Bought bolt-on brackets years ago, same with Eldo calipers. Recently got the K20 discs, brake hose and e-brake adapters and pads.
I have has a wheel seal leak that was making braking hazardous, and the last straw was the master cylinder leaving the building last week.


Oh, also bought a school bus master with the larger plunger.


Started today taking the old drum stuff off, replacing the seals and putting it back together. Went to thread the caliper bolts onto the brackets and quickly realized something was wrong.


Pulled apart and threaded the bolts in and they were pointing decidedly in any direction but straight.


Looks like they jus ran a tap down through the laser cut holes by hand!


I will be looking for heli-coils that are the right size tomorrow, then drill those out on the drill press and get them fixed.

 

that sucks! some quality control, imo so do the cad calipers, egr sells new for about 350. and the claim the piston check valve will survive a lot longer, plug dead center on piston causes grief when retracting for pad replacement.

 

properly adjusted 12" drums will give you more braking power than those eldo calipers. the e-brake sucks on those calipers as well. you might be ok for a little longer being in a dry climate, but they're pure trash anywhere that has rust problems

 

That's the first bad report I have heard about the disc conversion on a Dana 70.


I figure if the disc brakes hold up in the front the same tech should be fine in the back, but I guess time will tell.


I just can't keep drum brakes adjusted. Mine required adjustment every few months, and that isn't in line with the rugged nature of the rest of the package.


Saving all the stuff and not doing any welding in case I ever want to put it back.

 

I readjust mine once a year. Did you replace all the hardware? Its really important to utilize the E brake daily. Not a perfect system but not terrible either.

 

I live up a mountain and drive down and back up at least 2,000ft in elevation a day. The drums just haven't cut it for me.

 

This is very important as well.

And I can see how the drums would not last riding down that grade every day.

You could always consider a pinion E-brake system.

 

I would have figured a manual shifted truck could deal with that, if it is unloaded most of the time.

 

If you're gonna high gear ride the brakes down a steep grade every day, nothing will stand up except an exhaust brake.

 

my disc brake conversion works fine, the e brakes took a little adjusting, but now they work great too. ....And no more pulling axles to mess with brakes. bought everything in a kit off CL for $200. I never could keep the drums adjusted for very long.

 

All very good points. I am getting a bit tired of fighting bad parts etc. Going to go in one more time with new Centric parts.

I've run big Dodge vans with this same Bendix double acting rear drum brakes for years. Never had this kind of trouble before. Usually they were worn out when I got the van. Went in and put them right. Just run good after that except for the MN road salt effect on the e-brake cables.

 

Dodge brakes have never been the best. Now we have to deal with worse aftermarket and reman. parts.
Up grades are in order unless you like changing parts more often than other brands.

 

exhaust brake is worth its weight in gold, ive got the gear vendor on the t-case wiping out the d-line ebrake, another option I saw, a caliper bracket that holds 2 calipers, 1 mechanical.

 

Sorry to continue the high-jack, and since Mark has already invested in conversion parts, this is not aimed at him per se . . .

Why not just swap a set-up from a late 2nd gen with the drum e-brake inside the disc? The bolt pattern is still 8 on 6.5, and you should be able to adapt the backing plate from the newer axle?? Is there some reason this doesn't work out?

 

I thought about that, but I wasn't sure if that setup would fit in 16" wheels.


I got everything on, only to be defeated by my school bus master cylinder... bolt spacing is wider than on my Dodge. Everything else is identical (except for the larger piston and bore) so will have the holes elongated with a mill tomorrow.