2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Rear Disc Brake Conversion questions

[C. Harlan]

Ok people, I am tired of getting 5k-8k out of a set of pads on the front... my question is, for those of y'all who have done this conversion, how hard was it, what is the best brand to get, and how much did the whole conversion cost? Any and all comments would be appreciated!



-Chris-

 

[C Schomer]

Don't know about rear disk but I put the 1T cylinders on the back of mine - they are great. I replaced the oem pads at 40k and they still had 1/8" of lining. I think I saw a rear disk conv. in the last TDR. Craig

 

[CarlJensen]

EGR brakes of Corona, CA sells a disk brake conversion kit. I have EGR on my 95 and I like them OK but the back shoes are very "grabby" and I will probaqbly go back to a raybestos shoe. Disks would be great if I had the dinero right now!

 

[truckstom]

Chris

Lift UP on that right foot... ya won't need them big brakes...

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someone had to say it... :-laf

 

[C. Harlan]

I don't know what that means... can you enlighten me??

 

[EricBu12]

Harlan,



I did the conversion plus I put better rotors on the front with carbon Kevlar Pads.



The rear conversion is pretty nice. It uses a caliper from a '77 Olds toronado and regular pads and rotor... There is a lever to use with your E-Brake cables and they adjust up nice.



On the front, I bought the slotted rotors and Carbon Kevlar pads. These pads last alot longer but they are more expensive, They are able to take the heat alot more.



Total for the 2 items I bought was around $1000, don't know about current prices... ... See http://www.egrbrakes.com/ for details



Eric

 

[CarlJensen]

Eric

Was the rear coversion a pain or go pretty well? I would really love to have a set of those!

 

[EricBu12]

I think I had one of the first sets out when they made them.



I had only 2 problems on the rear. you have to take the rears all apart, hub and all then punch out the Studs and the kit has new longer ones because the rotor goes on behind the hub.



Well the inside opening of the rotor wasn't JUST big enough, Had to put it on a lathe to take a little off so it would fit. That went well with the new studs.



Then I noticed after I had Installed the tires, that they wedged the on the hub! There is a ridge made for the drum that was there. . I needed a spacer plate to take place of the missing drum. EGR Has it in the kit. Had fun taking the hubs back off the rims...



Well from the look of the website, there is the spacers and i had told them about the slightly smaller siameter on the rotor so I hope all that is worked out...



If I didn't have those problems, It went well. The front rotor change over went very well. I have the style where the rotors come off the hubs after the tire is off so that was easy. Had a time figuring out the bolt for the caliper frame, you Have to use a 16mm 12pt wrench. The bolt head looks like a reverse torqs but it is a 16mm 12pt. I saw the new larger caliper on the website, That looks nice for our trucks!!



All in all it just takes a bit of time because you have to totally remove the brakes and you have to remove the hub. If you have a REAL BIG wrench, you can take the hub nut off otherwise you need to go to a special tool store to get a hub nut socket. It is big, Like 3-4" or so. Also be very carefull of the new rear seal when installing the hub back on, don't let the weight of the hub sit on the seal to the axle tube... it will leak when filled with oil. The axle itself is nice, just slides in and out of the diff. Splined.



so I see it is like $1200 for both kits. PLus the carbon kevlar pads to sub. for... . It helps the stopping dist. I also added a thing called brakeguard. It is 2 little canisters that mount by the master cylinder and it reduces the length it takes to stop in an emergency situation. I added it and marked off the length I stopped from 60mph and it was 175 ft. Not bad for a 8000# truck!!

 

[CarlJensen]

Thanks for the info Eric. I don't have the tools required so I would probably let a trusted brake shop do the change over. Where did you get the Brake Guard? What is it, a pressure cannister?