Angry Johnny

This day one, I will try to go through all the parts I used when I'm done so I'm sure I have all the correct stuff.

First order of business was stripping all the drum brake hardware from the truck.

I used my trusty Hazzard Fraught 20 ton shop press to press out the wheel studs and separate the hub from the drum.

Then I ran into the first snag. The wheel stud at it's base is larger than the hole in the Chevy rotor. So not wanting to crack the rotor I had to drill the holes out to 11/16.

I then chamfered the hole edges so as not to create any stress risers. And used my press with some sockets for spacers to press the studs back in.

Angry Johnny

For some reason my camera is not working so I am having to use my phone. It's just another PITA.

So next was mounting the hub and rotor back on the truck and setting the assembled caliper, pads and bracket on there to get a measurement for the spacers that will go between the bracket and the flange on the axle housing.

I used air pressure to extend the piston to tighten it up and center it on the rotor then measured from the bracket to the flange.

I measured 1 9/16" and made a spacer but after filing it square it cam out to 1 1/2" and that was too short. So looking through my collection of small junk I found three cheap flimsy spacers that were 1 5/8" so I mocked all up with those and it's still a little short. I need 1 11/16" spacers. So I'm going to go to my buddys place today and cut the tubing I purchased with the brackets on his lathe so I am sure they will be square.

Final pic today is of the assembly mocked up. I'm just doing one side at a time so once I have one side figured out the second side should go pretty smoothly.

maybe368

Looks good, you will not regret this upgrade.It is very important to get those calipers adjusted properly and to use the parking brake because that is how your brakes stay adjusted. Here is a thread on how to adjust the calipers:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...-brake-326123/ ...Mark edit: posted wrong thread

Angry Johnny

I'm using 86 Chevy K20 front calipers and rotors so there is no parking brake at this point. I will have to address that at a later date.

There are two different calipers for this application with the difference being the piston size. One is 3 3/32 and the smaller is 2 15/16. Since the front caliper on the truck looks to be a 3 3/32 piston or close I chose to use the smaller piston caliper.

So day two, I took my 12" piece of tubing to my buddies where we cut 6 pieces to 1 3/4 with a chop saw and then trued up both ends and whittled them down to 1.6875 +/- .0005. They fit perfectly. Both outer hub bearings were on their way out so I'm waiting on them tomorrow. In the mean time I bolted everything up to start working on the brake lines and hoses and this is where I'm going to have to cut some corners. My boss called me and offered me a $500 bonus to postpone my vacation and come back to work on Thursday, Friday an Saturday and take those 3 days in the future. So I need to finish this up tomorrow.

I was going to replace the flex hose from the frame to the differential but that top mounting is really hard to get to laying on my back so that will have to wait. I was going to make new hard lines to the flex hoses but now I'm just going to cut and double flair the lines that are there. They appear to be in good shape.

The first snag I hit was the bracket kit I bought for the flex hoses didn't fit the hose. lol. Nothing a 5/8 drill bit couldn't take care of though.

Next the bracket that attaches to the housing with a band clamp didn't work as the clamp wasn't big enough to go around the axle tube. So I bought two screw clamps with a max diameter of 4 1/2". This is only temporary until I can get the brackets welded to the housing so it's no big deal at this point.

MrFusion

Always gotta be something man. The day a job goes smooth is the day I start to worry!

That being said I'm really considering this conversion for ease of maintenance if nothing else.

edwinsmith

Just a suggestion but you could weld a brace between the spacers for more stiffness. The flexing may tend to stretch and loosen the long bolts.

Edwin

MrFusion

How about welding the spacers to the mounting bracket on the axle? Should limit some flex.

boeingguy

looks good! you wont regret this mod

Angry Johnny

I plan on welding the spacers to the caliper bracket at a later date and some bracing in between is a good idea. I don't want to weld them to the flange on the axle housing in case I need to remove them later.

bigragu

Looking good, AJ. Like those stainless braided lines. Stainless braided is how they should have came from the factory, LOL!
Did the stainless hoses come in the kit, or are you custom fanning them as you go?

samiam4

Looks better than my installation...


I'd make sure that brake line is secure not to chaff on the spring. The crimped end on those hoses don't like a lot of movement. It's just the some final stuff to do.

M

Angry Johnny

The line doesn't touch the spring but I'm going to put something on it there so it doesn't rub.

Day three and it's back together and sitting on all fours. The brakes bled out without incident once I got fluid flowing. I'm still not happy with the pedal but the more I drive it the better it gets, pads are probably green.

It will still lock up a rear brake on a wet road though. The RWAL only works if both rear wheels stop turning. Since the sensor is on the ring gear as long as the differential is turning it doesn't know any wheel is locked up.

They stop good though but there is still more I want to do. My front calipers have the phenolic pistons in them which I don't like so I have calipers with steel pistons to replace them with. I just need the time and I may install an adjustable proportioning valve still. I'm going to wait on that though until I get the fronts squared away and drive it for awhile.

I'll get a few final pics up and the list of stuff I used a little later. Got to go back to work now so I'm out of time.

bigragu

AJ, I've been reading up on those adjustable proportioning valves, and looking at the ones on Summit and Jegs. While on the Jegs site, they had a link to a PDF on installation instructions, and here is what it says, not quoted- install adjustable prop valve after the master cylinder and after any factory distribution block or balancing valve with the brake switch. Make sure there is NO ABS TYPE SYSTEM down hill from the placement of the proportioning valve.
Just thought I'd let you know, as this kind of coincides with what we're discussing on our PM's.

maybe368

I don't know about those Chevy calipers but bleeding the Cadillac ones is just a matter of gravity bleeding them. The problem is that you have to remove the caliper and hold the bleeder valve straight up. It worked like a charm and I have not had better brakes. I also shook the caliper a bit and more air came out. There is no touching the brake pedal during this process..Mark

Angry Johnny

I was able to put the calipers on the correct side with the bleeders facing up so I didn't have to take them off. The brakes work great just the pedal is a little squishy. I expected more travel and little bit more squish though. I may have all the air out but I'll bleed it again after a few days.