Mike S.

What would be involved? I haven't a clue, but I'm in a position where I probably have to replace the rear axle housing in my first gen and I'm wondering if a third gen would fit ok. Having four-wheel disc brakes would be great.

apwatson50

If its a dana 80 thats a definate yes, if its the new AAM not sure. What gear ratio do you have? As i'm fairly sure that the new trucks only come with 3.73 gear ratio's and maybe 4.10's. Also do they have hub centric wheels now?

jrussell

I would imagine the spring perch widths are different, but those are pretty easy to cut-off and weld on in the right spot.

Begle1

If you just want disk brakes, you can supposedly bolt on front disks from a Chevy K-20 onto your rear axle...

http://ramchargercentral.com/index.p...owtoshow;id=66

There was another link like that floating around, don't know what happened to it though...

jrussell

You can?

Do the caliper brackets bolt-on and everything, or just the rotors?

Begle1

I edited my first post.

I got beat off the draw.

Supposedly you can do it; I think there was a more relavent link talking about a similar conversion on a Dana 71 rather that a 60, but I don't know where that one went...

EDIT: Voila!

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/dana70discbrakes/

wannadiesel

Very nice, but that leaves you with no parking prake.

apwatson50

How about a line lock/micro brake?

or some good ole chocks. lol

jrussell

Yeah, a line lock should work fine for most of us.

4x4 owners can probably get a T-case parking brake too, but those are not always easy to install.

apwatson50

How about a tailshaft mounted drum brake. The ole 65 2wd ford has one, and there's a tranny sitting in the barn with one mounted on it.

jrussell

Sounds like an older 2wd version of a T-case brake. I've heard you can get the parts and custom make one for just about any vehicle where there is enough room to clear the disc. I think the discs and calipers come from some kind of airport work vehicle.

Flake

You don't want to use a line lock for a parking brake, it draws too much power and will kill you batt(happend to me on my old rock crawler). The Mico lock is made to be used as a park brake no problem, it's just kinda expensive.

These guys make nice rear disc kits, I've used a Chrysler 9.25 and a Dana 70 kit from them with no problems. You can also get their kits with Caddy calipers with a mechanical park brake built into the caliper.

http://www.tsmmfg.com/Dodge_Truck.htm

Begle1

So can I ask a couple of questions now?

1. What is the difference between a Dana 70 and Dana 71? How do you know which you have?

2. Has anybody ever installed a drive-shaft brake on these trucks before? I take it that's what ya'll are talking about when you say "tail-shaft" brake, correct?

apwatson50

They're actually drum brakes, not disk. They're from the sixties at least. Did they have disc brakes back then? lol

Also on our plow truck we have a manual line lock or micro brake. I don't really know what the difference is. Seems like they both do the same thing. You do have to route brake lines into the cab for it, but i'm pretty sure there are manual actuated ones that just have a lever into the cab.