Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Fed up with drums..........

[Big White Beast]

O. K. the last set of pads lasted me less than 10K miles. I just threw some Napa pads on the front to tide me over till I make a decision.



Here is what I want to do. I've looked at the disc conversions for the rear and haven't found anything to suit me. I have an 01 3500 with a Dana 80 rear. I have feelers out to the salvage yards for a 01½ rear end to swap and get discs on the rears.



What I was curious about is if DC changed the rear ends from 01 to 01½ and up. Do I need to swap the whole rear end out? Or could I just get the disc parts off a salvage truck and bolt them on the 01? I don't know of anyone in my area with a 3500 that's newer than mine to compare to. If anyone out there knows about this please let me know as I need brakes soon.



Thanks in advance,



Garrett

 

[Bob Wagner]

Garret, Contacy Piers for some answer, Piers may have a system for you or he could steer you in the right direction.



Good Luck

Bob

 

[Chipstien]

Check this thread out. Apparently the axle are the same and the rear disk setup will bolt right on. There is a post with all the necessary OEM part numbers and it all cost around 900 smack at the dealer. Not bad in my book. 4 wheel disk conversion

 

[Big White Beast]

It will work.........

I found a mech at one of the dealers that really new brakes. He said it's not a problem converting with OEM parts. Theres more than just the rears to worry about though. The resevoir needs to be changed to the larger unit to hold more fluid and he said something about check valves on the lines needing replacing also. He was at work so I couldn't pick his brain too much.



The good news is he does side work and said he'd get the parts at his cost, 20% over, and charge $200 to do the swap out. Sounds way too cheap to me for labor but I would give a nice tip if he can pull this off.



So the answer is that it can be done it just needs a few extra parts that weren't listed on the other thread. He also mentioned an oversized rotor/caliper set up for the fronts if this still doesn't stop me adequately. The guy seems to know whats going on so I'll let you all know what the final price comes to and if the stopping is greatly improved.



He also mentioned the antilock isn't a problem because the sensor is controlled by the ring gear in the pumpkin. This probably wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the parking brake needing it's own set of shoes for the rear. I imagine those parts are what drives the cost way up.



Garrett