# 4 disc brake upgrade



## Kinmartin0789 (Feb 18, 2011)

would anyone know how hard it would be to ugrade to 4 discs as opposed to the rear drums? i found these on ebay

Chevrolet Cruze 2011 Front Rear Brake Calipers Set OEM | eBay

what other parts would i need? in your guy's opinion is it worth it?


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## coinneach (Apr 10, 2012)

Personally, I wouldn't bother. There's too much that can go wrong for very little benefit. The Cruze doesn't carry a lot of weight in the back so the drums are perfectly adequate, as long as they're adjusted correctly.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

The LS/1LT already have some of the best braking distances in their class, even with the drum brakes. Why upgrade?


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

jblackburn said:


> The LS/1LT already have some of the best braking distances in their class, even with the drum brakes. Why upgrade?


I agree with that, but I would assume there would be some weight reduction switching & also a much higher/responsive brake pedal. There is also much less heat generated with discs(as it can dissipate quicker), so one could expect less brake fade with lots of hard braking. Usually easier changing brake parts down the road & never requires a torch to remove as most drums do after they have been on the car 80,0000+ miles.

Think I read on here that there is two different axles used on the rear of the cruze. If you have the correct one you just need all the parts which if I remember correctly also requires a change to the master cylinder or some other brake controller under the hood.


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

spacedout said:


> Think I read on here that there is two different axles used on the rear of the cruze. If you have the correct one you just need all the parts which if I remember correctly also requires a change to the master cylinder or some other brake controller under the hood.


You are correct. There are two different axles used on the Cruze's with rear drums. Only one axle is the same as the one used for disc brakes.

In order for the swap, the parts you need to replace/tune/modify are:
Rotors/Calipers/Pads/etc. (of course)
new brake lines (from the axle to the brakes)
brake monitor reprogramming
brake fluid cylinder replaced/modified.

I asked my dealership about it because I was interested in upgrading all four wheels to the ZZP drilled/slotted rotors in the future, and posted the info they gave me for others who had a similar idea.

From the pictures that he showed me, there is a universal axle that is used on both disc/drum rear brakes for the Cruze(the one needed if you want to make the switch). And there is another axle(for whatever reason), that was made specifically for drum brakes only. In which case your SOL unless you feel its necessary to replace the entire rear axle, which would just be insane(cost wise & sanity wise).


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

This is just a guess but if there are two axles, its probably one with the zlink & one without. So LS cruze & Eco stick cars probably could not do this upgrade. 

It that ends up being the case I think the 2013 cruze 1LT also does not get the zlink unless you have the RS package.


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## Kinmartin0789 (Feb 18, 2011)

I have a 2012 LT with RS im almost 100% i have the zlink so im not sure if that helps.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

jblackburn said:


> The LS/1LT already have some of the best braking distances in their class, even with the drum brakes. Why upgrade?


I have thought about upgrading myself but the my LS stops fine with rear drum. as coineach said probably not worth the money or time


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

easiest, and possibly cheapest, way to do it is just keep checking junkyards till you find a wrecked one with the Z-Link rear beam and buy the whole thing. Almost the entire rear beam is identical between cars, I think they are the same all the way to the backing plates. The rest of the parts bolt on

Edit: According to the parts catalog the rear beam with or without watts link is the exact same part. The Z-link suspension is all bolt on parts


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Patman said:


> I have thought about upgrading myself but the my LS stops fine with rear drum. as coineach said probably not worth the money or time


I'd agree with this statement. The drums are significantly larger than any other car I've seen with drums. They do a fine job at stopping the car on the street.


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

spacedout said:


> This is just a guess but if there are two axles, its probably one with the zlink & one without. So LS cruze & Eco stick cars probably could not do this upgrade.
> 
> It that ends up being the case I think the 2013 cruze 1LT also does not get the zlink unless you have the RS package.


Incorrect. Most of the cars WITH rear drums, are in fact, the LS/Eco, and I believe the 1LT(although i'm not sure on this). And Having an LS myself, I have the proper axle to swap my drums for disc brakes if I want to. Which, as stated above, I would get the ZZP kit;although that would only be for appearance for when I bring my Cruze to shows(which unless I randomly win the lottery, probably wont happen).


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## kizzy (Dec 31, 2014)

Has anyone actually made the switch? If so what were the results. Also I'd really like to hear whether or not you race your Cruze... Either track or street not discriminatory. .. just curious?


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

kizzy said:


> Has anyone actually made the switch? If so what were the results. Also I'd really like to hear whether or not you race your Cruze... Either track or street not discriminatory. .. just curious


not noticeable to me at this point maybe it will be later down line. But it looks better then the drums


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

spacedout said:


> I agree with that, but I would assume there would be some weight reduction switching & also a much higher/responsive brake pedal. There is also much less heat generated with discs(as it can dissipate quicker), so one could expect less brake fade with lots of hard braking. Usually easier changing brake parts down the road & never requires a torch to remove as most drums do after they have been on the car 80,0000+ miles.


Disc brakes actually generate more heat than drums do. The difference is that as hot metal expands the drum moves away from the lining making a longer brake pedal movement. Disc brakes on the other hand expand towards the lining. Disc will cool faster when the brake effort is released.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Already had to have my rear calipers replaced after a major battle, they refused to adjust.

Want 120 bucks each for these things and don't include the pad brackets nor the damper.










Are adjusted by working the parking brake that for whatever weird reason is also a self adjusting hand brake, more problems. What in the **** is wrong using a nut, only had to be adjusted maybe once or twice for the life of the vehicle. These damned things can slip. Least the rear calipers on the Cruze keep the car from coasting with the parking brake on hard. Took GM over ten years to get this right starting from 1978, don't have the surface area like drums have. Parking brake cables are also different, and the Cruze dumped the proportioning valves and are using the ABS instead to replace these. 

GM could never design rear calipers correctly and the Cruze is no exception, figure in the next year will be out another 250 bucks. Also did a terrible job on the drums, sure got it right in the 04 Cavalier, but really screwed up with the Cruze. Don't these guys know their history?

Those pad brackets with clips are a very bad idea, traps rust between the clips and the brackets that locks your pads. More than a yearly job to keep those clean. And going to weak drum return springs like used on the 41 Chevy was a very bad idea.

Dealers around here blame road salt as the problems, I don't put road salt on the roads, and the 04 Cavalier never had problems with road salt, the Cruze sure does. Ha, if you want to change your brakes, get some off an 04 Cavalier. Finally got that right over years, but then had to switch them.


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## DECruzer (Jul 19, 2015)

I can't believe that someone would want to go to the expensive and bother for this swap. Unless you take the car to the track, if it were me I would just upgrade the front pads and be done with it. Personally I've had great success with EBC products. If one does this just for appearance, that's nuts. IMO.


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## 170-3tree (Nov 4, 2014)

Gains would be minimal, I think I found that doing the swap was around $900. ZZPerformance's kit only fits sonic and they have zero interest in continuing development on Cruze parts from emails I've exchanged with them. If you want to blow that kinda coin, brake pads, and find someone to customize your shoes with better material.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Will the New Cruze body style catch the US up with the rest of the world and be all disc brakes standard?


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## Merc6 (Jun 8, 2013)

Aussie said:


> Will the New Cruze body style catch the US up with the rest of the world and be all disc brakes standard?


From what I remember, 1.4T and 4 Disc is across the trims.


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

NickD said:


> Already had to have my rear calipers replaced after a major battle, they refused to adjust.
> 
> Want 120 bucks each for these things and don't include the pad brackets nor the damper.
> 
> ...



Should have posted up I have an extra set with pads and brackets would have sold you both for 150 shipped


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## SneakerFix (Jul 28, 2013)

170-3tree said:


> Gains would be minimal, I think I found that doing the swap was around $900. ZZPerformance's kit only fits sonic and they have zero interest in continuing development on Cruze parts from emails I've exchanged with them. If you want to blow that kinda coin, brake pads, and find someone to customize your shoes with better material.


depends on how good you are at locating parts my rear swap was under $150 in parts I've also seen the price drop on the rear disc subframe to under $400. 


I had a set of custom lined rear shoes but I had issues with the adjustment of the drums and myself and another tech could never figure it out so gave up. 



DECruzer said:


> I can't believe that someone would want to go to the expensive and bother for this swap. Unless you take the car to the track, if it were me I would just upgrade the front pads and be done with it. Personally I've had great success with EBC products. If one does this just for appearance, that's nuts. IMO.


for me upgrading the front pads did nothing as far as feel so went to the Diesel fronts on 12" 5x105 rotors then swapped to the twin piston LS1 fronts. Both of those upgrades are better then just a pad swap and cost about the same. 

100% agree with you on the looks part


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

For us was cheaper to buy a 2LT plus all the other goodies rather than an Eco or LT1. Wasn't really happy the 2LT has rear disk calipers, but what the heck, put up with these things for over 30 years now, so what's a couple of more. 

I really love the four wheel disc on my 88 Supra, rear calipers are exactly like the fronts, not only inexpensive to replace, but inherently self adjustable. For the parking brake, have drums in the rear rotors. Completely independent of the disks, never wear out because only apply them when the car is parked. But know they are their in case of an emergency.

Major problem with GM is trying to combine the service and parking brake in one device. The negative part of the Supra is using the cradle type pad brackets with the clips that can bind the pads. Got around this by painting them and never driving this car on salted roads.

Cruze engineers did copy these cradle type pad holders from the Supra that for a daily driver is a lot more problems. But did not copy that independent drum type parking brake. So what can you say about Cruze engineers? Not very bright in my opinion when they copy the problems but do not copy the good stuff. 

Did try my Supra for stopping with the rear drum brakes, far more stopping power than with just tiny pads with minimal surface area, just in case the service brakes go out with a fluid leak than can happen at any time. 

Supra Turbo also came standard with ABS, has a plug on the ABS pump, can pull that and hit it with 12V for a very quick and bleed job. Cruze also has ABS, law now, but impossible to get at the pump wiring. Its just like they are trying their best to make life a lot more miserable than it already is.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

The Commodore 3.8 V6 I owned before the Cruze had twin piston front brakes and the drum in disc rear handbrake standard. The rear brakes were as easy as the fronts to change pads on. Only ever changed the pads on the rear in 250,000km. I put better rotors on the front at around 200,000km. Apart from that I had no brake issues. We don't have to worry about winter salt though, so that helps.


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