77 CJ5 Disc brake conversion, need help?

NCHornet

New Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Location
Mt Airy
As many of you know my son and I are doing a frame off on a 77 CJ5 which will be his first ride. I am worried about the saftey of the 4 wheel drum brakes, although my buddy who owned the Jeep before siad it stopped great. Funds are getting tight, should I worry about the drum brakes? They are non powered currently, can I add a power brake booster? Would this help?
If I am going to put a new axle in now is the time to do it, since I have it all apart, is there a bolt on kit for the Dana 30 vs swapping out the axles? Old axles aren't to many in our small town. Does anyone know of a place for a used Dana 30 with disc set up near Mt Airy? I appreciate all the help.
Kevin
 
keep your eyes here, you should be able to score a disc'd 30 for under $100.

I picked one up for $75 earlier this year.

You wouldnt need a conversion kit per se, as everything is there you just need rotors/spindles/calipers..

I wouldnt bother with PB on the 4drums.
Maybe its personal preference, but for 4 drums I find manual is actually better
 
SkyHiK5 said:
keep your eyes here, you should be able to score a disc'd 30 for under $100.

I picked one up for $75 earlier this year.

You wouldnt need a conversion kit per se, as everything is there you just need rotors/spindles/calipers..

I wouldnt bother with PB on the 4drums.
Maybe its personal preference, but for 4 drums I find manual is actually better
Click to expand...
You will aslo need the knuckles unless you don't mind grinding on the you have for drum style
 
NCH, I had researched this for a long time before I converted my D30...

MY D30 Disc Conversion
'78 TSM Brake Section (decent reference of what it shold look like when done)

If you want the "Big Brake" setup, you really only need the "6bolt" caliper brackets, calipers, & 1.125" rotors... the knuckle will need a SMALL amount of grinding to clear the caliper & the hub may require either turning in a lathe of careful angle grinding to flatten the side that mates with the rotor... mine ended up being later model (disc) hubs that were already flat. I bought the caliper brackets and core calipers from a guy in Fla for cheap, but they are getting harder to find. A set of brackets off a Scout (D30 or 44) will work, but use 8 studs and would need to have the holes precisely drilled to fit over your 6 studs...

The other route is to grab everything from the knuckles out off a later model '81-'86 CJ D30 and use the narrower 7/8" rotors and "2bolt" brackets (bolt to the "C" portion of the knuckle, rather than the spindle face)

Mine have been in service for over 5 years and are holding up great!
 
the disc conversions are stated above... found them to help alot using popular parts...

swapping in a newer disc d30 wouldnt be hard, and can sometimes find them cheap, if u keep your eye out...

drums stop very well, but can experience brake fade, and dont work well when filled with mud or water....

power brakes help with fading some... but typically will lock em up a whole lot quicker with drums

id deff go power with a bigger master if you switch to discs
 
Man, thanks for that right up, that is what I needed. You didn't say if you changed the spindles? I have had some say I need to change mine and others say no? Are there any good sites to buy the caliper brackets from? I am not lifting the Jeep so all I would need is caliper brackets from a 77-78 CJ5, rotors with pads, calipers, new MC and proportion valve, should that do it? If anyone has the caliper brackets I would sure apprecaite a email to
walknmiracle@triad.rr.com
Thanks
Kevin
 
Yuo can most liekly use your current spindle. THe differnce in the spindles is the inner bearings haver a large ID that the outer ones. The drum brake one is the same ID bearing inner and outer. I ahve done the swap and used my original spindles and bearings. Used large jeep rotors and get longer studs in the setup to fit the wheels on.
 
To bring this to a a tech part of the forum.

If you used Chevy/Waggie disc brackets you will use the chevy or wagoneer calipers, which are the same. You will use the hoses for either application. Use the thick CJ rotor. And reuse the bearings you originally have. You probably will want to remove the dust shield on the caliper brackets since they do not do much. But it works out real nice. I liked this way jsut because you have more availablility of getting the calipers since they were used in many vehicles.
 
Thanks Dan,
I checked with Napa where I get a nice discount and I can get both calipers loaded (with pads and all hardware) for $64, and the rotors I priced were the 1 1/8 rotors at $35 each. I am working a couple deals On the parts I need right now. One is a complete axle which would be nice, especially if it was geared the same. Thanks for the help.
Kevin
 
NCHornet said:
Man, thanks for that right up, that is what I needed. You didn't say if you changed the spindles?
Click to expand...

Kevin, I'll assume you're replying to me?

I didn't change spindles. I was told the "disc" spindles are a bit larger, but my "drum" spindles (if they weren't swapped out to "disc" models by the POs) have been fine... I do carry spares though! :D
 
Dave,
Yeah I was referring to you, some say I need to change the spindles and some say no. But it doesn't matter as I found a complete axle from a fellow forum member if I can just get it apart. Here is a link to the new thread.
http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33975
 
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