GCam

Hey guys,

I am looking at replacing and/or upgrading my brakes. '93 W250 4x4. I have read through but have not found anything definitive. Could I get your opinions?

Simply replace with OEM parts?

Upgrade rear to 3" shoes?

Rear disc? If so, what setup?

Hydroboost?

Thanks!

mknittle

Hydroboost the only way to fly. Way better brakes and you dump the crappy stock master cylinder. I did a Chevy Astro van booster and 1ton Chevy master cylinder both 1994 I also did the 3" rear brake shoes. I am very happy with my brakes.

Hydro boost with discs would probably be sweet.

bigragu

What MKnittle says

maybe368

Maybe the perfect brakes: Hydroboost AND disks Sweet ...Mark

cougar

Reverse facing JATO. The only brakes that will back you up.

u2slow

Consider how tired your D70 might be, and if your springs are sacked, or the hangers are rusted through.

You could roll a whole '01-02 rear suspension under there and then you have discs.

I did it with a Dana 80 (slide off drums)...
Dana 80 swap - westcoast style - Dodge Ram, Ramcharger, Cummins, Jeep, Durango, Power Wagon, Trailduster, all Mopar Truck & SUV Owners. Dodgeram

GCam

Thanks,

Do you have a write up or parts list for your hydroboost set up?

Anything worth doing to the front brakes in your opinion?

GCam

Awesome work but I am not looking to lift my truck at all. Plus, everything else on my Rear End is in decent shape. Is the GM brake swap any less work?

I have read about out outboard drum brakes anyone know anything new about them that for our trucks?

bigragu

GCam, the 1 ton, 3" shoes in leu of your factory 2 1/2" shoes is a great upgrade. Some folks have upgraded to the 1 1/8" or the larger 1 3/16" wheel cylinders in the drums, vs the factory 7/8" cylinders used on the 3/4 Ton trucks. I recently reverted back to the factory cylinders from the 1 /8" upgrades, cause my hydroboost conversion was over powering my rears. But, that's another story.

If you look at the top righ of page 1 of the topics page, you will see a search feature. Type in hydroboost brakes. When page 1 comes up, you will see three, maybe four large write ups, each about 12 pages long, on hydroboost conversions. MKnittle, ThrashingCows, JFounder, and The Ouchieman all did write ups, with pics, and called out endless part numbers and references as to where they obtained the parts, including JIC and AN fitting types you'll need for this upgrade.

Or, you can find my post, where I took the short cut and just went out and bought the hydroboost conversion in kit form.

Earlier this week, maybe still on page one of these DTR topics, someone requested power steering fitting sizes needed. MKnittle and myself threw out some links, all tied in to hydroboost parts.

u2slow

IMO, not really... I've had a 3 different 1-ton chevs with hydroboost and the D60 brakes. They stop awesome. Usually paired with 13x2.5" or 13x3.5" drums.

I can only speculate... it seems the most turn-key inclusive kits cost the most; even more if you need a parking brake. My interest in converting an existing axle to disc or slide-off drum is lost when I can pickup whole diffs that are better than stock for $200-500.

If I want brakes cheaper than that, I just rebuild the stock drums with rockauto stuff. 3" linings and bigger wheel cylinders don't cost any extra.

james1

All the Second Gen trucks came with outboard brakes -- some were D70s and some were D80s. A while back one of our Forum members, Erska, started a thread asking if he could put outboard drums on his First Gen D70.

But his question was never answered.

The thread:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ssible-318494/

u2slow

Anyone looked at the slide-off drums used on an OBS F250/350? Same 12" bendix brakes as 1stgen Dodge....

GCam

Thanks for all the input guys! 3" shoes and Hydroboost sound like the best bang for buck. I will be looking into piecing it together.

bigragu

If you do go thru with this, may I offer advice? If your truck does not see any heavy tow duties, stick with the factory 7/8" wheel cylinders. If you do haul heavy on occasion to full time, upgrade to the 1 1/8" wheel cylinders.

Also, do some reading on the RWAL module. If yours is in great shape, keep it, if not, bypass it. I'm not going to tell you to just out right bypass it, as in all my searches in the RWAL subject matter there truly are both 50/50 positive and negative pros and cons to keeping that factory module in; but I will say this, it has been known as a problematic item in our braking system, causing low pedal, mushy brakes, air infiltration, etc.

If you need further assistance when you get rockin and rollin, you can PM me if you wish.

samiam4

I saw a YouTube or thread somewhere, I think the later hubs and backing plates will fit. You'd have to take some measurements.

it you have time to explore. . Go for it.