So I'm seriously thinking of doing a conversion/upgrade on my 07 lt but I am new to the modding community and need some help. If you guys could point me in the right direction I would be ecstatic as this is one of the few areas of upgrading the car I am extremely unsure of.

 

Do you have ABS on your car? I did the swap on my 07 lt so I'm sure I can answer just about any question you have. But I ask that because mine did not and the brembos are so grabby that they locked up and caused me to slide and actually ended up totaling the car. The brake pedal was like a switch. I either wasn't using the brakes at all or when I touched them, they locked. For that reason I wouldn't recommend them without ABS. On my LNF with ABS, its a completely different feel

 

here is all of the parts and install directions.

Brembo Brake Upgrade Kit for LSJ's BBUK

 

You had other issues including driver mod ones then...

 

If you don't have ABS upgrading to the LSJ setup improves stopping a good amount also without making them light switches. It's also a straight forward swap if you have the 5lug

 

 

Pretty sure ABS would have nothing to do with the "feel" of the pedal.

 

No other issues. Everything worked perfectly fine before the swap. If you consider lightly tapping the brake pedal and them locking instantly a driver mod problem, then be my guest and try to drive one with the brakes swapped. I'm the one who has driven that car and now drive my current one and I can tell you that they aren't the same. Even when I had a bad wheel speed sensor on the LNF that caused the ABS to not work properly, I've never had it's brakes lock up

 

It sounds like something was wrong with the Brembo setup on your LSJ. As you probably know since you now have an LNF, it's not easy at all to invoke ABS. In fact, I've tracked my car pretty hard for about 5 years now with R-comp tires and have very rarely had ABS kick in on a dry road track...

 

Yeah maybe it was more a brake bias issue.

You put big ass brakes up front. Did you upgrade the rear?

Otherwise you had uneven braking and would spin out easily like that.

 

The LSJ rears are find for Brembos in the front. I have driven a few Brembo swapped LSJ cars. You had a bias issue with yours. Something got messed up on the install.

 

Normally you're fine going big up front and small in the rear since a majority of the braking is with the fronts. If the fronts lock you just go straight (sliding surfaces travel faster than rolling, hence tire shops putting high wear tires on the front not the rear) now if you turn your wheel while locked then let up you're looking for a bad time.

I'm waiting for Powell to chime in, I know he's swapped a few base models over to the Brembos and I'm fairly certain he said non-abs is easier to swap

 

I didn't have an LSJ, I think that's part of this confusion. I did swap the rears from drums to LSJ rears but I do agree that there might have been a bias issue but my guess is that it was because of the way the car was setup originally from the factory, not from install. I don't imagine anyone with an LSJ would have issues but I just said I wouldn't recommend swapping them onto a base model. Maybe LSJ brakes all around as ECaulk suggested but not the brembos. They are great brakes, no doubt, but not something that should just be thrown on any car because they bolt up. Obviously, I learned that the hard way

 

@sc4door, I am really surprised you had problems with your swap. I have a base 2006 LS with no ABS and I did the Brembo and LNF rear axle beam swap.

Haven't had any problems since doing the swap this past May. I am really curious as to what was causing your brake problems.

 

I probably has a bias issue with the MC.

 

My only guess is that it must've been a bias issue. Like colodude said above, I've almost never engaged the ABS on my LNF

 

Lever engaged the ABS!!!!!

I think everyone should experience that.

Also having the ESC activate during a hard corner. Such a weird feeling.

 

I've had the ESC engage while cornering before but never felt the ABS engage. I agree, the ESC feels strange

 

You should strive never to have the ABS engage. It's a fail safe. Braking at the limit of traction will give you much better maneuverability than while ABS is engaged. It's better than locking up, but not much...

As for ESC, if you have half a set of driving skills, I recommend turning that **** off when you're driving hard on a canyon road or around a track. Nothing worse than the car unexpectedly "helping you" when you're countering rotation and have things under control...

 

Thank you for the info sc, I just went to the dealership today because I was not sure if I had ABS or not(newb I know) but they had to call GM to find out as it was apparently an option in 07 and down. But I would enjoy asking you how you did it and what you recommend instead of that seeing how it didn't pan out well for you. Like they say, learn from others mistakes. Unfortunately yours was a pretty bad one!

 

Sooo... how would one adjust the brake bais? I had heard that it was not possible on a cobalt

 

14.5 inch Front Brake Kit

For the price I'm digging this kit more

 

I'd maybe recommend the LSJ brakes like ECaulk said because it would be a big upgrade without being overkill. To do the swap you'll need:

• LSJ hubs
• New wheels (since you'll be convertint to 5 lug)
• LSJ front and rear calipers
• LSJ front and rear rotors
• LSJ front and rear pads
• LSJ front and rear brake hoses
• Powell's rear disc conversion brackets or an LSJ rear axle beam

After you get the parts it's a simple swap, just like doing any normal brake job. You can PM me if you have any questions

You can't adjust it. My guess is that the bias is different between the master cylinders on a base model and an SS so there's always the option to swap if that is the case

 

If he already has the 5lug bolt pattern there is no need for the lsj hubs from the front end and fairly certain the back end also. No need for the LSJ front brake lines either, same setup as the base (I literally bolted the LSJ caliper in the same place, used new crush washers, new rotor and pads worked like a charm)

 

You would have to install a bias adjustment console and modify the master cylinder.