I have 1999 Suburban and the brakes are terrible. The back brakes are valved such that they don't do much.

Is it possible to put wheel cylinders from a 2500 in a 1500? I assume they are bigger diameter. Anybody ever done this? If so, bolt in or what mods were required? Did it make much difference?

Second, any revalving solutions? For example, can I use the proportioning valve from a 1996 to get the rear brakes where they should be? It appears some where around 1997 that GM decided to revalue the brakes so they hardly work.

Any help is appreciated.

Regards,
David  

I have a simular problem with my 89 4x4 burb that I have had since new and I have lived with it but I think this summer I am going to fix it because I plan to keep it for many more years. You have to be carefull about how you do it though because everything has to be considered from wheel cylinder bore to master cylinder bore and pad size as it is all balanced. The way I plan to do it is to pull a wheel cylinder and mic the inside bore and then replace it with one that has about a 1/16 of a inch larger bore as this will increase cylinder effort on shoes without taking to much extra fluid for rear master cylinder bore and imbalancing the system. If you go too large then the rear brakes will tend to lock up before the front does which is not the best setup. Also if you go much larger you will need to replace master cylinder and then possibly open up a real can of worms.  

Here are some articles that may help you decide what to do with your Suburbans.

SSBC Rear Disc Upgrade
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/129_0411_up_ssbc/index.html

Better Back Brakes
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/suspension/129_0504_disc/index.html

Tips for Improving the Brakes on Your Truck
http://www.fourwheeler.com/techarticles/54701/index.html

Hope these help!

I never did this mod. I'm surprised no one has done it.

Can anyone confirm the bore sizes that are available? Are the 1500 gas and diesel wheel cylinders different sizes? Will the 2500 wheel cylinder bolt into the 1500 backing plate?

I could try all this but somebody has to have already been down this path since I originally posted.