High Performance Pontiac ran an article about S10's being good rear disc brake parts donors. I have a copy of that, but was interested if anyone has been through it. How'd it go?

As for brake upgrades, I--myself--would have to actually drive the car before accepting another's judgement. Almost as bad opinion on what accelerates and and what doesn't accelerate, many people cannot tell what stops the car and what doesn't stop the car. (If I didn't detest wrenching so bad, I'd consider going into the fgf drum brake repair business.)

Also, you have the idiot factor behind drum brake overhaul, whereby people haven't ever experainced a correctly operating set of drum brakes. If the car won't stop, a jury rig might make the car stop better. The thing is that the jury rig set up might stop the car better than the defectively repaired drum brakes, but they aren't stopping the car as well as properly operating drums.

Myself, I see no reason to upgrade the brakes.

Some brake conversion companies sell a generic GM taxi 11 inch rear drum upgrade that gives you nice big rear brakes (fit 15 inch wheels but not 14) without the emergency brake hassles of rear disks.

I got mine from Master Power Brakes. Installation on a bare axle was a snap and the OEM emergency brake works perfectly.

Thanks for the input. I really don't have rear brake issues at the time. In fact, as my normal winter check list dictates ensuring all is good to go for next season, I have reassured myself of the wellness of all of the brakes and bearings. (among other things)
Deal is, here at the shop, we just changed out a rear diff with a salvage unit on a '98 S10 blazer, so I have virtually all the stuff I need for a changeover at no cost. It is certainly a project for the future.
Should be in a driving mode this week end.

Well, if they are free....

Fitting the parts to the car is one thing. Engineering the braking system for the weight and weight distribution is quite another. I personally would not bolt parts that fit to the car without engineering studies to show that they will provide safe braking in all circumstances.

GM put a lot of time and money into engineering for safety, the drum brakes do work well when properly adjusted but not as well as other cars engineered with four wheel disc or big drums all around.

Greg, go for it. I, for one, would be interested in finding out how it worked out. They are plentiful parts in the wrecking yards. I don't know but would think a blazer might weigh in pretty close to our 3600# cars.

Robert

The big cop car drums fit my 14" Rallys just fine. I wound up going with 4th gen T/A discs all around and like the performance.

Does someone make just drilled or slotted rotors for a direct front replacement without changing the calipers?