Making your ride stop better is hardly the coolest fashion to soup it up . But whether you ’re a tuner - car enthusiast looking to make your WRX drift - ready or an intermediate Joe look to tweak the safety and performance of your beloved ' 68 F-150 , adisc brakeconversion is actually the first qualifying you should consider .

There are many good reasons to trench your quondam - fashioned drum brakes for discs . Drum brakescan be troublesome ; they ’re easily damage by rut , wet and debris , they offer up less - than - optimal stopping power , and they often postulate steady adjustment .

The obvious candidate for record brake conversions are pre-1970 vehicles , since disc brake did n’t become standard until the ' LXX . Chrysler introduced standard disk brakes in the 1950s , but this innovation did n’t catch on until the mid-1960s , when power brake system , which made disc brakes easier to function , hit the market . But even most advanced cars and motortruck still come received with drum on rear steering wheel . Rear drums have stuck around mostly because they ’re tawdry than disc brakes , and since a car ’s front brakes do 70 percentage of the work , rearward bracken operation can be sacrificed for price . [ Source : Professional Mechanics Online ]

­In this ­article , we ’ll look at the fundamental principle of brake transition , including the tools you ’ll involve to do the line of work yourself , the difference between front and rearward conversion , and the outfit available to save yourself a stumble to the junkyard .

­If you know your calipers from your spindles , ­you likely have the expertise to do the Pteridium aquilinum conversion yourself . But do you have all the tools you need ? Read on to find out .

Tools For Disc Brake Conversion

Since you ’re either savvy enough or foolhardy enough to attempt a brake conversion yourself , your service department is probably already stocked with all the peter you ’ll involve to assemble your disk brakes . But putting your unexampled brakes on is not going to be the knockout part . Taking off your honest-to-god brakes will probably model the biggest challenge .

Maybe your bolts have n’t fuse and rust , and perchance all the lubrication has managed to not dry up and blow aside . If you hap to be that lucky , then a socket set and atorquewrench will certainly do the conjuring trick . Just in case you ’re not that fortunate , it ’s believably best to prepare yourself for some ohmic resistance . So make certain you have some penetrating oil , a sledgehammer , a metal saw or an acetylene torch on paw .

There are dozens of factors that can complicate your brake conversion – all depending on the make , model and year of your vehicle . You may involve to get rid of springs , cushion , and peradventure even an axle in ordering to get this line done , so make certain you know what you ’re in for before you get too far in the physical process .

As for putting the new brake on , changeover outfit have everything you ’ll need to put your novel brake together , but if you ’re rat at the local junkyard , you ’ll be taking brakes off the donor car in accession to your own , so ­make trusted you ’re tooled - up for another possible battle .

Front- and rear - pasture brake assemblies are not standardized , so front and rearward conversion do differ slenderly . understand on to find out what ’s required for each , and what complication you may find .

Front Disc Brake Conversion

If you ’re doing a front disc brake conversion , you ’re probably work on an older vehicle . This may intend that you will have to do more than just replace the old brake .

Removing the Drum Brakes

­­­­Not alld­rum brakesare create adequate , but they ’re all similar enough that absent them follows the same canonic steps . Start by removing the wheels and tires . Next , you will need to take off the detritus cap , and then remove the centre nut , washing machine and brake - drum thunderbolt .

unplug the bracken hose before you remove the drumfish , and once you ’ve taken the tympan off , you should audit the spindle . If the spindle is get into or rusted , you should replace it . But if it looks good , you could clean it up and reuse it . Now just storage and procure the direction sleeve and you ’re halfway to the conclusion line.­

Installing the Disc Brakes

Some brake spiritual rebirth kit come pre - assembled , but accept yours is n’t , or if you ’re using recycled parts , here ’s how you’re able to assemble yourdisc brakes . Attach therotorto the mandril and then put on the bearing and nut , the washer and the cotter pin . Now put on the dust cap , and then you may move on to thecaliperassembly .

Before you put the caliper on the rotor , sequester the newfangled Pteridium aquilinum lines and install thepads . Then you may put the caliper in position over the rotor , reattach the brake crinkle and then back go the wheels and tire .

­After you ’ve finish up the conversion , you will postulate tobleed the brakesand refresh the brake fluid . launch the brakes will flush out anyair that ’s gotten into the brake line . And since you ’ve disconnected those lines , there will be air inside . This can stimulate your brakes to feel squashy or can make your pedal point free fall close-fitting to the floor.­

get ’s move on to how to do a successful rear disc conversion .

Rear Disc Brake Conversion

One reason auto maker favor a front - disc / rear - tympan configuration ( by from the low price ) , is thatdrum brakesrequire a simpler – and cheaper – mechanism to operate theparking brake . On drumfish bracken , the parking pasture brake cable controls a lever tumbler that ’s connected to the brake brake shoe . Withdisc brakes , the lever tumbler attaches to a separate mechanically skillful twist inside the caliper Walter Piston that push the plunger into thepads . On some cars , the lever tumbler attach to a separate brake drum inside the rearbrake rotor coil , depending on single - piston or four - pistoncalipersbrakes .

What this means for your conversion is that , depending on your fomite , you may need to instal an all new parking brake system . If you ’re lucky and your new brakes are compatible with your parking brake system , all you ’ll want to do is unplug the parking pasture brake before removing the sure-enough brakes , and then reconnect it after you ’ve instal the new ones .

Removing The Drum Brakes

Rear membranophone remotion is essentially the same as remove front drums , except for that pesky parking brake . Start by take away the bike and then the dust cap , the essence nut and washer and the brake - metal drum bolts . Before you remove the membranophone , you require to disconnect the brake hosepipe and parking brake cable . After you remove the drum , inspect the arbor and either replace it or reuse it . Then reposition and secure the steering limb .

Installing The Disc Brakes

bind the rotor coil to the mandrel , conform to by the washer , the armorial bearing and ball and the cotter rowlock . Then put the rubble cap on and move on to the caliper assembly.­

Before positioning the calliper on the rotor , attach the newfangled bracken business and deploy the pad . Then place the caliper over the rotor coil and bond the parking Pteridium aquilinum and the Pteridium aquilinum line of products . Put the wheels and tires back on and you ’re virtually done .

As with the front conversion , it ’s exceedingly important to bleed the brakes and refresh the brake fluid . Equally important is testing the parking brake and making necessary adaptation .

Disc Brake Conversion Kits

I­n general , the brake - rebirth - kit market is geared toward high - performance – not to mention high - cost – brakes . So deciding whether to buy a spiritual rebirth kit or gather part from a junkyard or parts store count largely on what you ’re looking to get out of your rebirth .

If you ’re only upgrading Pteridium aquilinum on a much older vehicle , a spiritual rebirth outfit might be overkill , and could terminate up costing a bit more than donor parts .

On the other hand , the nice thing about conversion kit is that they redeem you the time and campaign of hunt through junkyard wrecks and car storage character bin to receive what you need . For instance , a conversion kit for a 1970 Ford Mustang cost between $ 1,000 and $ 2,000 . The same transition do using a combination of junkyard and auto store portion , cost one do - it - yourselfer $ 800 . [ source : Ireland ]

Conversion kits can cost anywhere from $ 500 to $ 3,000 . The lower - end changeover kit have simple flatrotors , while high - remainder kit often have rotors that are slot to keep them cool . gamy - terminal execution kits also put emphasis on showiness , bid special finishes for the rotor and bright red racing - stylecalipers .

Keep in mind that although there may not be a specific spiritual rebirth outfit useable for your vehicle , there ’s bound to be a compatible outfit out there . Car enthusiast Web sites , forums and message boards are priceless resources for finding out what outfit best fits your needs for a rebirth .

Lots More Information

Sources

­