What all would be involved if you didn't have rear discs? Can the rear drum axles be converted to discs or is an axle swap needed?
Joe

 

Any idea on the part number for the caliper brackets? My 17" rims are in the garage and I can't wait to do this brake job! Thanks for the legwork....

 

Cyric: As far as I know there would be alot af work to change over to rear disks from drum brakes, all the rear brake parts, master cylinder, ABS parts ect. too costly of an upgrade, to swap unless you could get the parts dirt cheap I feel, Sheriffav8r: I'll try to round up the numbers from mopar on monday or tuesday when I am there.

Thanks Brent

 

If you have rear drums the best bet would probably be to find a rear axle set up with disc brakes that matches your front gear.

 

This sounds like an awesome upgrade. Thanks for doing all the leg work guys.

 

Keep in mind that the rear brakes only provide about 25-30% of the total braking regardless of whether they are disc or drum, and it mainly comes it when you have allot of weight on the truck. The biggest improvement you get from rear disk brakes over drum is that they don't fade as much when they get hot and they cool off faster. So if you get a 10% improvement over the drum brakes with the disk, your total overall improvement will only be 3%.

I don't believe that the cost of converting your rear brakes is really worth it. It might be worth it if it was a race truck. The other thing to consider is that with rear disc brakes, your parking brakes suck.

Just put a bigger wheel cylinder on them and be done with it.

I hope this helps when looking at the big picture.

Mark

 

I'm in the middle of this one too, problem I also had was that I needed the right rear brake line too. OH MY HELL, what a PITA that was....

 

If I understand correctly, the drums are actually capable of delivering more braking force. Especially if you upgrade the slave cylinders to larger bores. The drawbacks are that they don't dissipate heat as well once hot, and in my experience if yo do a LOT of dirt road driving the dust makes them squeak on the first application each drive. Very irritating. IMO the only real reason to fool with it. Just too much hassle for too little benefit.

The third gen brake upgrade is FANTASTIC tho. And it did fit up on my drum rear '01. As long as your truck has the slip rotors and bolt on caliper braket up front, this upgrade is doable. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. Stoopid easy, Sooper dooper braking. Regular parts store replacement parts, too.

Right before I got the rest of my goodies for my 3rd gen, I had some goof merge into my lane on the freeway. Stuffed the brakes and borrowed enough to soil the shorts of the guy on the other side of me. On the brakes panic style at freeway speed I locked up all four 35" mudders (315/75's) in the rear, and the fronts didn't have enough braking force to even skid. The stock fronts are anemic at best. With big rubber I have noticed that a full stop from freeway speeds consistently heated my stock brakes to the point of offgassing and fading.

Even with rather large big rig rubber I haven't hit brake fade. Even when my trailer brakes failed pulling 10k, though that was sketchy, I still didn't feel fade.

 

After almost loosing trailer brakes going down a mountain in the California redwoods, I'm thinking of updating my '93 4x and auto for a '02 4x with a 6 speed I found a deal on. Seems better for towing my 5th wheel. BUT, I worry about the manual tranny for "normal" use. Fer instance, when trying to hook a trailer on a hill. Can you leave her running, brake set, when you go back to see how close you are to the ball hitch, or do you have to stop the engine each time? The parking brake on my 93 won't hold her on much slope so I rely on the "park" position of the auto trans frequently.
I have two cars that will hang from a wall with the park brake but this '93 never was "trustworthy" that way.
Thanks for any comments!!!! Oh, by the way, we put marine injectors in the '93 and boosted the HP 50 or 70, I forgot which. Sure makes a difference though. I'm only considering selling it because I want the security of the stick when towing my 5th wheel DOWN the mountain. I guess a Jake will go on an 02 with an auto, so if ya'll say the parking brake can't do what I ask here, I'll go for an auto probably? Maybe keep the '93 just for boat launch and tractor trailer towing.
Nothing wrong with owning two of these things!

George

 

The parking brake may hold but I have had two (2) parking brake cables fail. One was on a new rig less than a year old. I will not and do not take a chance with my stick power wagon, I shut it off. Not worth it to me, especially if you are in the way if the cable or something else fails. Just MHO and experience.

 

[QUOTE=Russ Roth;3058229]The parking brake may hold but I have had two (2) parking brake cables fail. One was on a new rig less than a year old. I will not and do not take a chance with my stick power wagon, I shut it off.

Thanks Russ. I suppose I knew that but didn't want to believe that, so I appreciate your reply! If you stop and realize that when you put an auto in "park" there's just a little pin in the tranny holding you, a guy would always set the brake. Most of us don't though.
I made a thing I use when launching my boat on steep ramps using my '93. It's a 6" piece of 4x6 with a 7' piece of 3/8" rope atatched, a big loop in the other end. I loop the end over the side mirror and when I get the truck in position, drop the block out the window, then scoot out fast and push it against the left front tire. Looks funny but should the auto's "park" fail I won't loose the truck. Then, when ready to pull, I take off slowly, and when the weight is off the wheel block I pull it back into the cab with the rope attached to the mirror. Low tech but yet to fail! The park brake on the '93, even after a brake job by the dealer, will not hold her on much slope.
Best:. George

 

I ALWAYS use the parking brake no matter what I am in and I set it first. You can break the park pawl in an auto if you don't set the brake before you put it in park. I have lengths of 4x4 block I use to chock the PW although I also know those are not a guarantee something bad will not happen. I also never chock a steer axle as there is a chance the pressure could turn the wheel if the weight of the rig suddenly came against it. MHO but I spent most of 27 years driving fire trucks and an engine once in a while. Our safe driving classes years ago stressed not chocking steer axles if you had a choice but that seems to have changed as I see FD rigs chocked on the front now. I don't think it's good policy.

 

Are these for sure the correct dust shields? I ordered 3rd gen 4x4 dust shields and they didn't match up with the axle to knuckle bolts. Has anyone installed the dust shields in the front yet? Pictures or experiences would be helpful - thanks!

On another note, I have had this brake swap for about 1.5 years now, love it!

 

Anyone with the 3rd gen front brake upgrade getting a lot of brake squeal or excessive brake dust? Ever since I switched to the 3rd gen brakes, I get a lot of squeal under anything but the hardest brake pressure. The first few stops after being parked for a while are quiet, but after that, it sings like a choir. I'm also getting a lot more brake dust on both front wheels. I've tried different pads and same issue stays around. Been through Duralast Gold, Wagner Thermoquiet and now running EBC Greenstuff.

Looking at it, I'd say the pads are riding on the rotor too much when not on the brakes, but I've had a couple of shops look at it and they say there are no problems with the brakes and the noise and dust is normal. Really tempted to go back to the 2nd gen setup if I can't work this out.

 

I have had nothing like that happen. ABS issue maybe? Properly bled brakes?