Actaully the entire brake assembly for both sides weigh in around 75ish lbs on a 10.25 rear (i removed the brakes off the axle i shoved into my 81) .

 

Ok thanks i was eventially was going to switch to rear disc's just havent checked into it yet . I know there is a lot of places that put kits together for this but what is the best one as far as being a complete kit with every thing i need ? and what is the cost (roughly) It's a dana 70 out of a 76 E350 van .

THANKS

 

That's the exact same rear axle I'm using. Go to www.blackbirdscustomtrucks.com I paid $450 for my kit, all complete and ready to go. I've seen people piece them together but seems that the cost always ends up being right about the same and it's way more hassle.

 

Any one know if the 10.5" found on SD's has the same axle tubes as a 10.25"?

I could get the brakets and calipers off of that and then use front discs off a D60 that was pre-94.5... hmm... Damn yall for getting the wheels turning! Yeargh matey... another project.

 

Ok i checked out the site and looks great . Will there be anything else i'll need ? and what about the proportioning valve that will also have to be changed right , does this come in there kit ?


THANKS AGAIN

 

I asked guy who owns BlackBird (Randy is his name I'm pretty sure) about the P-valve and was told I would not need to do anything with it. I thought this was odd since you always hear people talking about it but he said that really only applies to small vehicles like the Jeeps. On fullsize the valve doesn't need to be changed. He's done hundreds of these and tested out a Chevy down there when I was getting my kit. Friggin thing stopped like you wouldn't believe and didn't have any issues with uneven lockup.

 

not to throw a wrench in the bucket but there is another way that i was enlightened about a few weeks ago by a buddy of mine with a sterling rear. he went and bought all brand new brake hardware for the rear of a 97 (i think) Ford E350 van that cost him about $200. they used sterling 10.25 axles with the 8x6.5 lug pattern but they were disc brake. my buddy said that the swap was super easy and didn't require hardly any work to install. i'll see about getting some more info

-cutts-

 

yea please do...who said this? i dont think ive EVER seen a sterling in a van?

btw, i have no intentions of going to discs with my rear until the junkyard shoes wear out. I can easily lock up my rears with 44's. If i stand on the pedal and hit the linelock...and put it in front wheel drive, the rear tires wont budge. I thought the main advantage of discs was they are lighter, better in mud. I didnt think they had any more advantage in stopping power, or handling heat..?? i think im opening a can of worms

 

byron, he stopped by and showed me

-cutts-

 

And that's why all the foreign cars went to 4 wheel disc brakes. I'm not a brake expert so I don't know how or why but discs do have more stopping power than drums. I've driven a 75 that had drums and then I drove it again after a disc brake conversion. It's night and day difference. Maybe a brake expert can tell us why this is.

 

One major disadvantage to a rig with rear discs is if you ddrive on gravel alot it will eat the crap outta the pads and rotors. My buddy that converted his '86 Chevy to 4-wheel discs had this problem, and my '99 F150 had the same problem.

But, there is no comparisson before an after the conversion in stopping power.

 

are you saying that he did this swap from the van to a dana 70 rear or another sterling ? and could you get me some more info

one more ? about this what year did they change the bolt pattern ?

THANKS

 

i need to call byron and get some details on that, hes going crazy with the deere if you havent heard from him, im anxious to see it after this transformation...

i want some brake guru to chime in here!! i have heard lots of different stories why discs are better and why drums are better. i think you can get more power with drums, but they fade alot faster, and thats why you run them in real trucks front and rear, and when discs get really hot, they warp, so they cant run them on heavy stuff like trucks, is that the only reason discs arent used on trucks??? they warp under the heat??

somebody school me on discs vs. drums

i just dont see how i could stop any faster with rear discs than i can now, since locking up my rears is not a problem in a hard stop??

HELP

 

Reason why disc have more stopping power is the amount of force applies to a larger surface area, drums only have them dinky little wheel cyclinder bout the size of fat salt shaker, where as a caliper has the surface area of a pop can for instant. Drum brakes in big truck are a how different animal though, be it hydraulic or air.

 

i agree with that...truck brakes are heavy too, doing a brake job on them sucks....but the old drums make good jackstand bases