR. 10% "excess capacity."
My 2008 Suburban 2500 has the JH6 9900-lb braking system, and an 8600-lb GVWR. 15% "excess capacity," plus the added benefit of hydroboost vs vacuum-assist.

I've logged tens of thousands of miles towing with my 2500 at (or even a little above) max-GVWR/GCWR. I also frequently tow a 6x12 enclosed cargo trailer that weighs about 4,000 lbs and has no trailer brakes. In no situation have I ever felt like the brakes are inadequate, and the first time I had to do any brake work was after I'd put over 100k miles on it. I bought it used with 106k on the odometer in 2013, and the first brake work I did was a complete replacement - high-pressure hoses, master cylinder, pads, rotors and calipers - at 210k miles in 2021. And frankly, that was only because I felt like it was "due," not because something was going wrong. So 8 years and 100k miles without needing to do anything to the brakes.

I didn't even bother doing any research on an upgrade for the 2500 brakes. Completely satisfied with their performance. Now, if you're running a lift and bigger tires and still want to tow, then sure, maybe an upgrade is in order. But if you're running stock tires/suspension like me, then the stock braking system (like most other critical components of the truck) is overkill.

The only common "upgrade" I've seen is installing a 2011+ hydroboost unit into the 2000-2010 trucks. Only modification needed is to enlarge the hole in the floorboard to accommodate the slightly larger-diameter rod that connects to the brake pedal. This allegedly gives a stiffer/better pedal feel compared to the alleged squishiness of the OEM 2000-2010 booster pedal feel. Myself, I noticed a big difference when I installed all of my new components without upgrading to the 2011+ booster.

 

[Charlie207]

As I’m sure you’re all aware of the big brake swap possible to simply bolt on the larger rotors and 4 piston calipers from 2019-2021 Silverado onto 1999-2014 1500 trucks…

But, I’m wondering if a similar upgrade exists for the 2500 trucks?

I believe the 2019+ Silverado/Sierra 2500 trucks also have 4 piston calipers…

Would those rotors/calipers fit NBS/NNBS 2500 trucks??

Is it only the front brakes that can be upgraded with 2019+ calipers/rotors?

 

[Rayyy]

Is it only the front brakes that can be upgraded with 2019+ calipers/rotors?

If you’re referring to the 1500 trucks, then yes.

However, most NBS (00-06) 1500 trucks came with dual piston rears, which are arguably better than the subsequent calipers, so a refresh on the rears is all you need anyway.

Keep in mind you’ll need 20”+ rims in order to fit over the big calipers (along with ideally the 1.34” bore brake MC from an NBS Escalade and hydroboost to make them really chirp).

Btw I didn’t go with the 2019+ upgrade on my NBS 1500 because of how pricy the parts were at the time…

Instead I installed the NNBS (07-14) calipers/rotors… Super easy swap, much cheaper and it’s the best braking setup I’ve ever had on any truck ever.

 

[Rayyy]

I’m thinking that since the 2020+ 2500HD trucks are heavier, even the dual piston brakes gotta be designed with better stopping power.

I’m thinking of just biting the bullet and seeing if they will fit… Maybe I just need some spacers for the mounting bolts.

 

[Charlie207]

If you’re referring to the 1500 trucks, then yes.

However, most NBS (00-06) 1500 trucks came with dual piston rears, which are arguably better than the subsequent calipers, so a refresh on the rears is all you need anyway.

Keep in mind you’ll need 20”+ rims in order to fit over the big calipers (along with ideally the 1.34” bore brake MC from an NBS Escalade and hydroboost to make them really chirp).

Btw I didn’t go with the 2019+ upgrade on my NBS 1500 because of how pricy the parts were at the time…

Instead I installed the NNBS (07-14) calipers/rotors… Super easy swap, much cheaper and it’s the best braking setup I’ve ever had on any truck ever.

View attachment 410777

I do have 20" wheels on my 2014, so that's cool.

Anecdotally, I've never been in a hard-breaking situation where I felt like I needed more brake hardware; they clamp the rotors just fine. Tires are always been the weak point in any braking situation, so I try to run good stuff.

Here's a fun video if you want to geek-out:

 

[calsdad]

I did a bunch of research to see if there was any path to using OEM to put bigger brakes on my 2010 2500 series Yukon XL - and could not find anything that was "easy". I think it's the 2011 and newer trucks that use the new metric bolt pattern and I recall seeing a lot of people saying they liked the braking performance on the later trucks - but I couldn't find out conclusively if there was a bolt-on upgrade path to do this. I thought maybe swapping hubs out on the front or something might do it - but never could track down whether this was true or not. For the rear axle it would likely be straightforward to just swap out the hubs themselves to ones that used the new bolt pattern - therefore allowing you use later year brakes as a bolt-on. But again - couldn't find the info to prove it would work - and wasn't willing to spend money on buying parts just to see if they would fit.

So.... I ended up swapping out all the factory brakes on that 2010 for the Wilwood big brake kit. It was expensive - but swapping out all the parts that would have allowed me to go all OEM would have been expensive as well. I've had the brakes on the truck for I think about four years now - and they haven't had any problems. I do think the braking performance was noticeably improved over the original brakes. But I never tried optimizing what was on there prior to doing this either. The brakes on my truck were worn out - when I upgraded to the Wilwoods, so they may not have been at optimum performance.

Part of the reason I wanted larger / higher-performing brakes was that I had been using the truck for commuting in heavy rush hour traffic for a while and had a couple of close calls where it almost didn't stop in time when traffic came to a screeching halt. The Wilwoods definitely fixed that problem.