DIY Disc Brake Conversion

[lmdangerous]

Oh yea one other thing - the screws that you spoke of holding the drums on the hubs- My 3800 had them also - sure someone hasn't made a hub or axle swap?
Not that it mattered- I was reading /catching up on the article- been a while - been very busy - damn prefect gasser I am building is fun but driving me nuts also .Also managed to paint the 3800 somewhere in there between July and September - don't remember exactly what days - gotta be the enamel paint fumes-lol

[mechanixman]

Well it's been a while. I've waited at school to machine the hubs, but we never had enough time to machine them right. It's hard enough to get it positioned left to right, but the fact that we need to worry about the position of rotation really killed us. I had a way of doing it, but I would need to invest in some sacrificial aluminum, which wasn't practical at all. The instructors wanted time to really think things through, but it's already been three months, and I need to get this bad boy on the road.
So I went to oreilly with the hub, and asked for the ford rotors. Nothing quite fit. The guy and I searched through their database for about 25 min and didn't find much. We thought we found a dodge rotor that fit, but we couldn't find it in the back....so we got creative.
We just started opening boxes till we found a rotor that would fit. This is what we got on our third try.
It's a rotor off a variety of chevys from 2001 to 2014
If anyone else is looking for one, it's barcode is 56999RGS
And it fits perfectly! Now I'll drill out the hub for bigger studs, and i'll be all set.

[mechanixman]

Fits well too
P.s. I apologize for how ugly everything looks in the first picture, you turn the flash on, and dirt appears out of nowhere!

[Bnabb0618]

I am in the same boat you guys are in. Only thing is I have a 3600 instead of a 3800. Does anybody know the difference in hubs? I know the lug pattern is the same, 8x6.5. Should I look at Chevy 2500 rotors instead of the 3500 rotors?

[mechanixman]

I'm glad this thread has helped someone else already!
If the lug pattern is the same, get the same rotors. They'll still fit perfectly. Only thing you'll need to do is put in some bigger studs into the hub. I just went out and bought a set of 9/16 studs for mine.

[Bnabb0618]

My hubs look like they are fastened on with screws like yours was. Did try just screw out or did you end up drilling off the heads and going from there?

[mechanixman]

Ha Ha yeah, I tried unscrewing them until I stripped them and just drilled it out.
Now you don't have to worry about using those holes again anyways. If you look at the second picture in post 27, the two smaller holes are the 2 screws you have right now. The other slightly larger hole (at about 2 o clock) happens to line up with the one of the holes in the rotor. AND the rotor is threaded, so all you need to do is drill out that hole a bit, and pop in a bolt through the hub and into the rotor.
Now the only work that will need to be done to the hub is enlarge the stud holes.(and the alignment hole).
The picture is one of the new studs I bought for the truck. I went to the parts store and just asked for their generic 9/16 size stud. The problem is the different shank sizes. The new holes we need to drill will have to be countersunk.

To find out the right sizes, I sat there with a conversion chart and a caliper making sure of the right sizes. The hub will come up to the top of the spline in the picture.
To fit the spline, you'll need a 19/32 drill bit. This will allow the stud pass through the hub right up to the edge of the threads with ease. Yet it still will leave enough material for the splines to grab on.
Just below the spline, the there is that ridge. To make it fit in the hole, you'll need to use a 5/8 drill bit and counterbore it.
I haven't looked at what size I'll need for the alignment hole.

[Bnabb0618]

Thanks for the info, I am so glad I found this thread. I was just thinking I would get the rotors, pads, calipers, studs, and lugnuts to all the same vehicle.

[mechanixman]

No problem!
Yeah that's what I'm doing. Now if you can find the calipers from a junk yard, do it. They came on all all 3500's, 2500's, and i believe some 1500's from 2001 to 2014. Both trucks and vans. Reason I say this, is because the calipers were $40, but the core price was ANOTHER $40 on top of that. I found some calipers at a local yard for $15 a pop. I'd say worth saving some cash.
I just checked the wheels, it looks like you'll unfortunately need to get new wheels to fit the calipers. But your 19" rims may do the trick.

[mechanixman]

Right now I'm designing the caliper bracket.
-Dark blue lines are the rotor dimensions
-Yellow lines are the caliper pistons.
I'll finish with the axle side of the mount later.
Once this is all said and done, I'll make the patterns a pdf for normal paper. Anyone that wants it can pull it off and use it for their truck.

[Bnabb0618]

Can I do the same thing on the rear? Or is it a lot trickier? I haven't dug into the rear brakes on my truck yet.

[sqrlnts]

Damn your off an running with this! Thanks for sharing your hard work Nick.

[mechanixman]

Originally Posted by Bnabb0618

Can I do the same thing on the rear? Or is it a lot trickier? I haven't dug into the rear brakes on my truck yet.

I believe so, but I haven't done any serious research on it. The main reason I swapped to discs was I had nothing left of my original brakes. The first picture is how I found my brakes the first time I took the drums off. The second is what the front wheel cylinders looked like. To buy all the parts to put this back together cost me about the same as putting discs on. The rear
was intact, and I figured any load I put in the back that would require disc brakes to stop it, would ruin my wood bed floor first. So I'm keeping the drums in the rear for now.

Originally Posted by sqrlnts

Damn your off an running with this! Thanks for sharing your hard work Nick.

Thank you for your kind words! I figured someone else like me in a year or two will find this thread and whip up some newer better brakes in a month or two.

Today I went to the yard and picked up some used calipers off 07 3500 van. The core charge for these were $40, and I payed $20 for these used ones. Always good saving some cash.

Now I also bought two wheels off the van. Now while these rotors are fairly tall, it looks like the caliper may hit the wheel. I'm not entirely sure. But just to be safe, plus it doesn't really hurt considering it was $10 a wheel.

[_Ogre]

good work mechanixman. good luck on your caliper bracket

[lmdangerous]

The back caliper brackets can be ordered from blackbird enterprises. They specialize in rock crawlers. These people like the HO 52/72 rear ends. I bought them as in a pair for 99$ and cut the far corner off and slid it over the axle tube after I ground a chamfer to clear the factory housing welds. I used the 85 3/4 ton rotor and mounted them to the back if the rear hubs using the studs when pressed back in. I listed the needed parts list earlier in this thread. For the record the late 14 bolt rear has the same bolt spacing for the caliper brackets. The blackbird site says they are one in the same. I just ditched the aluminum spacers that they sent. The rear end was very straight far ward compared to the front. Hope this helps.
LMD

[mechanixman]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

good work mechanixman. good luck on your caliper bracket

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by lmdangerous

The back caliper brackets can be ordered from blackbird enterprises. I just ditched the aluminum spacers that they sent. The rear end was very straight far ward compared to the front. Hope this helps.
LMD

There ya go!
Speaking of spacers, will adding a space between the rotor and the wheel screw up the steering geometry at all? I was taking a closer look at how the caliper fits in the orginal wheels, and it looks like if I put a 1/2 in spacer between the rotor and the wheel, everything would work out just fine.

[lmdangerous]

That was the reason I used the Ford rotor - it cleared everything- wheels and all. I really dont see that the spacer would hurt.I have seen various spacers and even hat- heights for wildwood and strange brake set ups in the racing world. And I can tell you they are no where near as heavy built as this stuff.
LMD

[mechanixman]

Alright. cool.
I was planning on making a set for the rear axle anyway, because I remember you told me that the hub caps barely fit the rear.
Well I got quite a bit done today, it turns out all you need is that 19/32 drill bit for the hub.
2 C clamps hold the hub just fine. In the second picture, you can see I had to blocks of wood under the hub. I tried earlier just using wood working clamps, (I chose them because it seemed like they could clamp with an even pressure across the hub.) but because it wasn't sitting flat, the hub would rock back and forth, grab onto the bit, and move real quick.
I put a couple pieces of scrap under each side of the rotor and it seemed to work just fine. I sandblasted the hubs and painted them with some caliper paint I had lying around.

[whitedog76]

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wh...54307315703967

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wh...05663049259431

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wh...83229759087955

I just saw this post. It's basically the same thing I've been working on since about 2011. I've been working at a snails pace though, and gotten side tracked on other things.

I love the work though.

Chris

[Bnabb0618]

So I've been looking everywhere for tapered roller bearings for an upgrade instead of ball bearings, and I finally found some for the 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks.
On Chevofthe40s.com
Part #909025R(outer)
#909026R(Inner)
I contacted customer service and they assured me that these were taper roller bearing replacements for the 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks.
I haven't bought them yet and tried them but I thought I would throw this out there and maybe help someone out.

[whitedog76]

I've actually bought a set of those bearings. They are Japanese made by a company called MBS. They are quality pieces too! The OEM felt seal won't work though. Try Timken 40973s. It's a little tight around the middle, but any seal thicker than .25 won't work.

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/wh...ml?sort=6&o=32

[mechanixman]

Update I haven't done much other than press in the studs, I'm still working on the caliper brackets. Update

Thanks guys that's great. So how do those go in? remove the races from the hub and spindle?

[whitedog76]

The tapered bearings are direct replacement, races and everything.

NICK- I have a new rotor, I believe the same one as yours and a set of calipers I would like to part with if you're interested. Best price of all FREE, all I would want is some help with shipping. Send me a PM if interested.

[mechanixman]

oops

[mechanixman]

I forgot to post this a while ago,
I used a hydraulic press and a deep socket to press in the new studs.
Throw on the caliper and rotor, it almost looks as good as Imdangerous's set up. (the rotor looks so nasty because we had some ice fog come through, and it made sure anything metal in my garage had a light coating of surface rust. )
Looks pretty slick with the van wheels, but they don't quite clear. Only the wheel weight is getting in the way.