1980 rear disk conversion help please !!

[Scout j bo]

Hello
Got myself a 80 scout 2. Stock 4 wheel drive dana 44 . I want to do a disk brake set up on rear. And do not want the after market brakes that come with the brakets.that are needed. Or honesly want to spend 600 usd. Which gmc Truck can I get these rear disk brakes off of ? I dont wanna weld on brackets. I know Up to 80 seville calipers will fit. I need the emergency brake and want Gmc stuff. Any help would be awesome !!!

 

[winchested]

I think your option is to go find a gmc or Chevy 10 or 12 bolt and put one of those in.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Scout j bo]

I think your option is to go find a gmc or Chevy 10 or 12 bolt and put one of those in.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Thanks for reply. What is the 10 bold refer to? So I can track down which gmc has. Thanks !!

 

[MrKenmore]

Welcome j bo! I have not done the disc conversion but I would caution you to undertake unnecessary work. My opinion is there is not much to be gained by doing this. I would ask a few folks here what they think and I would imagine the cobbled mess of parts sold as a "kit" is little to no improvement in braking. Remember your front brakes are doing most of the work. jtorre4272 did it. I don't think he was thrilled with the process / results. Swapping in a new rear from a Chevy or GMC is a fair amount of work just to get disc brakes. Good luck!

 

[scout2000]

Welcome j bo! I have not done the disc conversion but I would caution you to undertake unnecessary work. My opinion is there is not much to be gained by doing this. I would ask a few folks here what they think and I would imagine the cobbled mess of parts sold as a "kit" is little to no improvement in braking. Remember your front brakes are doing most of the work. jtorre4272 did it. I don't think he was thrilled with the process / results. Swapping in a new rear from a Chevy or GMC is a fair amount of work just to get disc brakes. Good luck!

I strongly 2nd MrKenmore's comments, with 1st hand experience.

I won't post the $$$$ figure here, but I spent an ungodly sum of money attempting to get the 1970's vintage Cadillac brake kit to work dependably on my daily driver 800. I've *vented* out loud here over the 1970 Cadillac components previously, and other BP members have suggested that maybe issues were due to the fact that my 800a is a daily driver, vs a sometimes weekend cruiser. I don't know.

IMHO, the only positive that the Cadillac brake kit has going for it, is its provision for an emergency brake.

The Kit that all the LL dealers sell is manufactured by TSM (The Street Machine).

TSM sells a much better kit, and, aside from the emergency brake thing I mentioned above, I struggle to understand why our LL dealers are reselling only the Cadillac kit.

The "much better" TSM kit I have on my 800a currently uses Willwood components, and now, my 800a has excellent, consistent, reliable brakes that do not pull or have any other issues. It will stop on a dime and give back change ! The calipers and replaceable components are Willwood, but they are also components that are used on the Corvette, so if you break down 2 states away from home, replacement parts are as simple as a stop at your favorite auto parts store. The only issue I have with the Willwood kit is that there is no provision for an emergency brake. I'm currently working on plan B for that.

Link to pics of the TSM Dana 44 Willwood kit that I have installed on my 800a here:

http://www.binderplanet.com/forums/...800a-build-thread.119223/page-22#post-1004246

There are pics buried somewhere in there of the Cadillac kit also, if the OP is so interested.

 

[RinTX]

Just one Scout owners opinion - it is not worth it to “upgrade”.
I have a 1980 Traveler. I have stock rear drums which I rebuilt over 4 years ago. It still stops on a dime. Will put you into the window if you don’t have your seatbelt on.
Plus I still have a parking brake.

 

[scout2000]

Just one Scout owners opinion - it is not worth it to “upgrade”.
I have a 1980 Traveler. I have stock rear drums which I rebuilt over 4 years ago. It still stops on a dime. Will put you into the window if you don’t have your seatbelt on.
Plus I still have a parking brake.

I suppose the real issue you haven't taken into account is that I have significantly upped the power output on my 800. Are you stating you have done the same to your 1980 Traveler?

When I purchased my 800a, I drove it half way across Texas, and thru the better part of the DFW metro area getting it home that night on those old drum brakes. It was a white-knuckle ride, solely due to those old drum brakes, that somehow had passed a recent Texas vehicle inspection.

IMHO, those old drum brakes were barely adequate in my vehicle for the OEM AMC inline 6 that IH had installed, and there's just no way they would/could keep up with my LS swap or driving in Dallas traffic.

Poke all the fun you want my way, I'm not the most safety oriented vehicle person in the world, but a quantum increase in go power requires a similar effort in stopping power. It took a lot of work/research/sweat/$$$ to get where I'm at, but I'm very happy with the end efforts.

 

[RinTX]

The desire to quickly go 65 to zero is the same no matter how many miles it might take me to get to 65...

 

[walkersscout]

You already have the ability to lock up the rears pretty easy, so you wont gain a lot of braking power by a rear upgrade. They are easier to work on and prettier, but you are still going to have to choke them off a fair bit to keep the wheels from locking up. Personally, I have a lot more upgrades to waste my money on before rear disks.

 

[MrKenmore]

Borgeson steering upgrade would be a good one!

 

[Mark Pietz]

Mr. Kenmore, I had toyed with the idea but this thread talked me out of it. However, I think I would consider one "upgrade" in this area to improve the performance of the rear drums. Years back I and another T'all owner had our front drums ventilated by Topping in Long Beach (wonder if he's still doing that). It made a dramatic difference in reducing fade. It was a proven technique for racers in the '50s and before discs took over. It may be just the solution, without any of the hassle
of fabbing, welding, or sourcing parts.

,

 

[cudakota]

Topping in Long Beach (wonder if he's still doing that)

I think they're still doing that. Never been inside but last I checked they are still in business.

I have the famous late 70s Cadillac El Dorado rear disc swap done on my Scout, and I feel like my brakes are really good all things considered, however I've never driven it on drums. I do have big heavy tires however. My brake system was a mess when I bought the Scout. The POs left it midway through the conversion, parts were missing, and the master cylinder was bad, so I asked my mechanic for a helping hand. According to him, he bolted in a 1 ton Chevy booster and master cylinder, and hooked up the parking brake cable to the Cadillac brakes, and that's basically the setup I am running. Front is stock discs. For what it's worth, the caliper brackets to mount the Cadillac brakes to the Dana 44 rear axle are like 50 bucks a set EDIT: for the basic weld-on brackets, but it takes more than just that to make it all work

Basic weld-on brackets:
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/WELD275.html

Full kits, take your pick:
https://dandcextreme.com/product/scout-ii-rear-disc-brake-kit/
https://www.ihpartsamerica.com/store/SII-BRK-TSM-KIT.html
http://www.backcountrybinders.com/dana-44-rear-disk-brake-kit.html

 

[Darrel]

There are no factory disc backing plates/calipers that will bolt on to a Scout rear axle.
I also would stick with the factory drums. They flat out work.
If you want a nice increase in power consider hydroboost and quality shoes.

 

[Scout j bo]

Hello. Nice set up . I asked about the 1980 rear. Disk brakes question. You said you think the brakets. Can be found . Could you please send me a link to where. Please ? I can not find. Just the brakets. Thank you

 

[cudakota]

Hello. Nice set up . I asked about the 1980 rear. Disk brakes question. You said you think the brakets. Can be found . Could you please send me a link to where. Please ? I can not find. Just the brakets. Thank you

post updated with additional info

 

[Scout j bo]

...

 

[jtorre4272]

Welcome j bo! I have not done the disc conversion but I would caution you to undertake unnecessary work. My opinion is there is not much to be gained by doing this. I would ask a few folks here what they think and I would imagine the cobbled mess of parts sold as a "kit" is little to no improvement in braking. Remember your front brakes are doing most of the work. jtorre4272 did it. I don't think he was thrilled with the process / results. Swapping in a new rear from a Chevy or GMC is a fair amount of work just to get disc brakes. Good luck!

Correct Matt. I wish I never did the conversion. I hate the el dorado caliper kit. I had to replace two calipers already due to leaks. The kit required a lot of grinding to make the rotors fit without interfering with goofy shim bracketry and bolts that you have to adjust a bit to align caliper. After lots of effort with all new parts and adjustments, the emergency brake setup still isn’t very good when applied. The whole kit is kinda bush league. Plus you have to weld tabs to axle and make custom lines to attach to new flexible lines. Unless you like the look of rotors through the rear of after market wheels, just don’t do it. Or at least don’t do it with the kit I used. I can’t speak to the better kit the LL dealers don’t sell but it at least sounds better with Willwood calipers. However I still question if it is really custom for a Scout or just a generic kit for a D44. Also remember that you need to replace proportioning valve and master cyl with 4 wheel disk “upgrade” too. Another hassle as you need to ensure push pin has proper clearance to booster using special tool.

 

[jtorre4272]

Well...on my 3rd set of calipers. The last ones leaked too. Junk rebuilds. THEY ALL LEAK AT THE PISTON SEAL. However this time I went to Speedway motors. They have a good reputation in the classic car world. Their calipers are NEW and right out of the box they looked a cut above the others I used. Even down to the paint.
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/1978-Up-GM-Metric-Emergency-Brake-Caliper-Kit,379663.html
I know my stainless lines are too long. It it’s all I could get quickly. The speedway calipers use a 7/16 bolt while the other rebuilds all used a 3/8 bolt. Surprise surprise. I use Earl’s aluminum washers with integrated rubber seal on the banjos. I don’t trust the copper washers. It’s because I’m not convinced they are properly annealed when made in bulk. And I’m too Lazy to blast them with a torch.

The damn ebrake adjustment is tricky. It’s because the moment arm on the caliper bracket only needs to travel like 3/8” so you have to get adjustment perfect or the arm will be partially engaged. If not tight enough then the e brake pedal will fully extend and not provide enough travel for arm. Grrrrrr...

 

[StoneTower]

I have a Scout Dana 44 rear axle in my 85 CJ7 that has an injected 5.0 Mustang EFI motor in it. It also has an NV4500.
When I got the Jeep it had the Scout Dana 44 and a SSBC rear disk brake setup (SSBC is no longer in business). I cannot leave it with drums as I have seen advised as I do not have any of the parts. I need to have a setup with an emergency brake.
I see a lot of information about caliper brackets but I do not see much about rotors.
The setup I have now mounts the Lincoln VII style caliper very low at about the 5 o'clock position. I want to switch the GM caliper setup so that I can get parts in the future.

I see references to using F150 rotors. I would like to find a rotor what would fit over the axel flange and also clear my 15" aluminum rims that I have now. What about the stock scout front 1-1/8 Scout rotors. I run that setup on the front axel with Chevy truck calipers and an aftermarket bracket and it is one of the best modifications I have made to my Jeep. If the Scout II rotor is too thick for the GM emergency brake calipers, what about 7/8" thick CJ7 rotor (like I took off the front for my brake conversion) that is used on the later CJ7s. I am willing to grind down brake pads if a rotor is a good match but a little too thick.

I have tried searching but either the links are dead or I run into some other problem. I would like to put a kit together myself so that when I need a part, I am not dependent upon someone to still be in business to get a rotor. SSBC no longer make the kit I have so I need to move on.
I do not mind turning the rotor inside the had if it is needed. I would even be willing to re-drill a 5 lug rotor because I believe that it would still be balanced when the new 5 x 5-1/2 pattern is drilled. I am unsure how good of idea it is to drill a 6 lug rotor to a 5x5.5 because of balance. I would like the rotor to be hubcentric when I am finished but I could make a spacer ring on my lathe if it is needed. The rotors I have now float on the lug nuts and are not centered and will require such a ring if I keep my current setup.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[72soa]

I despise drum brakes. They are hard to work on and are unreliable for the 4 wheeling we do. The sand and mud just creates a ton a problems. I converted to rear discs on my 72 scout and never looked back. The rear drums on my sons scout were giving him fits. There will be conversion here soon. I have always used the g body gm front brake calipers and have had good luck with them. I have never used the Cadillac brake calipers.