2001 Chevrolet Camaro Shock & Brake Upgrade - Street Car, Track Car: Part I

To center the rear, both jamb nuts are loosened. The UMI bar uses left- and right-hand threads so as you turn the bar, it will lengthen or shorten. Jerry gives the bar one full turn, then straightens the rod end before tightening it down. The rear is now centered.

The final piece of the puzzle was done at the alignment shop. GM recommends the following settings: Camber .9 to -.1 degrees, Caster 4.3 to 5.3 degrees, Toe 1/8 in to 1/8 out in inches. Of course, these are "safe" settings for a grocery getter, not performance alignment specs.For my street driver that will see track duty, Sam recommends more negative camber to get a better contact patch on the tire, and a higher caster to make the car track better. We left some toe-in to avoid tramlining and darting around in ruts, but did the minimum amount to avoid a numb feeling on the road course. "Looks like you've got yourself a factory high-caster car," Sam exclaims.

Problem: Worn-out brakes
Solution: Brembo rotors, PBR pads, Castrol fluid

With the tires off, I used an 18mm impact socket, 1/2-inch-drive wrench, and a cheater bar to remove the two caliper mounting bolts. The calipers are removed and held with bungee cords to prevent pressure on the brake lines.

I removed the old brake pads and installed Strano-recommended PBR pads into the caliper.

A C-clamp is used to press the pistons back so there will be enough room to mount the caliper assembly onto the new rotor.

The Brembo Sport-Kit rotor (PN 47249, $306/pair) next to the takeoff rotor. If you don't know much about Brembos, you're in for a high-quality treat: Brembo owns the process of creating rotors from start to finish, encompassing design, testing, raw materials, foundries, casting, machining, and quality control. Great materials are used in-process, and a stringent QC method utilizes ultra-tight tolerance controls during run-out and uniform thickness tests. If one out of 30 discs is out of tolerance, the entire batch is sent back to the foundry for recycling. Brembo Sport Discs take the high-quality replacement disc "blanks" to a new performance level. The Brembo-engineered drilled or slotted patterns provide increased pad bite to the disc, improved wet weather performance, and continuous refreshing of the brake pad surface, while preventing gas from building up between the brake pad and disc. That finished "racing inspired look" doesn't hurt either!

With the Brembo rotor in place (they are directional!) and the caliper slipped over it, the mounting bolts are installed and torqued to 74 lb-ft. It looks like we're through...

...However, the passenger-side wheel is very difficult to spin, and we find that one of the calipers is ruined. Thankfully, TTP in Passaic Park, NJ (973/365-2270), has a couple of replacement calipers lying around. I get new caliper pins, boots, and bolts from GM, along with some silicone brake lubricant and new crush washers for the brake line, and swap the pads over to the new calipers.