America’s most beloved and utilized truck deserves better braking power, especially when some are pushing 500-plus horsepower. But who to rely on with a complete kit that doesn’t require crazy and unnecessary work? Well, with over 20-plus years of experience installing Wilwood products on high-performance muscle cars, everyday driver trucks, and hot rods, to us it was more a question of what do they offer for 1988-98 Chevy trucks? Fortunately, we learned last year of their new XRS calipers rolling out: a street version of the XRZ race calipers with a forged aluminum body, increased caliper stiffness, and just as lightweight.

We installed this kit with control arms that had been modified for a “body-dropped” truck and Belltech spindles, and as we expected it did not require us to do any modifying to make the new spindle fit. We always recommend following the very informative and helpful instructions provided with each kit and always reach out to the Wilwood team if for some reason you may be having trouble. Remember that we may have done a few things a little differently than the instructions; be sure to assess appropriately and do what works for you.

In this “brakedown” install, you will see how well Wilwood delivered on putting together an exceptionally nice, high-performance, straightforward install you can 100 percent do in your home garage—just like us! Stay tuned for next month when we wrap up the rear discs and install Wilwood’s proprietary master cylinder.

2. Our original spindle is Belltech, the most common choice for a “sport truck” and the geometry versus Wilwood is almost identical, with a main difference being the provisions made for stronger caliper mounting—(two) 5/8-18 bolts create a sturdier mount point. 

4. Apply a small amount of grease on your spindle shaft ahead of time before sliding the bearing/hub on.

5. We decided to use the wheel as a vise to prevent damage to the hub and confirm the lug pattern needed. You do not have to do it this way, but however you choose, just make sure the bolt pattern is correct and you don’t damage the hub.

6-7. Once the lug pattern is confirmed, remove studs one by one and reinstall using red Loctite and supplied torq specs from Wilwood.

9. Set your hub on a flat surface, lay your bearing inside, lay your seal on top, and gently tap the surface edge in a square pattern to ensure evenness on the way down. You will know you are done when it stops moving. Do the same for the ABS pickup ring as pictured.

10. The fun part! To each their own on this process, just make sure it’s packed full. Always use a high-temp wheel bearing grease.

13. Install supplied spindle washer, nut, and cotter pin. Tighten the castle nut until there is no play in the bearing and it still spins freely.

14-15. Loosely install the caliper bracket to check fitment, slide your rotor on, and use your lug nuts so the rotor is seated against the hub. 

16. Slide the caliper on—it’s just that simple. Studs on the bracket help guide it into place. Snug the provided 12-point nut for now. 

17-18. Using supplied shims from Wilwood, space your caliper bracket until both brake pads are centered on the rotor. Remove the caliper and install pads using retainer pins. Take out and reinstall hardware with red Loctite and supplied torq specs.

19. Install the brake line fitting supplied by Wilwood using thread sealer. You can do this before or after the install.

21. To adapt the Wilwood soft line to the factory steel brake line, use the supplied adapter and retainer clip in the kit.