2014 Camaro 18s to 20x9s and SS Brembos

[JGtheBae]

After lurking on this site, I decided to upgrade my Camaro to 20x9 rims with 275/40/20 and swap on the Brembo brake package from an SS. I just want to start out and say that there is no way the Brembo brakes I got could have fit in the space from the stock 18s. I know there is a lot of talk about using 19s or 19.5 and I have no idea if that would work, the Brembos fit nicely in the 20s and they really fill up the space.

18 to 20x9 Swap

With no adjustments, I swapped out the old 18s that came with the car to polished black SS style rims. Got the rims as a set from OE Wheels for $572.00 plus tax. Got some 275/40/20 Hankook Ventus from Discount Tire. They took care of the TPMS swap and mounting. Both great companies from my experience and the fit was perfect. However, if you expect to get any bigger than this setup without any modification, don’t. I have about an inch of clearance width wise and I doubt anything bigger can fit.

Handling:
These tires fixed the car. With the 18s the cornering was compromised and the car did not feel as solid as it should have. It felt floaty at high speeds and the corners were plagued by traction issues. Now with more tread on the ground and a square setup, the car feels much better. This is one of the best upgrades I would recommend to everyone and I hope this clears up some misconceptions.

TLDR: Swap all of your 18s to 20s and put some nice 275s on them. Don’t worry about clearance because I did it, it’s totally worth it. Square setup = easy tire rotation

Things I didn’t expect: My stock breaker bar socket is too thick to fit around the lug without scratching the rim

Now for the Brembo swap

Let me start off by saying this took me a whole day to finish, mostly me being ill-prepared and not knowing what to expect. I started off calipers, rotors, and brake pads from a donor SS, some stainless steel coated brake lines from RockAuto, 1 gallon of DOT4 from Amazon, and 8 TTY Bolts from my Chevy dealer. (Part# 11570788 & 11515781)

Removing the old brake hardware was easy, make sure to remove the old rotors before cutting off the rear shields to fit the new rotors in. The fronts seemed about the same size as the V6 brakes and the rears were so much bigger. The SS calipers are a single body construction and not the same sliding pin and single piston setup. They each have 4 pistons, totaling 16 on the car vs 4 original. Make sure not to use any V6 hardware on the brakes, all you need to carry over is the mounting hardware for the lines and the clip. All the brake lines, bolts, and washers need to be SS Spec, do not use the V6 washer and bolts for the calipers or lines.

Not going to go over the whole swap but here are the highlights:

For the Torx I used an Allen wrench to uninstall and then install only hand tightening, do not tighten these down because your next rotor swap you will regret it.

For the TTY bolts I torqued them to 30lb/ft then 90 degrees (Thank you Deputy347k9)

Bleed farthest from ABS module, so rears then fronts. (I started rear driver but there may be some debate over ABS vs Master cylinder)

I swapped over to DOT4 so I bled out all the old stuff and used the whole gallon of DOT4

Make sure you get ALL the air out, don’t test your brakes until you’re sure (my mistake)

On the back of all of my rotors I added a bit of anti-seize (please don’t get this in the EBrake area or you’ll be sorry)

Spray paint or coat the freshly cut area of the dust shields to prevent rust

Warn anyone who works on your brakes, you now have an easy way to slice someone’s hand open

An angle grinder worked good for the dust shield removal

If you are worried about air or run your master cylinder dry while bleeding, trailer your car to a shop and get the brakes fully flushed. I’ve heard Chevy dealers actuate the ABS to properly flush the whole system.

Performance? Worth it? Do you recommend it?

So if you have an RS, I say do the swap. It is easy and you don’t really need the rim and tire upgrades. Now if you have the 18s and need rims, tires, and the whole brake system. That’s going to be a personal call. I want you to know that your car will be noticeably slower and get worse gas mileage. In my case, I went from 20/21mpg combined to 17mpg. I added a considerable amount of rotational and un-sprung mass to an already heavy car. I can notice that she doesn’t get up as quick. So if you are someone who enjoys highway speed and straight line pickup this is not for you.

Let's talk about corners and braking (real driving). The grip is much better and the brakes are fantastic. My V6 brakes were scary slowing down from 100+ and I was always unsure about them. They were never really smooth and always scared me. I always experienced brake fade and they only were good cold. These Brembos are 100 times better. They stop on a dime and never leave me feeling scared. You can drop so much speed coming into a corner you never need to worry about grip. This has made my car slower and faster. I can rip through a twisty road at speeds I’ve never really seen before in this car and stop faster than I ever want to. In takeoff, I am slower and can feel it.

Will you trade some straight line to gain a bunch in the corners?

I don’t regret it and it looks and feels great, I sacrificed nothing when it comes to daily driving or comfort. These tires are slightly louder at low speeds but on the highway, there is no difference for me. The Brembos feel 100% stock and my car brakes better than any same gen SS I’ve been in with them.

So TLDR:
Watch youtube videos on replacing brake lines & replacing rotors. Bleed your brakes. Switch to DOT4 no matter what. Don’t try to swap Brembos and keep 18s. Lube the back of the pads and pistons.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me!