Disc Brake Conversion ?

[Bill Braski]

Hello,

I’m new to the forum and new to C10’s. My 2006 F150 was stolen prior to my deployment to Iraq….I’ve always wanted a classic truck so I used my unfortunate loss as an opportunity to buy one, after about 6 months of searching (my wife at home, and me on the internet), I finally bought a 1969 stepside. It was shipped to my house last week and I have about another 3 weeks over here in the sand box until I finally get to drive it…..man I’m stoked. The truck has four power drum brakes, and I’m planning on switching to drop spindles and disc brakes (front only). I’d like to put a set of Jesse James Lawless 6 18x9 wheels on it first, Will I run into any backspacing issues if I do the wheels before the drop/conversion? Thanks for your help.

[LONGHAIR]

OK, a little tease....

[shifty]

Couple of things:

1) Most important, thanks for serving us. Regardless of whether I agree with why we are there in the first place, I want you to know that I am incredibly happy that you're over there risking your ass for us

2) Welcome to the forum. We're glad you found us. We're all a bunch of fanatics over here

3) When you get ready to do that disc brake conversion, don't hesitate to pop here into the suspension forums and use the search feature to find any of the numerous posts on the subject which should guide you through. If you find that the posts aren't answering your questions, don't hesitate to "bump" the post that you have questions with by simply replying to it (rather than creating a new thread). This is a great way for us to all keep the topics consolidated, and then the next guy that comes through searching doesn't get 10,000 different results, which makes trying to find those jewels of info dang near impossible.

4) As far as backspacing goes...you shouldn't find much (if any) difference between running discs in front and drums in front as far as wheel backspacing goes. There was recently a thread around here that talked about the max backspacing you can use with either 67-70 rear axle, and with 71+ rear axle...hit the search and look for "backspacing" and you should find it pretty easily.

Finally ... I'll tell you that you can do the disc swap in front pretty easy. You're just going to need some 71-72 front balljoints, 71-72 spindle (might as well get ECE's 2.5" drop spindle), soe 71-72 front calipers ($40-60/ea fully loaded at local auto parts store), then some new rotors ($20-40/ea at local parts store). Don't forget inner and outer bearings and seals for the rotor, and you'll also need to adapt a '71-72 outer tie rod to your '69 inner tie rods. A couple places sell sleeves for this.

This info may negate your need to search.

If you have the $$$, just go to ECE @ www.earlyclassic.com and order their kit. It will cost you $200-300 more, but literally - it will arrive with everyting - and I mean EVERYTHING you need, and Mark and Jeff give some of the best damned support and service you'll find out there.

[lolife99]

Make sure you can get your new wheels with a large enough center bore. Most of the 6-lug wheels made now are for the late model Silverado hubs. These old trucks have a larger center bore. (3" compared to 3.5" bore,...for example). Just check. It could save you some headache.

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by shifty

If you have the $$$, just go to ECE @ www.earlyclassic.com and order their kit. It will cost you $200-300 more, but literally - it will arrive with everyting - and I mean EVERYTHING you need, and Mark and Jeff give some of the best damned support and service you'll find out there.

I couldn't agree with shifty more... ECE (Early Classic Enterprises) does it right, and will be there along the way to help out.

[chevydog66]

www.summitracing.com sells some nice drilled and slotted rotors that would look great behind those wheels. And Thanks for serving our country!!

[Dadsredwagon]

another Big thanks for serving our country!!!! nice ride...

[Bill Braski]

Thanks for all the support! I'll be looking more into ECE when I get back to the states. I'm sure I'll have some more questions once I start wrenching on the truck.