drum brake change to disc

[Kilo19]

afternoon gentleman...being laid up the past few weeks has given me a chance to look at some things that i need to do...which brings me to this-

I have a dana 40? rear end that came with the jeep, that the PO was swapping out (not on the jeep now, but will be)

it currently has drum brakes...i haven't worked much with them, and would prefer to change it to disc, cuz ive worked on disc before, and i think its easier...but, is it too much of a hassle to change drum brakes to disc, and is it even possible to start with?

also, one of the lug bolts on the axle is sheared off i didn't see it till later, and am wondering if thats a fairly easy fix?, i'll double check what rear end i have to help with the info...

in advance, thanks for the help.

 

[Kilo19]

so rear axle is a Dana 44 .

 

[rr41mag]

The wheel stud is nothing more than popping the old one out, insert the new one put a peice of pipe or something over the stud and tighten the lug nut to pull the stud back in place.

 

[Old Dog]

They do make kits to change to disc's, IOport just did one. Might want to talk to him about his swap. A google search should turn up some companys that offer kits also.

 

[Kilo19]

mmk, i like kits, i can work with that, take off old....put on new

now as far as between the two, would one be better then the other? (other then ease of working on it), im pretty sure i'll get a kit to replace the drum, but i thought i'd ask from the "pros" what they've experianced in the field.

(kinda of a side point, but has anyone thought of making a reviews page? products that have been bought, used and tried?)

 

[Old Dog]

I like disc's as we run through water and mud at times around here and disc's perform better when wet.
We do have a reviews section at the top of the page.

 

[Kilo19]

well now i feel dum asking about the review tab...ITS GREAT BY THE WAY (embarrassed).

with the terrain that the jeeps go over, i figured that the disc would hold up better? or handle better.

 

[IOPort51]

hopefully they just stop better.

2570

getting the E-brake sorted out is a bit of a puzzle.

do you think you could figure out how to pull the axles and cut the back plates off?

I had the axle bearings replaced and they removed the back plates when that was done.

you also need to shorten the brake lines on the axle or replace it with a shorter line or maybe bend a loop in it to make it shorter


It's not rocket surgery but it has not exactly been a walk in the park either. Not as hard as setting up a differential and not as easy as changing oil.

 

[Kilo19]

IO on the disc kits, is there a max size rotor to run? i'll be using a 15" rim, i would think there would be, but if i can i'd like to run the biggest i can.

also, i've heard of these being used in racing applications, but do cross drilled rotors show any benefit, besides the cost hurting the wallet?

 

[IOPort51]

My "Kit" came with the rotors and to be honest I did not measure them.

 

[Old Dog]

I use plain rotors. From what I've read the drilled & or milled one are good for the go fast guys but offer nothing for us.

 

[Kilo19]

Ok cool

 

[IOPort51]

"vented rotors" the ones that are kind of hollow and have openings on the edges are capable of dispersing the most heat.

 

[Kilo19]

Yea I think that's stock for most everything. I've heard the cross drilled rotors vent gear but its more for racing I guess.

 

[IOPort51]

a lot of different opinions on that one but I would consider the the drilling and grooving to be something to sell and not enough, if any, return on effort or investment.

 

[73CJ]

insert the new one put a peice of pipe or something over the stud and tighten the lug nut to pull the stud back in place.

No No No!

This can over stress the stud possibly causing cracks.

Press the stud in from the head side. (Or smack with a BFH).

 

[johnnyreb]

I'll chime in on this. I have an AMC20 but plan to do a disc swap. I got my brackets from ground pounder fab on ebay. 30.00 shipped. He doesn't list them and you have to contact him. From my research alot of guys are using 95-01 maxima calipers and brackets or 84 zx300 calipers and brackets. Add to that some 96 geo tracker front rotors. The maxima do have the provisions for the E brake, but you gotta lengthen the cable.

 

[Jimbos76cj]

I was planning on swapping in a yota 8" for my CJ because it has disc brakes... this might work better

 

[Kilo19]

Well I did some searching and found some vehicles that I could pull a used disc and make it fit. But as "thatsontbetooexpensive" has said before, that's not something I'm going cheap on. So I'm going get a new kit.