Rear disc brake conversion

[owent2005]

Hi,

Is there such thing as a conversion kit to change from drums to discs on the rear and if so where can I get the kit?

Thanks

 

[ozziedog]

Yes there is but from most peeps experience its not a walk in the park as in a straight forward swap over from the box. I can`t think of anyone that`s done that without some form of re engineering somewhere along the line. But ,, it does look great, and less fidgeting about adjustment wise, but no real gain in real life for a regular van owner. :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,does look funky though :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[owent2005]

Ok thanks Ozzie, do you know if the extra stopping power is worth the effort?

 

[ozziedog]

There is no extra stopping power on the rear conversion as far as any decent tests have shown, if you were racing your van and really needed more rapid heat dissipation then yes go for it. Most of your stopping power is your front brakes and I`m guessing that you have disc type front brakes on your van, getting better brakes is one thing but getting a bit of servo or better servo is maybe your best gain per dollar.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,but they look somewhere between fantastic and awwwwesome :mrgreen:

 

[K@rlos]

Creative engineering do a kit but it’s a load of dog **** and takes a lot of re engineering to make work right. In the fullness of time I’ll be going the Porsche 944 route for mine to match the front.

Regarding is it worth doing? yes most certainly, the actual braking force won’t be noticeably better however self adjusting cailpers and brakes that don’t fade going down long or steep hills and ease of servicing make worth while. If rear discs performance wasn’t up to a certain level all cars & vans would still have drums today.

Yes I have a big power motor in my bus but the stock brakes were **** when I had a stock engine.

 

[cunning plan]

Creative engineering do a kit but it’s a load of dog **** and takes a lot of re engineering to make work right. In the fullness of time I’ll be going the Porsche 944 route for mine to match the front.

Sorry to be lazy, but do you have a build thread or specific page for the 944 front disc brakes? oke:

 

[Davydomes]

We converted to discs on the front of our 69 but I have read a lot of posts saying that there is a noticeable improvement with the addition of a Servo.

 

[sparkywig]

You'll get extra stopping power by fitting a servo to your drum brakes.
I've got the CE rear disc "kit" on my bus, but can't go back to drums without replacing the rear hub carriers. And it's *****.

 

[Haveacamper]

Typically, the homebrew process is:
1. to machine down the rear hub carrier to fit inside the tophat of a disc.
2. find a rear calliper that has an integrated cable handbrake mechanism
3. make the bracket to fit the caliper in the correct place on the chosen disc
4. bolt all together.

if you're running different PCD to standard, then you will have then probably run an adaptor plate.
what is your wheel offset (ET)? this will drive:
i) the thickness of your spacer/adapter plate
ii) whether its even possible to do.

I dont completely agree with Karlos regarding whether it is worth it. I dont think it is as clear cut at that. I agree with the potential lower maintenance and self adjusting, but for most people's driving styles a well mantained and adjusted drum setup will perform more than adequately for most.

A lot more modern cars have rear discs, yes. but i'd go as far to say that there are a lot more vehicles with rear drums with a higher power/weight ratio that most of our buses. also, ALL have servo assisted brakes. this is because for the same amount of pedal pressure, you achieve a larger braking force.

First and foremost, I would recommend anyone who doesnt already, to fit a servo kit...either sourced by yourself or purchase a kit. I believe the kits I've seen (like the remote ones) are a lot more expensive.

what you need to do is:
1. weld a bracket onto the beam tubes,
2. fit a servo and Master Cylinder
3. extend/strengthen the pushrod from the pedal to the servo.
4. run a vacuum line from the servo to the engine. it was more faff, but I chose to run a solid line most of the way and just flexi hose either side end
5. fit a one way valve between the engine and the flexi pipe to avoid the vavuum moving the wrong wrong way.


I wrote a previous post here:
https://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74184&p=592326&hilit=brake#p592326

 

[ozziedog]

I’m agreeing with 99% of that said above. Another reason for the rear disc setup on modern cars and to some extent on vans, is that initially it was a bit of a marketing and selling point but afterwards it’s mostly down to the facts that it’s cheaper to build cars this way with little variation on the floor pan and running gear and adopting a jelly mold approach. From new, there’s a lot less moving parts so much cheaper to manufacture and assemble than the menagerie that is rear drum brakes. It’s also because of this menagerie of parts that it’s not as easy to swap as mist would like. Plus not to overlook the adjustment and maintenance required with drums.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, modern innit :mrgreen:

 

[joneastwood]

Made my own kit

944 on the front

home made rear kt all from parts off the shelf apart from the adaptor bracket to hold the caliper

plus had to have some machining done to get stuff to fit together but the set up is awesome now and don't feel I need a servo

:mrgreen:

 

[K@rlos]

Creative engineering do a kit but it’s a load of dog **** and takes a lot of re engineering to make work right. In the fullness of time I’ll be going the Porsche 944 route for mine to match the front.

Sorry to be lazy, but do you have a build thread or specific page for the 944 front disc brakes? oke:

Go through my buses thread it’s on there

 

[joneastwood]

got loads of info on mine

http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69190&start=40

had fun with rear drums not fitting which is why i edned up making my own discs

front 944 are easy, just need the caliper adatpor bracket, extended grease caps, bearing spacers and then the 944 bits

 

[cunning plan]

Made my own kit

944 on the front

home made rear kt all from parts off the shelf apart from the adaptor bracket to hold the caliper

plus had to have some machining done to get stuff to fit together but the set up is awesome now and don't feel I need a servo

:mrgreen:

Very nice! Good work.

I guess the Wide-5 wheels would need an adapter..... :?

Creative engineering do a kit but it’s a load of dog **** and takes a lot of re engineering to make work right. In the fullness of time I’ll be going the Porsche 944 route for mine to match the front.

Sorry to be lazy, but do you have a build thread or specific page for the 944 front disc brakes? oke:

Go through my buses thread it’s on there

Will do.

 

[joneastwood]

Wide 5 yes

When i built the kit, i did think it could also be made as 5x112 easier and cheaper as that was the stud pattern of the disc

 

[davidoft]

Creative engineering do a kit but it’s a load of dog **** and takes a lot of re engineering to make work right. In the fullness of time I’ll be going the Porsche 944 route for mine to match the front.

Regarding is it worth doing? yes most certainly, the actual braking force won’t be noticeably better however self adjusting cailpers and brakes that don’t fade going down long or steep hills and ease of servicing make worth while. If rear discs performance wasn’t up to a certain level all cars & vans would still have drums today.

Yes I have a big power motor in my bus but the stock brakes were **** when I had a stock engine.

Lots of modern stuff still have rear drums so they are perfectly functional and fit for purpose to, self adjustment is handy , has anyone fitted T25 brakes with the auto adjusters?

 

[gagvanman]

What handbrake cables have been used on the rear disk conversions?

 

[joneastwood]

What handbrake cables have been used on the rear disk conversions?

i used og ones but they come up about 400mm short but just used a joiner piece to fill the gap

 

[Haveacamper]

What handbrake cables have been used on the rear disk conversions?

i used og ones but they come up about 400mm short but just used a joiner piece to fill the gap

I have similar. If you are not happy to this, you would find out how much you needed to lengthen and shorten and contact someone like speedycables who should be able to make you up a custom one for you.

 

[joneastwood]

What handbrake cables have been used on the rear disk conversions?

i used og ones but they come up about 400mm short but just used a joiner piece to fill the gap

I have similar. If you are not happy to this, you would find out how much you needed to lengthen and shorten and contact someone like speedycables who should be able to make you up a custom one for you.

I thought about that when i built mine, but means each time you want cables you have to get custom ones, this way at least you can grab some off the shelf