Brakes

[Confederate1969]

I remember seeing some good threads on Marc's site about upgrading to disc brakes. But since it's down for a while, I though I'd ask here about brakes. I've been thinking about upgrading the Runner to discs but I have a few questions about it first. Is it customary to just do front discs or convert all 4? Is this a difficult task or can it be done in a day or two? Will it destroy my junk food fund for more than a few months to buy new brakes?

 

[dobie]

It all depends on far you want to go. One day I'll convert too, although it'll probably be just the front. I believe that you can use spindles and other parts from later Chrysler's (Cordoba's). Buying these at a swap meet or junk yard will greatly reduce your cost. A new master cylinder from a parts store shouldn't cost you more than $50 or so. Now if you go the kit route, you'll end up paying quite a bit more. Sometimes the greater cost is worth it, sometimes not. Down the road I'll look at things a little closer. For now, disk brake parts are already on my Carlisle/Nats shopping list for 2009.

:cheers:

 

[Big John]

You don't want to use Corodba spindles. They will fit, but the geometry is wrong.

This is probably the best article on the subject.

http://www.moparaction.com/tech/archive/disc-main.html

There are two things that you need to note. First, the 11.75 Cordoba caliper adaptors and rotors are getting hard (and expensive) to find. The 10.87 rotors will fit 14" wheels and they don't need the Cordoba parts. Also, all the aftermarket kits are based on the 10.87 rotor.

One other thing, if you assemble the caliper towards the rear rather then the front, you can keep the original sway bar. If you do that, I've read that a brake hose from a 72 Monte Carlo will work.

After giving it a lot of thought, I'm doing the conversion on my car. I'm going to use the bigger rotors, but I'm kind of a hard head. Honestly, one of the brake conversion kits is probably much easier then the way I decided.

I think Plymouthfan did this conversion.

 

[dobie]

Well, that helps!! Thank goodness for this site, and the knowledgeable people here. Lucky I hadn't started looking for any of this stuff yet.

Thanks Big John!!


:cheers:

 

[Plymouthfan]

I used the MP kit and it was a breeze! I'd never tackled anything like it before and not only swapped the brakes but ended up replacing all the suspension stuff too, which you'll probably want to do anyway. It took me a couple days to do it... it's pretty straight forward. The first side took the longest, by the time I did the second side, I had it swapped out in a couple hours.

Just doing the fronts will make a huge difference in stopping power. You won't really need four wheel disks behind a street 383.

 

[SomeCarGuy]

The real question is, do you need new brakes?

Most people just automatically think that the drums are junk. That is simply not true. Not true at all.

As long as they aren't shot, they will stop the car just fine.

I have no plans to change mine- and I have owned all sorts of Mopars, with all sorts of braking combos.

The 69 RR I have now stops as good as any of them and it has plain old drums all around. Not even power drums.

Now of your stuff is shot, you have a case for an upgrade. I saw some listed in one of the mags for about 500 bucks, that would get you all new stuff, at least up front.

 

[ACME A12]

After giving it a lot of thought, I'm doing the conversion on my car.

This is something that I have really struggled with. My personal preference relative to the total driving experience is that I'd like to do the disk conversion on my car. Conversely, while I did not purchase the car specifically as an investment, I did spend a small fortune on this car and do have to be mindful of the relative worth of the car and the fact that the farther I take it from stock & original the greater that this value is diminished. I'm facing the same issues relative to the engine - I'd prefer 500+ cubes, a roller cam, and headers - but I can easily make the arguement that if I want to go this route then I should be making these mods to a plane jane RR or Satellite and not an original A12 car. It's a tough call and I don't know what to do...the front drums are surprisingly strong and adept at stopping the car. This statement is no small concession on my part, as I have converted every car in our fleet to disks up front due to my "Gotta have a whole lot of whoa if you're gonna have a whole lot of go" philosophy. I was even thinking of using the Wilwood Dynalite Pro conversion kit since this allows you to retain the drum steering knuckles and the drums could be swapped back on in short order if ever required... The good news is that I don't have to decide this instant - I have other projects that I am finishing before this one takes center stage. But at some point in the next twelve months or so I'm gonna have to quit waffling...

:huh:
Ray

 

[Big John]

I struggled with it too.. Number one, yep.. those big drums do stop the car, but disc brakes have some clear advantages.

After thinking about it, I decided to go with discs for a number of reasons. Number one being I'm building the car to drive and enjoy. Same thing for having Halogen headlights and radial tires. Are they correct? Nope... Do I enjoy driving the car more with them on... Yep.... Can they be changed back... Yep.

 

[Basketcase]

I've thought about doing the disc brakes too.
when I got the yellow car home, I pulled wheels to see what kind of shape the brakes were in, and I found new shoes and new drums. For the way I drive, the drums work fine for me.

 

[John69RR]

Drums work for me also. A buddy of mine has converted his following the Mopar Action story. He loves them. Of course he also races so discs help.

 

[Plymouthfan]

My drums did work pretty good, but I gotta admit.... At red lights, I did end up in the middle of the intersection more than once.