Painted My Calipers this past weekend!

BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
I painted my calipers this past weekend, also blacked out everything in the fender wells, and did the DRL disable thanks to May03LT's youtube video. here are some pics.

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[sharedmedia=gallery:images:183]
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Before.....
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:110]

-Brandon
 

dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
Looks great :thumbsup: The red calipers look good on your white TB. Stance looks awesome too.

I painted my calipers and rotors last weekend as well and it makes a huge difference. Once I get my BrakeMotive rotors, I will paint them before installing. Do you have BrakeMotive rotors? Hard to tell in the pics.
 

BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Thanks for the compliment. My rotors are Callahan, with ceramic pads. I also ordered "Chevrolet" chrome decals for the rotors front and rear, and finally found some great looking bow-ties for my rims. I really like the way it looks!


[sharedmedia=gallery:images:186]

-Brandon
 
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dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
BlazingTrails said:
Thanks for the compliment. My rotors are Callahan, with ceramic pads. I also ordered "Chevrolet" chrome decals for the rotors front and rear, and finally found some great looking bow-ties for my rims. I really like the way it looks!




-Brandon
Nice, that will look good. Where did you find the bowties? I would like to do mine in black.
 
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sawicksted

Member
Dec 7, 2011
366
They look great!

Gotta love red calipers......
I've been doing that on all my vehicles for a long time too. I even put little red accents on a few things like my hitch pins and even my weight distribution draw bar...Just to be different!
example....
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:51215]
 

BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
I am planning to remove some parts and paint them the same red also. like the panhard bar, upper and lower control arms in the rear, control/sway arms in the front. And paint everything else black. but i'm in no hurry lol :thumbsup:

I do wish I could find stainless steel brake lines for my truck. I find them for the TBSS, but it says they won't fit 4.2. i though they were the same brakes but the front was .5 inches bigger?? :confused:
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Brake lines interchange on front, they rear depends on stabilitrak.

I have my calipers in orange. Bout to do the 13 inch rotor upgrade and plan to repaint them,
 

BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Brake lines interchange on front, they rear depends on stabilitrak.

I have my calipers in orange. Bout to do the 13 inch rotor upgrade and plan to repaint them,
Thanks for the info. can you expand on the rear stabilitrak situation?

Thank you sir, much appreciated :thumbsup:

EDIT: Order just submitted, thanks again.
I just got mine today! Very nice quality. I am very pleased with the way they look :biggrin:


[sharedmedia=gallery:images:190]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:191]
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:192]

I think i am going to paint my grill white this weekend and paint the bow-tie red, it already had a black border so it will match these decals. :wooot:
 

dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
Those look awesome. Mine just shipped on the 7th, so I should probably have them some time next week. How is the material, are they vinyl and somewhat thick?
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
BlazingTrails said:
Thanks for the info. can you expand on the rear stabilitrak situation?
I know there are different speed sensors and also think the brake lines are seperate rather than together like earlier models. Not completely sure, but I know there is something different due to the the system.
 
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BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
dmanns67 said:
Those look awesome. Mine just shipped on the 7th, so I should probably have them some time next week. How is the material, are they vinyl and somewhat thick?
yes they are very thick, i am very impressed with the quality :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

only time will tell how they hold up to the elements? but they look like they will be fine :smile:

-Brandon
 
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24v 4.2

Member
Jan 16, 2013
430
Disabling the daytime running lamps

They are the automatic headlights that are always on during the day. They are usually disabled to run HID headlights because the daytime running lights only provide power 70 percent of the time (on off on off) and it can damage the ballasts.
 
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dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
06TrailblazerLSS said:
What is the DRL disable? And which caliper paint did you guys use??
I personally like the DRL/auto on headlights. I can easily turn the headlight knob to the off position during the day which I always do. I did the capacitor mod which provides 100% power to your headlights at all time.

I used the G2 brush on paint for the calipers and Duplicolor caliper paint for the rotors. The G2 kit works well and is easy to brush on. Seems to be holding up well, but they have only been painted for a week.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I used $2.00 spray paint and its held up fine for months.
 

BlazingTrails

Original poster
Member
Apr 27, 2014
19,409
Decals just arrived, very fast shipping from CA. Thanks again Brandon for the link.

attachicon.gif
uploadfromtaptalk1399757892010.jpg

Glad I could help! I like mine, they seem like really good quality :thumbsup:

I personally like the DRL/auto on headlights. I can easily turn the headlight knob to the off position during the day which I always do. I did the capacitor mod which provides 100% power to your headlights at all time.

I used the G2 brush on paint for the calipers and Duplicolor caliper paint for the rotors. The G2 kit works well and is easy to brush on. Seems to be holding up well, but they have only been painted for a week.
The problem i was running into with my hid's is when i unlocked my truck it would shoot power to the ballasts and then one or both of them would turn off due to the PWM, then when i turned my headlights on manually they wouldn't come on. i would have to wait like 2 min for them to work. plus i like being able to control my car in every way :yes:
 
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dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
BlazingTrails said:
The problem i was running into with my hid's is when i unlocked my truck it would shoot power to the ballasts and then one or both of them would turn off due to the PWM, then when i turned my headlights on manually they wouldn't come on. i would have to wait like 2 min for them to work. plus i like being able to control my car in every way :yes:
Did you do the cap mod?
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
5k. Lose a lil light but I like the white. Anything higher loses more light n looks blue
 
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Mark20

Member
Dec 6, 2011
1,630
06TrailblazerLSS said:
What is the cap mod? Sorry for the noob questions. Im looking into 6000-6500k HIDs, but want to get this DRL/Cap mod done!
You add a capacitor to one of the Body Control Module lines to make it think you are asking for full headlights all the time. Daytime Running Lights are on only about 60% of full headlight on. Power to the headlights is pulsed to achieve this but HIDs don't like that pulsed power.
 
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Apr 28, 2014
93
Mark20 said:
You add a capacitor to one of the Body Control Module lines to make it think you are asking for full headlights all the time. Daytime Running Lights are on only about 60% of full headlight on. Power to the headlights is pulsed to achieve this but HIDs don't like that pulsed power.
So the cap mod is easier? Any pros/cons of the cap mod rather than the DRL killer?
 

dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
06TrailblazerLSS said:
Which HID kelvin (K) are you guys running>?
I am running 4300k HIDs. I would not recommend going over 5000k. The higher you go up in the kelvin scale the less lumens produced.

06TrailblazerLSS said:
So the cap mod is easier? Any pros/cons of the cap mod rather than the DRL killer?
Cap mod is easy, only took me 10 min total to install. There are no cons to the cap mod I have seen. I have had the mod done for over a year now.

Basically it does what mark said. Provides 100% power to your HID headlights at all time. Usually it is around 70% power during the day which will cause a loud buzzing noise from the ballasts. It will also lower the lifespan of your HID bulb.

I personally like the auto on function which is why I did the cap mod instead of DRL killer. I always use the headlight knob to turn the headlights off during the day. Below is a pic of what you need. Capacitor from Radio Shack, a ring terminal end for one end of the cap, and a quick splice for the other end of the cap and the pink wire. If you search "cap mod trailblazer" you will see a write up on this.

uploadfromtaptalk1400017022299.jpg
 

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