I have a 98.5 2500 with a D70.

I've been thinking about swapping in a D80 w/discs for the strength (sled pulling) and to ditch the drums on the D70.

A few guys I talked to have told me they did the swap and the discs stopped no better than their old axle with drums.

Does that sound right?

 

less maintenance, easier to switch out pads over shoes. that for me is one reason I would switch, but they are already on my truck 2001.5

 

Not only do run the edited by admin out of my truck,It works really hard every day.Towing heavy loads it has respectable stopping power.I have 72000 miles on this vehical.It still has the original shoes on it.Ive replaced the front pads 3 times.I think its because calipers are exposed to the elements and the sliders tend to sieze,causing uneven pad wear, or the pistons sieze, and both pads drag causing premature pad wear, poor fuel economy,lack of power and even transmission problems.Drum brakes could hangup to, but are less likely to.

 

I had a 95 w/o discs and now I have a 2002 w/ discs. The 02 stops a heck of alot better than the 95 would. Now when towing it makes a big difference to me.

 

well front brakes are set to do most of stopping,if your rears lock up rear comes around meets front.that said with more weight you want more stopping power.when drums heat up they expand away from shoes reducing stopping.discs expand out to pads when they heat up increasing stopping this said pads get wasted from all that heat. in approx 50k I have done brakes twice shoes are still fine. I tow 14k through mountains of VT and NH.I can smell those brakes dropping a steep grade.I am also looking into drum-disc swap, as my truck has 151k and rear shoes are still passable.I think to even out wear/stopping to all four wheels would be safer and fronts would last longer.bill

 

Look at it from a business perspective, they spent the money and changed to rear discs for a reason, logically why would they do it if the rear drum setup was working so much better than it needed to?

Another way to look at it is not necessarily from a stopping power point of veiw, but stopping longevity. Disc brakes (on a smaller truck like this) will dissapate heat better and will be less likely to glaze over and give you that nice pucker i'm sure most have encountered before for some reason or another . So while you might not notice a huge increase in 'stopping power', you will be able to stop harder for longer without worrying about glazing your rotors, or boiling your brake fluid.

 

I agreed disc brakes are easier to work on compared to drums.

I was asking because a drum D80 is about $600, and the disc D80s are like $1200-1200.

 

You're going to notice the rear discs more when towing. That's when you want the braking most, right?

Compared to an aftermarket upgrade, swapping in the disc rearend is much cheaper and ought to give good results, based on the performance of the trucks I've driven with drums and those with discs.

Most of these trucks have height-sensitive brake proportioning, so as you load up the rear, the brakes will have more power diverted to the rear. This is why you notice the superiority of the rear discs so much more when towing.

When not towing, the brakes might be proportioned 80/20 or worse towards the front. With a load, it will pass 50/50 and go maybe 75/25 split with the REAR having more power!

Remember, ideal braking is when brake force is matched to wheel traction. Since the rears on an empty truck have so little traction (less weight), they can't contribute much to braking.


These trucks really ought to have Electronic Brake Force Distribution, like ho-po cars do. A system like this constantly varies the proportion of braking both f/r and l/r to match available traction. This reduces the likelihood of a skid and increases braking power by a phenomenal amount!

Alas, the shortsighted penny-pinchers at Dodge are too cheap to offer this feature as a way to leg up the other guys.

Heck, trucks need this more than sports cars, but sporty cars like a Mitsu Lancer Evo have it and the trucks don't!


Justin

 

Yeah I don't have that proportioning valve setup on my truck. I took the rod off and put the arm all the way up. Rear brake still are pretty bad. New shoes and everything too.

 

Not to hijack a thread but a question
How about a listing for rear pads? or same as fronts? I never can see a p/n.

 

I upgraded my rear cylinders to the GM 1-ton cylinders and definitely noticed better rear braking. Do a search.

One thing I still have to do is adjust them every few months or I seem to loose the power of the rears. Do about every oil change.

Steve

 

I hope if this ever gets implemented that it is an option only. One more thing that takes control away from the driver, and I personally wouldn't care for it. I prefer to learn the way my truck behaves and adjust my driving to that according to the road conditions, not rely on electronics to operate my vehicle. It is akin to Grand Cherokees and their fancy Quadratracks that will distribute the torque for you to the wheels. Granted, it is better than open diffs but I still think real lockers and a driver's brain are a better combination.
-P

 

The reason all you guys have factory rear shoes, and have changed front pads out once, twice, or more, is because the stock rear drums don't do CRAP for stopping. Put some Chevy wheel cylinders in it, and it will help, but it still won't stop like 4 disks do!

Chris <---SRW Dana 80 with Discs ready for swap

 

I put the Chevy 1 ton wheel cylinders in and it didn't make a difference at all in the braking. The only thing I noticed was the brake pedal goes down a bit farther. I'm not sure why, since everyone says they help a ton.

I can lock up the rear tires, though I almost have to put 2 feet on the pedal to do that.

I adjust the rear shoes every 5000 miles when I rotate the tires. I put 5-6 clicks on them.

 

Curious, when you adjusted your brakes did you pull one axel?, cause if you did not pull the axel your brakes aint adjusted.
also if you pump your brakes when you go to stop do you notice your pedal rise? if it rises then they are not adjusted
Are your bleed screws below or above where the line goes into the brake cylinder (post your answer then I'll post the reason I asked)