Hydroboost Upgrade for 2005 Suburban?

[Flachzwilling]

Greetings, earthlings!

The Hydroboost unit on my 2005 Suburban 1500 L59 is leaking from the accumulator. I was thinking of replacing the whole unit when I stumbled upon an upgrade that is quite common among the Duramaxes. They swap their NBS part to a newer unit from 2011. This provide better and more manageanle stopping power.
Since the part no's between gassers and oilburners are different and there also seems to be a difference between units for Standard and Heavy Duty trucks, does anyone know about a similar conversion for a petrol Burb?
Already searched Google but to no avail...

 

[Buddha.]

I haven’t heard of the upgrade. I have a 2011 2500 gasser truck.
You might have better luck on a a GM trucks forum

 

[davkenrem]

Look for a 2005 Suburban with the Z71 option. Get the hydroboost all the lines and the power seering pump. If the Oil cooler is in good shape get that too. You'll also want the brake pedal as it is different that the vacuum boost pedal, the hole is in a different location for the rod that comes through the firewall. Once you get the hydro boos cylinder off. Trace the holes on the firewall. They may be different. I took all these parts from an 05 Z71 suburban, along with the electric fans and put them on my 97 K1500 suburban. The brakes are really awesome now. I aslo used the 4 piston rear calipers and and big rotors on my 9.5 Semi floater rear axle swap. Need to do the fronts but it really stops great now. you will not regret it.

You can check my build, havent posted on it in a while.

1997 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 Budget Overland Build

This thread will document the build of my 1997 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 Budget Overland Build. In July of 2015 I was browsing Craigslist looking for an inexpensive Chevy 4x4 to replace my dying 99 Tahoe Z56. It had begun to nickel and dime me and was literally rusting away. I stumbled on...

expeditionportal.com

 

[1stDeuce]

I second that you may find better info on a gm site...
Sounds like your truck already has hydroboost, so Dave's info above is irrelevant, no offense meant to Dave.

My understanding back when I was working with the as-yet un-released 2011 trucks was that the biggest change was to go with bigger calipers, and a bigger master cylinder. I recall that the pedal ratio was also changed, and the result was that the pedal needed to barely move to stop the truck. I suspect the booster unit change may be to provide more "assist" with lower pedal force, so the ratio change wouldn't feel like it needed more pressure to stop. I have seen videos claiming that the booster swap is an upgrade, but they don't quantify it very well.

I don't have any issue with the pedal feel in my '06 HD, nor do I desire more assist... I do wonder if it's more a matter of "I spent money so it must be better" than really being much different... I can't see how the booster would make any difference to pedal height or travel, as the travel should remain 1:1 through the booster, but it may proved more boost at low levels. It will likely NOT provide more "stopping power", as the ultimate boost level likely has not changed much. Additionally, the calipers GM used on light and HD trucks back then will actually deform a bit under max brake pressure. This makes the pedal go soft till the pads wear in to a bit of an angle... If you did give them more pressure, it seems like the calipers may not appreciate it...

All that said, all the OBS hydroboost units interchange as far as I know, so I see no reason a 2011 booster wouldn't fit your half ton, as it fits the 3/4 ton fine. I say do it, and see what you see.
Please report back and let us all know!!!

 

[toddz69]

I second that you may find better info on a gm site...
Sounds like your truck already has hydroboost, so Dave's info above is irrelevant, no offense meant to Dave.

My understanding back when I was working with the as-yet un-released 2011 trucks was that the biggest change was to go with bigger calipers, and a bigger master cylinder. I recall that the pedal ratio was also changed, and the result was that the pedal needed to barely move to stop the truck. I suspect the booster unit change may be to provide more "assist" with lower pedal force, so the ratio change wouldn't feel like it needed more pressure to stop. I have seen videos claiming that the booster swap is an upgrade, but they don't quantify it very well.

I don't have any issue with the pedal feel in my '06 HD, nor do I desire more assist... I do wonder if it's more a matter of "I spent money so it must be better" than really being much different... I can't see how the booster would make any difference to pedal height or travel, as the travel should remain 1:1 through the booster, but it may proved more boost at low levels. It will likely NOT provide more "stopping power", as the ultimate boost level likely has not changed much. Additionally, the calipers GM used on light and HD trucks back then will actually deform a bit under max brake pressure. This makes the pedal go soft till the pads wear in to a bit of an angle... If you did give them more pressure, it seems like the calipers may not appreciate it...

All that said, all the OBS hydroboost units interchange as far as I know, so I see no reason a 2011 booster wouldn't fit your half ton, as it fits the 3/4 ton fine. I say do it, and see what you see.
Please report back and let us all know!!!

Good info! I doubt the boost units have changed much either - there might be some slight massaging of the power piston size but I doubt it. The larger changes came between the older units from the '80s and units produced now. I agree that there are instead probably changes in caliper sizes/master cylinder bores and maybe pedal ratio.

Todd Z.