brake conversions

03NEON · Post by **03NEON** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:06 pm

Not sure if this is the right place to post but i wanted to know could i convert my 03 es to srt brakes and rotors. And if i can could i also do the back? What would i need to do this?

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:18 pm

the rear srt brakes are the same 10.1" that the rt/acr use but with the rt/acr you wont have to swap knuckles.... so stay with the rt/acr

and yes, the fronts can be converted to srt 11" brakes but itll take a bit more work

*you COULD go baller and put the (12"???) big brake kit from wilwood on once youve got the srt knuckles and all that good stuff*

Post by **Diablo0** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:48 pm

tamadrumr88 wrote:the rear srt brakes are the same 10.1" that the rt/acr use but with the rt/acr you wont have to swap knuckles.... so stay with the rt/acr

and yes, the fronts can be converted to srt 11" brakes but itll take a bit more work

*you COULD go baller and put the (12"???) big brake kit from wilwood on once youve got the srt knuckles and all that good stuff*

Yah, the rears calipers are identical to the R/T and ACR rear calipers, the only difference is the thinkness of the rotors and a slight change in the pads... plus the obvious red powdercoat.

Here is a how-to for the rear...
http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=8325

For the front it gets a little more involving as there are some differences. The biggest issue is the tie rods on the steering rack. On the regular Neons the tie rods are longer than the rods on the SRT. In theory, I haven't attempted or checked this just yet but plan to in a few weeks or months, what needs to be done is to either swap to SRT tie rods (not the tie rod ends) to get the rack shorter. Or... weld up the hole in the SRT steering arm where the tie rod end bolts into and drill a new hole about 1/4-1/2 farther away, personlly I'd be trying to swap over the tie rods first as not to risk altering the integrity of the steering arm

Another option was to cut the Neon tie rods shorter so you could thread the tie rod ends on farther to get your toe angle correct, problem is as a member on here found out (refect) even if you cut the tie rods shorter there is not enough threading on the rods to screw the ends on enough to get the toe into spec. A way around this would be to use a thread die to put more threads onto the rod... but then again you will be altering the integrity of the rod

Not much but do it at your own risk.

The steering rack is the biggest issue for doing a direct swap, the rest of it is bolt on. You'll just need the knuckles, caliper bracket, caliper, pads, rotors, and the flexiable brake line that bolts to the caliper as it's different in shape.

I think thats about it.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:32 pm

When I was looking at the 2 tie rods at work, it seems that if you just swapped o the SRT tire rod you would have no problems. I am planning on doing the brake swap and hoping this is true LOL

04sxt2.0 · Post by **04sxt2.0** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:32 pm

the backs are direct bolt on bolt off everything is the same, setup as the drum, differences is just a disc instead. i have them on 04 SXT and, you def notice the difference, as for the front i have no clue about them right now.

03NEON · Post by **03NEON** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:52 pm

so i can just swap the rear back off an srt 4 for mine even if it is drums in the back? And the front should be easy to swap out.

04sxt2.0 · Post by **04sxt2.0** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:10 pm

here is a pic of the whole SRT rear disc set up on my SXT. took about 2 hours to install everything, brake lines, and ebrake cables.
only tough thing was fiquring out the Ebrake lever, how to put the cables into the lever its slef and how to release the tension on the lever.

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:04 pm

why do you want srt brakes anyway? just get the rear disc swap

the acr's and rt's are already into "bmw territory" when it comes to breaking (60-0 in just 122ft)... just get some lighter wheels and stickier tires and youve got the combination for a serious track car

03NEON · Post by **03NEON** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:02 pm

were can i get the rear disc conversion?

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:33 pm

A junkyard or dealer

Post by **Diablo0** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:57 pm

If a Neon and ABS it should also have rear discs so if you can't find an R/T, ACR or SRT in your yard still keep an eye out for other neons as you may find one that had ABS so it'll have rear disc.

04sxt2.0 · Post by **04sxt2.0** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 6:54 am

i'm not sure but you might be able to use 1 st gen rear discs, not sure though.

03NEON · Post by **03NEON** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:04 pm

id like to find out if you can 1st gens are easy to get here lol

me · Post by me » Sat Sep 09, 2006 6:30 pm

you can only really use the backing plate from the first gen. you would need to get 2nd gen discs, calipers, pads, e-brake, and lines.

03NEON · Post by **03NEON** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 11:41 am

alright thats good to know

caustic neon · Post by **caustic neon** » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:11 pm

I thiought the rear brakes were a direct bolt up for 2nd gens?

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:08 pm

Actually you can swap a 1st gen rear disk to a 2nd gen. The only difference is the 2nd gen rotor is alittle thicker but everything else works. My buddy did this and worked without a prob.

caustic neon · Post by **caustic neon** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 3:54 pm

sweet there is a locsal boneyard with a 1st gen sport.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 4:49 pm

Ya all we did was change the rotors and used new brake hoses since the others were old. They even had the same part numbers as my ACR on them

datadave49 · Post by **datadave49** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 11:33 am

Diablo0 wrote:
tamadrumr88 wrote:the rear srt brakes are the same 10.1" that the rt/acr use but with the rt/acr you wont have to swap knuckles.... so stay with the rt/acr

and yes, the fronts can be converted to srt 11" brakes but itll take a bit more work

*you COULD go baller and put the (12"???) big brake kit from wilwood on once youve got the srt knuckles and all that good stuff*
Yah, the rears calipers are identical to the R/T and ACR rear calipers, the only difference is the thinkness of the rotors and a slight change in the pads... plus the obvious red powdercoat.

Here is a how-to for the rear...
http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=8325

For the front it gets a little more involving as there are some differences. The biggest issue is the tie rods on the steering rack. On the regular Neons the tie rods are longer than the rods on the SRT. In theory, I haven't attempted or checked this just yet but plan to in a few weeks or months, what needs to be done is to either swap to SRT tie rods (not the tie rod ends) to get the rack shorter. Or... weld up the hole in the SRT steering arm where the tie rod end bolts into and drill a new hole about 1/4-1/2 farther away, personlly I'd be trying to swap over the tie rods first as not to risk altering the integrity of the steering arm Another option was to cut the Neon tie rods shorter so you could thread the tie rod ends on farther to get your toe angle correct, problem is as a member on here found out (refect) even if you cut the tie rods shorter there is not enough threading on the rods to screw the ends on enough to get the toe into spec. A way around this would be to use a thread die to put more threads onto the rod... but then again you will be altering the integrity of the rod Not much but do it at your own risk.

The steering rack is the biggest issue for doing a direct swap, the rest of it is bolt on. You'll just need the knuckles, caliper bracket, caliper, pads, rotors, and the flexiable brake line that bolts to the caliper as it's different in shape.

I think thats about it.

Hey Hey
All you have to do is get the rods from the srt streeing rack(when I mean rods I mean the rod that go into the rack) when I did mine a 00 I remove the tie rod (knuckle side) from both rack's to see if what I was told was true that the srt was shorter but they were the same it was the rod that was shorter and if I just remove that rod like I did the other side my toe in would have been real close. The car steer with a little pull to the right but we don't have a caster adjustment so the alignment said and that it is not a tire wear thing (if somebody know about a adjustment let me know I know there is a kit for around 350.00 or more that does it all )
Dave

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:51 pm

SlvrACR wrote:When I was looking at the 2 tie rods at work, it seems that if you just swapped o the SRT tire rod you would have no problems. I am planning on doing the brake swap and hoping this is true LOL

datadave49 · Post by **datadave49** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 8:58 am

Hey Hey
I thought the same thing but when I did mine I got a rack just in case but as I said above it was more work and I did not like that you had to mark the cradle? so we remove just the rods from the rack (when I say rods one end has the tie rod the other goes into the rack !! That's were they are shorter) so if you can get them your swap will be a snap
Dave