Finally attempting the rear disc conversion

[mhuppertz]

Bought bolt-on brackets years ago, same with Eldo calipers. Recently got the K20 discs, brake hose and e-brake adapters and pads.
I have has a wheel seal leak that was making braking hazardous, and the last straw was the master cylinder leaving the building last week.


Oh, also bought a school bus master with the larger plunger.


Started today taking the old drum stuff off, replacing the seals and putting it back together. Went to thread the caliper bolts onto the brackets and quickly realized something was wrong.


Pulled apart and threaded the bolts in and they were pointing decidedly in any direction but straight.


Looks like they jus ran a tap down through the laser cut holes by hand!


I will be looking for heli-coils that are the right size tomorrow, then drill those out on the drill press and get them fixed.

[RumbleFish]

That sucks! Let me know how the parking brakes holds up. My rear brakes have been giving me fits and if i use the parking brake the brakes decide they need to start tightening up and dont know when to stop

[mhuppertz]

That sucks! Let me know how the parking brakes holds up. My rear brakes have been giving me fits and if i use the parking brake the brakes decide they need to start tightening up and dont know when to stop

So you used the Eldo calipers?

[RumbleFish]

Nooo i still have drums. Been eyeing the eldo disc setup but wasnt sure how well the parking brake worked.

[Gots_a_sol]

I had the eldorado calipers on mine. They didn't impress me as I was watching my truck roll away on a slight incline (in a field and the wheels were turned to full lock, so it turned itself and stopped)

[mhuppertz]

We'll see I guess. I hate drums, so I will go a long way to make these work.

[BILTIT]

When i had my old chevy lots of guys were doing the conversion, most didnt like the eldo calipers. They are good at first but decline with age quickly. The good side is they are easier to service than drums.

My conclusion if i ever did disc conversion in the rear again (didnt use the parking calipers on my old chevy-auto trans) would be to put in a pinion brake or get a rotor with internal drum brake.

[RumbleFish]

I had k20 calipers on the back of my ramcharger and they were awesome. But it too was an auto and i didnt need a parking brake. I despise drums also. I just shouldt have touched then and in sure theyd still be fine. Ugh

[CumminsPower59]

My conclusion if i ever did disc conversion in the rear again (didnt use the parking calipers on my old chevy-auto trans) would be to put in a pinion brake or get a rotor with internal drum brake.

I looked at driveline brakes, the kind that mounts on the rear of the transfer case. For less than $400, seems to be a pretty fair and easy deal.

[BILTIT]

Ya they are, only downfall is they are not legal in many places.

[CumminsPower59]

Care to elaborate? Commercial applications have been using drive line brakes for years, or is it one of those "if it's not OE, it's not legal" cases??

[BILTIT]

Yes, not OEM then its not legal. I would still do it provided i never had to get a provincial safety though.

[BC847]

One thing about the Eldorado caliper parking brake is you've got to use the parking brake regularly for it to work the automatic adjuster. Further, it's very important to, when you release the PB, you've got to allow the PB pedal to snap up . . . .without your foot padding it so to speak. That is apparently needed for the cone-clutch widget to slip, and take up slack in the adjuster.

That being said, yeah, I'm not really impressed with the Eldo PB ether.

[mhuppertz]

Update:

Got the school bus master cylinder on and the brakes bled and drove the truck today.

Have less than an inch of pedal travel before the brakes engage, but it does take more effort because the larger bore piston.

The brakes weren't this rock solid when the truck was new. There is no light pedal pressure creep like there always has been.



I may look for a compatible master cylinder that is made for 4 wheel disk in the future if I can't live with the increased effort, maybe an older 'Vette unit.



I warped one of the brackets a little welding to it so I have a little bit of rubbing. If it continues I will pull the caliper and head/bend until it is perfect.



Found one e-brake setup, right side, in Arizona. Got it coming. Still looking for the left side.



Overall, very happy I did it.

[rhinodart]

I need more stopping power for my 93 ramp truck, so I may attempt a disc swap, sounds interesting!