Rear Disc Brakes on 1st Gen.?

[JDancoe]

Well, I got my tax return, and I'm thinking about doing a disc brake conversion on the rear of my 1st Gen.

I'm looking at a kit from EGR (TDR Advertiser). They advertise a complete conversion, including parking brake, for $800. Seems fair to me.



Has anyone out there done one of these? How'd it work out?

Any comments /suggestions appreciated.



Jack Dancoe

 

[jclark5810]

I read, read, and read some more. I decided for ME that it wasn't worth it. There wasn't anything the discs could do for me that well adjusted drums couldn't, just my opinion.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Look into the master. Was told that a first gen master/booster would not work and would require a change. Apparently not strong enough.

Either way posts your research. I still want to disk the crew.

 

[NIsaacs]

I read, read, and read some more. I decided for ME that it wasn't worth it. There wasn't anything the discs could do for me that well adjusted drums couldn't, just my opinion.

I agree, drum brakes have worked just fine forever. Also, the disks need two brakes including the parking. In remote country dirt roads, mud and slop, the ranchers have a lot of trouble with them. Not so much with pavement haulers.



You can improve the rears with larger wheel cylinders for cheap.



Nick

 

[HHhuntitall]

I've looked into it, too, but after having several of the '03+ trucks, I decided against it, just for the internal drum and the problems they've had offroad..... I think upgrading the wheel cylinders and keeping the pads adjusted up, while removing the rear ABS POS, will give you an excellent feel. I don't know how many people I've done that on, and they always are shocked at how good the brakes now work..... even without the wheel cylinder upgrades. Personally, I think the money spent on the Disc setup would be better spent elsewhere.

 

[JMDancoe]

I know my brother (Jack) to you guys, (John) to me appreciates all the feedback on this conversion idea as we were planning to do both his truck and my Retro truck this summer. I probably would not be doing as much "off highway" as he would, as his is a 4WD and mine is a 2WD, so the mud thing would most likely apply to him. I however was not aware of the power booster problem and as I just installed a new one on mine, am not looking to shell out for another. The other differences between his truck and mine are: his is a 5 speed with Ram Brake and mine is an Auto without ram brake. As we are both planning to tow travel trailers in the future we had thought the upgrade would be worth it. I think I will look into wider drums & shoes and larger cylinders, as the price differential is substantial. Thanks, but if some of you have done the conversion, please let us know how much better the vehicle stops under load. Thanks again for all your input. Jim

 

[cerberusiam]

A good stock MC seems to work fine with the conversion as the the surface area area of the pistons offsets the volume. From all accounts, the braking is not that much better between a good upgraded drum and the disc conversion. The is probably has more to do with the calipers than anything as they are not really meant for an HD truck.



A D80 swap is probably just as effective and if one wants the full effect that almost require swapping in the hydro-boost system also. I had looked extensively into doing the swap but could not find anyone that could testify it was mor ethanmarginally better than the upgraded shoes and removing the ABS when towing. Empty it can be noticeable if the rears are not working correctly but in that scenario the fronts do the bulk of the stopping anyway.



I get the feeling that the disc swap is more for the light duty vehicles that have too small drums. For an HD application it just doesn't seem to be that much better.

 

[JMDancoe]

Thanks again. I think both my brother and I will go with upgrading the drum systems and leave it at that. We were looking at them (Disc conversion) as a considerably better way to stop the vehicles, but it seems that is not the case. Love this TDR thing. Great bunch. I hope to see all who can make it, at the Iowa 1st Gen Meet.