I have been looking at attacking the brake system next, and an idea occurred to me: disc conversion on the rear axle. I found a place that offers a whole kit that includes rotors, calipers, pads, mounting brackets, and new lines and hardware. It is about $350 from Great Lake Off-road.

So the two questions I have are simple: would this be a good upgrade for a truck to be used for hauling primarily?

Would the cost of the kit be worth it, considering if I were to re do the rear brakes, I would be installing all new components in the drums, to include the drums?

 

There's a pretty comprehensive discussion in one of Gary's threads a few months back. Lots of options but you get far better value for money and stopping power by upgrading the front hardware.

 

Is this the same kit where they use El Dorado calipers, Tornado rotors or whatever, and a couple of other hobbled together items to make it work?

Jeff's Bronco Graveyard sells this kit as well, but I feel hesitant to start throwing other make and model stuff on my truck personally.

You walk into Auto Zone..."i'd like some new rear pads for my '86 F250...oh wait, no, I need pads for a 83 Monte Carlo, and rotors for a Torino"

 

Don't overlook that you will need a disc/disc proportioning valve or an adjustable proportioning valve and possibly a new master cylinder intended for a disc/disc set up.

My personal opinion; the rear brakes on our truck are acceptable in stock form. I would make sure everything is up to snuff and then upgrade if you are still not happy with brake performance. Unless loaded, your rear brakes do not contribute much in day to day driving. As already mentioned, go after the front brake upgrades first.

 

If you do decide to go with rear discs, I have had good experience on past hot rod and 4x4 projects with kits from these guys Home

 

Brad - Gary's conversion was based on a Ford 9", which has not had a lot of Disc kits for it from the factory. I'm working on a Dana 60, which had Front discs kits from as far back as the early 70's, so adaptation is not as bad. My real question is based mostly on the fact that this particular kit runs about what a full rebuild of the rear drums would be. If the cost was significantly different, then I would not consider it.

I will, however, look into the gwr8500 brakes and MC for this truck as well, as part of a total brake upgrade.

5280- the manufacturer said I do not *require* a new proportioning valve, but I will discuss that with them in more depth later today.

 

Based only on my experience with other vehicles, everything I have converted to disc/disc required a prop valve and/or a disc/disc master cylinder. I did try a couple vehicles without a prop valve, get on the brakes moderately hard and the rear end wants to lock and come around on you. This would be amplified in a pickup with no load. Not saying it won't work on our trucks, but be warned that you may have some additional expense and work for it to function in a safe manner.

 

Check these out as well. Ford Dana 60 Rear Dics Brake Brackets, '77 & Newer - RuffStuff Specialties

Disc conversions generally need a new prop valve and/or master. The bias isn't set right and can give you issues. I'd do some more research before you pull the trigger.

 

Nice, but those are simply the brackets. This is the kit I am considering.
Ford Dana 60 Full Disk Brake Kit

I'm looking at roughly 206 to get all the brake components at Autozone, and 335 for the disc conversion kit. Not a huge difference, and it gets smaller when I get the better parts from Napa.

Admittedly, it is still over $100 difference. But not as bad as the 9" kits at 600...

 

Yes, I'm fully aware that those are only the brackets. Call me crazy, but I'd rather use Dan's brackets and assemble with quality parts, not house brand parts. Do you know what caliper and rotors they use in the kit? What quality the are? Might want to find that out now and see what it'll cost you for your next brake job.

 

Thanks, I'll ask and let you all know. I hit them up about the e-brake.

 

3 things that must be considered when contemplating a drum to disc swap.
Master cyl. Disc *generally* requires a larger resevoir, and there is a "residual pressure valve" in a drum master, that holds a slight amount of pressure in the line(s).
Prop valve is usually something that needs changed. Disc brake calipers can demand a higher *volume* of fluid to reach the same working pressure as drums.
Last, but not least, is the parking brake. Very few disc setups have a dependable park brake mechanism in them. Most newer rear disc setups also feature a drum-type park brake, since a cable operated drum setup tends to hold better than a cable operated disc setup.

I converted my RX7 from drum to disc rear brakes, using optional factory parts. Stops better, but the parking brake is not as solid. Due to this, I avoid parking on inclines whenever possible. A rotary engine, due to it's design, does not have much holding power compared to a similar displacement recipricating piston engine.

 

Subscribed.

 

I converted the 4 wheel non-power drums on my Bronco to 4 wheel power disks. Generally I'm pretty happy with the swap, but not having a decent parking brake (or any emergency brake) is a downer (I just have a line-lock on the rear brake line). On my pickup I have no desire to move away from the big drums, but on the off-road-driven Bronco it's kind of nice to have disks that self-clean better than drums.

 

Did you find out about calipers for the rear that include e-brake? I see at
GLO Full Disc Brake Kits they have a full kit, including e-brake caliper for $506. The $336 kit they have does not have e-brake caliper.

Would be nice to source that caliper though NAPA or auto zone, etc.... I would assume that the disk for it is the same GMC/Chevy73- 87 front all places selling brackets tell you to use.... but that would also be nice to have confirmed.