GTO Brake SWAP LOG.

[k0yla]

Originally Posted by CateraMV6

Nope if your inners are ok you dont have to change them just unbolt the middle piece and unscrew the outer tie rod end... and reverse with the new one..

BTW lift the car up and grab the wheel with your hands on 3 and 9 oclock and pull back and forth and you will feel if the tie rods are bad... then you can have someone stick their head under and watch the ball joints the one that is bad will move...

If everything is tight and there is no play dont bother changing them...

What ever you do dont take it to the stealership cuz they will charge you for laber and then they will force you to do alignment whcih can worsen things because apparently they dont know how to fix our cars... go figure.

yeah, you're right. they said it will be 4 hours labor, plus the alignment and the remaining parts.
i just had them do the idler arm, which they finished in 10 mins but charged me $136.
see, the reason why i've been thinking it is the outer tie-rod ends that are bad is because the steering wheel gets a violent shake in between the speed of 43.5mph and 49.7mph. right after i pass 50mph, the shake stops. or if i drop the speed to lower than 43.5 mph, the shake would also stop.
the car vibrates at high speeds, but not as violently as the aforementioned speeds.

[CateraMV6]

Originally Posted by k0yla

yeah, you're right. they said it will be 4 hours labor, plus the alignment and the remaining parts.
i just had them do the idler arm, which they finished in 10 mins but charged me $136.
see, the reason why i've been thinking it is the outer tie-rod ends that are bad is because the steering wheel gets a violent shake in between the speed of 43.5mph and 49.7mph. right after i pass 50mph, the shake stops. or if i drop the speed to lower than 43.5 mph, the shake would also stop.
the car vibrates at high speeds, but not as violently as the aforementioned speeds.

I had similar vibrations but mine was from the tires which were out of shape... new tires fixed everything...

I can feel some sort of looseness in the steering and actual tapping when I go over bumps thats why I changed the outer tie rod end now it feels stiff as new...

[CateraMV6]

Some of the latest photos. Also now that the brakes have broken in... the car has changed entirely, coming to a dead stop is no longer a challenge... I love them. GTO Brakes
The other day they got me out of a 4 car pile up... the trafic up ahead all the sudden stopped and the 4 cars in front of me nailed each other , i managed to stop 4 feet from the other guys bumper all thanks to these monsters..

[todd2fst4u]

wow the v emblems are nice and tacky. you dont own a v....you own a catera

[k0yla]

Originally Posted by CateraMV6

I had similar vibrations but mine was from the tires which were out of shape... new tires fixed everything...

I can feel some sort of looseness in the steering and actual tapping when I go over bumps thats why I changed the outer tie rod end now it feels stiff as new...

Thanks Bro.
You were right, changing the Tie Rod ends was a joke. The only complication that I ran into was the tie-rod being seized. I brought it to a local guy and had him torch 'em to pop 'em out. but needless to say, had it done in less than 10 minutes without throwing off the alignment.
The shake in the steering is gone, as well as the feel of the ride is much more firmer.
Again, thanks for the help. I think your DIY should be a sticky for those who get conned by the dealerships.

[k0yla]

Originally Posted by CateraMV6

Some of the latest photos. Also now that the brakes have broken in... the car has changed entirely, coming to a dead stop is no longer a challenge... I love them. GTO Brakes
The other day they got me out of a 4 car pile up... the trafic up ahead all the sudden stopped and the 4 cars in front of me nailed each other , i managed to stop 4 feet from the other guys bumper all thanks to these monsters..

that looks freakin' awesome man.
how much did the whole upgrade cost you? i.e. the GTO upgrade.

[CateraMV6]

Total cost of the upgrade was exactly 100$... and few hours of my time which = lots of smiles every day when I step on the brakes or when I see someone drooling over them...

Calipers were 60$ shipped from GTO forums and then pads were 38$ at the autozone with lifetime replacement... Ceramics... and I had some old high temp paint laying around, also I needed just a little bit of brake fluid and that was it...

[k0yla]

Originally Posted by CateraMV6

Total cost of the upgrade was exactly 100$... and few hours of my time which = lots of smiles every day when I step on the brakes or when I see someone drooling over them...

Calipers were 60$ shipped from GTO forums and then pads were 38$ at the autozone with lifetime replacement... Ceramics... and I had some old high temp paint laying around, also I needed just a little bit of brake fluid and that was it...

that's not bad at all.
does anyone else on GTO forum have 'em for sale? i'll do the upgrade, it definitely seems worth it considering i am not a big fan of the existing brakes.

[Catera]

Hallo,
I have the calipers of the 04 GTO.
Can I use hoses and the screw of the Catera?
Or must I take the GTO hoses?

Are these the right brake pads on the drawing for the 04 GTO caliper?

Sorry for my bad English, I come from Germany.

Greets Catera

[CateraMV6]

The catera hoses are a few inches short and they seemd to get too stretched when the wheel reaches the end position so I went with the GTO hose which I think was 2" longer and also the Catera bolts will work and it should bolt right up... I used the stuff from the Caliper set... bolts, hose, etc... just get a new set of crush washers for those Banjo bolts.. And as to the brake pads you can either use the 04 pads or you can try the 05-06 pads and then if thats not enough for ya you can try the Corvette C5 brake pads as those have nearly twice the surface area of the OEM ones...
You can get a set of those off ebay.. and the C5s I think went from 1997 up to 2006 or something...

The pictures you got posted look almost exact as the ones I used... just make sure that the outside pad has that retaining clip that keeps it attached to the caliper otherwise I hear that they rattle... hope this helps... if you got more questions please ask...

[Catera]

Thanks ,
the GTO parts are hard in Germany to get.
Would the Monaro pads also match?


Does the screw of the Catera brake hose also match?
Or must I take this one of the GTO?

Greets Catera

[CateraMV6]

Well both calipers I think were made by the same company and from what I noticed the bolts and stuff were the same...

Just keep everything that came with the GTO calipers together and all you got to do is unplug the OEM hose and remove it and then attach the new one to the car and run it to your caliper... in fact you dont even have to remove it from the caliper... and then I would suggest that you use all the other parts that came with the calipers cuz they fit on our cars and were designed for the added forces of the bigger caliper.

I think the catera brake hose is a tad bit too short and the bends and twists kinda scary when the wheel is fully to the left or right.

[Catera]

Hallo,
would the Monaro pads fit in the GTO caliper?
Because the measurements are different.

Sorry, for the many questions.

Greets Catera

[Brosepe]

Does anybody know if the GTO brakes fit under the factory 16 inch rims? I think the Catera Sport has 17's. I'm totally interested in doing the swap if I don't have to upgrade my wheels.

[Catera]

Hi,
the GTO brakes don't match at 16" of wheels.
Minimum is 17".

Greets Catera