I found a site that offers a stand alone kit to convert our trucks to disk brakes in the back. However its a little expensive i was wondering if it is worth the cost. i been told it greatly improves your braking power just wondering what your thoughts are. thanks.

 

I doubt it is worth it. Most the the trucks braking is done with the front brakes anyway. Drum brakes are not as bad as some people say they are. I wouldn't want a car/truck that had 4 wheel drum though. Personally, I don't think I would bother converting to rear disc. How much is the kit and who makes it?

 

Out of curiosity, what wrong with rear disc brakes / 4 wheel disc brakes?

I love them and swear by them. I wouldn't spend the money on an old truck as a conversion but I definately think that 4 wheel discs are fantastic.

Tim

 

Conversion is not worth it. Thats whats wrong with them. As Texasguy stated, most of the braking is done by the front. In my honest opinion I think the only reason for 4 wheel disc is for looks. . With big wheels with spokes or whatever you can see in to the rotor and caliper. With drums you see.. well... a drum. Im sure disc brakes are also lightweight and cheaper.

 

The kit is made by EGR Performance brakes. The price tag is $799. i am gathering parts for my restoration all winter long then when spring time comes i am having it restored. However $799 is alot of dough just for brakes. here is the link: http://www.egrbrakes.com/index-main.htm
It's $599 if i dont want to keep my parking brake and $799 to keep it.

 

While it may or may not be worth the time and expense to do the swap the fronts do not do most the work all the time. As much as 40% of the braking power comes from the back wheels.

The rears activate first if adjusted and working right and when stopping under light pedal force the rears do a fair percentage of the work until fully stopped.
Stopping fast, sudden and hard on the pedal the combination valve on the master cylinder adjusts the pressure progressively more front bias as the the weight is shifted to the front keeping the rears from locking up.

While disks would be better, if your truck came with the smallest drum/shoe combination on it from the factory, upgrading it to the largest width drum/shoe combination available for its axle may be a more economical option/compromise.

 

using your number then 60% or more of the braking comes from the front.

which means the front brakes do most of the work.

 

turnerjc03,

A rear disc brake conversion has been deiscussed numerous times on this forum and if you search the archives you will find many threads. My suggestion is to visit your local junkyard and find an V8 Explorer with rear disc brakes and do the conversion with those parts. They will bolt right on and save you a bunch of money. My .02 worth.

Scott

 

except for the wheel bolt pattern.

 

Thanks I appreciate it. I will probably do that i was thinking of trying to find a ford 9' rear end to replace the 8.8 in my truck i heard the 9' is stronger.

 

I did the upgrade on my cherokee, and it was well worth it. How stopping your vehicle quicker "isn't worth it", i'll never understand. I've had vehicles with all drums, all disks and the disk/drum combo....disks are always better. The fact that front brakes do 60-70% of the work would want you to give them some help, no? I, for one, care to have shorter and surer stopping distances. I'll be doing my '89 as soon as i have the extra scratch.

 

Well then why bother putting rears on then if the fronts do all or most the work?

My 40% figure was based on older vehicles and what I had read, today's anti lock and or computerized systems may very well start out rear bias by 60%? more?

Disable the rears and go for a ride, then tell me how much of the work the backs actually do.

Making a blanket statement like "most of the braking is done by the front" that improving the rears is a waste of time just isn't true, not in every case.

One even states "I think the only reason for 4 wheel disc is for looks." what the heck is that?

Disk brakes work better have fewer parts and are easier/quicker to repair. I haven't worked on that many no but I have yet to work on a 96, or newer, that had rear drums on it, not saying none of them do now days but the numbers are probably fairly low that do?

I kinda wish my trucks had rear disk, at the same time mine both have 3" rear shoes in a 11" drum so no, I won't be changing to disk.
But if I had a half ton with what? 1.5- 1.75" shoes? in a 7-8" drum? yea I might consider it as an upgrade worth my time on a truck i intended to keep for a long time.

 

we are not talking about computerized systems.

we are talking about f150s.

to post "why do we put on rear brakes?", is sounding like a very desperate argument.

 

If anyone is satisfied with the amount of braking action coming from the front disc's, then adjust your rear drum shoes out so they'll be ineffective and then go for a ride.

60% is marginally more braking action meaning 40% is a significant amount of braking.

It wasn't my intent to start an argument, TexasGuy001 simply said he wouldn't want 4 wheel disc's and i asked him why. I simply wanted his opinion.

I think that if a fella thinks that doing a conversion is worth his time and money, then it's worth it. It's not worth it to me on my 22 year old truck that i intend to sell within two years.

Tim

 

The rear disc brake conversion is not worth the 799. As stated earlier the front brakes do most of the work. Thats why you change the front pads twice as often as the rear shoes, if not 3 times as often.

And for swapping out the 8.8 in favor of a 9", you cant. The 8.8 has a reluctor wheel on the ring gear and a sensor to get a reading for the spedo and abs. There is no provisions for this on a 9", there for you will have no spedo, abs and the truck will probably not shift because the computer will not know how fast the truck is going