1980 rear disk conversion help please !!

So what rotors did you use? What brackets did you use? What modifications to the parts did you have to do.

I know if you do not require an emergency brake, you can always use a front caliper off of a Camaro of something like that and they fit in the same bracket. There is no need to make the whole bracket because the weld on ones are so cheap. If it needs to be bigger, weld a piece of plate to it. That still does not answer any of the questions.

 

Weld on brackets, C10 calipers, cheapest $10 pads I can find, stock Scout II rotors.
Parking brake is overrated, at least for me, it's flat here.

 

So the stock Scout II (1-1/8" thick) front rotors will go over the flange of the axel without a problem? To be clear, the rotor goes on from the outside and the axel flange goes into the backside if the Scout II rotor? Are you running 15" rims? Did you have to sand the pads?

Thanks.

 

I used the TSM kit. It uses Chevy K1500 front rotors from the 1990s. If you source the rotors from say amazon, you will have to drill the rotors for the 5 x 5.5 pattern. The stock rotors will not work. When I need a caliper/pads I ask for front calipers for a 79 Chevy monte carlo. Not only will we be converting my sons scout to rear discs we are going to convert a 65 scout and a 79 scout to rear discs as well.

 

Do you have a shop redrill your rotors or do you have some type of jig?
Can you buy just the brackets from TSM? I have read that many people use S10 rotors and Ford Bronco rotors. I think the Ford Bronco is already 5 x 5.5.
Thanks.​

 

Honestly, it sounds to.me like those old drum brakes, are old drum brakes. New drum brakes work just fine. The size of the engine doesn't change what braking you need on that kind of vehicle. They worked fine from the factory and I bet the weight didn't change that much. Doesn't matter how much power is under the hood, it honestly does not change how you drive and how much energy you dumping into the brakes by a appreciable amount, because it's not driven like that. In fact it can't be driven like that, you'll end up upside down.

On a track car, it's a different story. You put a big engine in it and drive it at 120mph, braking around the curves down to.maybe 50 the flooring it and getting back up to speed. That energy all gets dumped into the breaks. I used to have a 2012 mustang GT with brembos. I could make the front brakes smoke. But you just don't drive a scout like that, whatever brakes you have. At least if you want to live.

 

Not without a problem, the axle shaft flange does need to be turned out about 1/8" and don't use the bronco rotors, the inside hat area is smaller than the Scout rotor. No sanding of the pads. I don't have 15" rims but that will not affect how the brakes fit and or work.

 

Sammy...what setup do you have on yours? I just read somewhere that the Scout II front rotors are not machined on the inside of the hat because they are designed to mount behind the hub on the front. I also read a post on Pirates that the f150 rotors were the way to go
I will quote:
"On my rear XJ D44, I'm using '94 F150 rotors (5 on 5.5), and Cadillac metric calipers.
The metric calipers are intended for a rotor thickness of 1.04". The Ford rotors are 1.018 thick, so are a good match.
The rotors fit over my AlloyUSA axles without problem. The "hat" ID is 6-9/16.
Rotor height is 2.6 inches.
The real issue I had with theses rotors, is the lug hole ID is .675 vs my .500 studs, and the pilot hole is 3.870 vs my axle's OD of 2.825.
I used .625 OD bushings for the lugs (1/2 ID), and had a ring machined to tightly fit over the axle pilot, with a slip-fit into the rotor. The ring's OD is 3.856, with and ID of 2.824. I have not had any vibration issues associated with non-concentric rotors.
The other possibility for 5 on 5.5 rotors, are early CJ fronts. These need to be installed in-board of the axle flange, since they are not machined true on the inside. I didn't like that set-up, so went with the Fords."

So much information and no complete picture.

 

I didn't use a kit, I put this together a few years ago so going from memory. I did have to turn the axle shafts down some to fit inside the hat and used C10 calipers, the cheapest pads I could find and weld on brackets. I do not have a parking brake. The wheels do spin freely but it is close with the calipers all the way out. You have me questioning what rotors I used now. I'll have to go look back at my receipt book (yes, it's a book now).

 

If you get the chance, please look what rotors you used for sure. I like the Scout II rotors and converted my front Dana 44 to those and Chevy truck calipers. They work great. Good quality Scout II rotors can be had for about $25.00 each. I really do not want to be at the mercy of another company for parts in the future and would like to have an inexpensive supply of parts that I can get locally if needed.

How did you turn the axel shaft. I have a lathe, the axel shaft is probably too big for the headstock on my 10" lathe. I am sure an angle grinder would do the trick. They trim 14 bolt ring gears down with an angle grinder when they shave the housing. The axel with both rims removed is a makeshift lathe and the grinder is a poor man's tool post grinder

 

I used the same as you on the front and turned them on a hollow spindle lathe.
If it isn't lost forever there once was a fellow named Jim Weed, he did a rear disc conversion using Scout II front disc parts.

 

Were you able to confirm what rotors you used? I know some people use the Scout II rotors but them mount them on the inside of the axel to avoid gringind.