scottmn1

.
93 Dually rear drum to disc conversion?
Does anyone know if it is possible to convert 93 Dually rear drum brakes to disk brakes. I know there are kits for the single rear wheels, but unsure if these will work on the duallys.
I do have 19.5 wheels on my rig. I thought the only reason it would not work was because of caliper to wheel clearance and felt with the 19.5 wheels there would not be a problem. I also have another question for you guys. This truck actually is a car hauler built on a 93 Dodge 1 ton 2wd chassis. When I load a car onto the bed, my total weight is 13,600 lbs. Since I am trying to stop that much weight, I thought about fabricating a special bracket that would let me mount dual disc calipers(2 per wheel) on each side. I know this would greatly increase stopping power, but would it generate so much more heat on the rotors that it would warp them???You may go to my page to view the truck so you can fully understand why I am looking for so much more braking ability. I built the entire truck, and fabricated the bed and the sleeper myself, so I can make my brackets myself if it can be done.

DeanM

Hi,

Beautyful job on your truck. You should post a thread on how you built it.

I don't think they make a kit for the disk conversion.

IMO stock brakes on Dodges SUCK. There are several problems. One is the ABS system. The other is the front brakes. And the third problem is the vacume booster system. I think the rear brakes are not the problem.

I disconnected my ABS. I installed a Ford hydro booster system. And I installed a Dana 80 rear end out of a Ford F450. My brakes are much better but still need some help. So I will be converting the front brakes to F450 brakes when I get a chance.

So if I were you I would do something similar to what I did.

Dean

JimmieD

The braking bias is toward the front regardless of weight or load. Front brakes do 70-80% of the braking. Super overkill rear brakes would probably result in extreme wheel lockup/skidding problems even with a proportionator and dualies. As you know you're converting inertial energy to heat so part of that process is actual tire traction on the road and swept area of disc or drums. You can increase swept area but the tires must be able to aid in the heat conversion by retaining traction. Weight transfer/suspension dive [front], load balance, tire traction, overall speed/road conditions, springs/shocks etc. all contribute to the braking picture.

Larger front vented rotors, fresh air ducting to all brakes, large single rear discs, proportionator, silicone hi-temp fluid and tire/spring/shock dial-in should be able to stop you well unless you're simply driving too fast for the load under the road conditions. Then nothing will stop you in time....

scottmn1

Thanks Jimmie for the reply. I agree with you that front braking normally does most of the braking, but considering I am so heavy on the rear, I thought if I could add more braking ability to the rear with 4 calipers(or 2 large ones) and by adjusting more pressure to the rear with an adjustable proportioning valve located in the cab it would help.That way when I am loaded I could make the rear do more of the stopping since I have 4 tires planted on the roadway and twice the weight than the front tires have on them. Then when I am unloaded, I could decrease the pressure to the rear preventing rear lockup...........Just a thought.........

apwatson50

Have you upgraded to the chevy 1-ton wheel cylinders in the rear? If not I would recomend that.

I would not recomend running 2 separate calipers on one disk. just doesn't seem like a good idea. If anything just a 2 or 4 piston caliper.

Ford 1-tons used 2 piston calipers for the front in the mid 70's anyways. I've thought about possibly using those. But I think the caliper bracket is different. I know the spindle bolt pattern is different.

scottmn1

I have the Chev 1 ton wheel cylinders on the truck now. I also kinda think 4 calipers on the rear would be a waste and overkill, but I was just thinking out loud if you know what I mean.

wannadiesel

I like Dean M's suggestion best - that would get you an axle with a higher weight rating as well as better brakes.

With 19.5's there's no reason the standard D70 disc conversions shouldn't fit.

frostie

check out this site. http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/dana70discbrakes/

torquefan

Installing a tag axle on the rear might be an interesting project. Would give you more load carrying ability as well as 2 more braking wheels.