Hotrodders Bulletin Board Hotrodders Bulletin Board
Home · Bulletin Board · Project Journals · Tech Article Wiki · Knowledge Base · Photo Gallery · Classifieds · Company Reviews · Calendar · T-Shirts


Thanks!Thanks Streetbeasts lawsuit donors!thanks
See the full list of donors helping to protect free speech.

We're winning the case!
Get the latest update on the lawsuit, see the original lawsuit post, or read the article Streetbeasts doesn't want you to see.

Register FAQ Search Today's Posts Unanswered Posts
Hotrodders Bulletin Board > Tech Help > Suspension - Brakes - Steering
User Name
Password
lost password?   |   register now


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
  #1  
Old 09-02-2002, 05:57 PM
HotRodF100's Avatar
HotRodF100 HotRodF100 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Pennsylvania
Age: 50
Posts: 62
Wiki Edits: 0

Post converting GM 10 bolt to rear disc brakes, have questions

I have a 1977 GM 10 bolt rear end in my truck, I would like to convert to rear disc brakes. I am told that a camaro disc setup may work. Has anyone had experience with doing this? Would a Camaro setup bolt onto my 10 bolt or is there more to it than that? What year Camaro would fit?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-02-2002, 10:00 PM
juxtoposed juxtoposed is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Kansas
Posts: 53
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

is it a truck 10 bolt or a car? They have different OD's on the wheel bearings where the backing plate bolts on. I have put 80 Trans Am 10 bolt discs on a truck 10 bolt by welding up the 4 bolt holes on the backing plate and boreing the hole in the middle out to the truck diameter and redrilling the 4 bolt holes again in the right place. You dont have to be super precise so if you don't have access to a mill you should be able to do it with a die grinder and a drill. The hole in the rotor is too small to fit on the axle so the axle will have to be turned down or the rotor hole bored out to fit, I reccomend turning the hub down so if you ever have to replace rotors again you don't need custom machining again. If you have a car rear end the backing plates should bolt on and you will have to check the hub diameter yourself.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-03-2002, 02:16 PM
HotRodF100's Avatar
HotRodF100 HotRodF100 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Pennsylvania
Age: 50
Posts: 62
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

Juxtoposed, it's a car rear end out of a '77 Monte Carlo. So you're saying a rear disc out of an '80 TA (or some year of a Camaro for that matter) would bolt right on? That being the case there would be no other modifications? I currently have front disc brakes and there is a restrictor screwed into the master cylinder. I guess that I could bolt the rears on and the restrictor would no longer be needed.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-06-2002, 06:29 PM
Nick Davis Nick Davis is offline
OLDS Guy
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Posts: 16
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

I believe the restrictor was there to properly balance front-to-rear pressure with the OEM brake setup. If you remove the restrictor, I believe that some of the aftermarket brake places sell adjustable proportioning valves so that you can rebalance things with your new setup and that will take a little trial and error.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-08-2002, 06:04 PM
HotRodF100's Avatar
HotRodF100 HotRodF100 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Pennsylvania
Age: 50
Posts: 62
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

My truck has a Chevy subframe which gives me front discs. I also have a a Ford type vacuum booster and master cylinder. I assumed that the restrictor was to balance the braking system. I also have the GM proportioning valve in the system. I was wondering if I eliminate the rear drums should remove the restrictor?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-11-2002, 08:17 PM
Nick Davis Nick Davis is offline
OLDS Guy
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Palo Alto, CA
Posts: 16
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

I've now pretty much exhausted my knowledge of the situation. If you don't get a good answer here, you might try asking the question at a good brake shop or in the tech section on brakes.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-17-2002, 02:40 PM
F-1Rodder's Avatar
F-1Rodder F-1Rodder is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Seattle
Posts: 517
Wiki Edits: 0

Post

There are two issues when you convert from drum to disc either front or rear. The drum slave cylinders are much smaller than the slaves for the discs. Therefore the drum master cylinder does not deliver enough fluid per stroke to operate the larger disc slaves and a properly sized master cylinder is required, one that delivers enough juice to properly activate the disc caliper. So if you re-brake the rear, you will need to utilize a master cylinder which was designed for 4 wheel disc operation.

There is also the issue of proportioning the juice. You do not want the rear brakes to lock up or over-pressure the system. Particularly in the rain, this would cause the rear end to come around and put you into a spin if you brake in a corner. A very dangerous situation and this is why late model pickups had anti lock braking on the rear of pickups before it was available on most passenger cars. The proportioning valve allows you to fine tune the amount of pressure to the rear. If you can find a donor vehicle from which you can pirate the whole system, usually the proportioning valve is built into the system as a "restrictor" for the rear and is not adjustable because it is pre-modulated at the factory. If you can't find a setup that was a factory setup, then buy a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve from Summit or Jeggs.

I am not a fan of 4 wheel disc on a pickup anyway, but that is a matter of preference. You lose the advantage of having a little more weight back there which improves driveability.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-18-2002, 11:22 AM
bullheimer's Avatar
bullheimer bullheimer is offline
"al Qaida live in a Nebula"
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Mount Vermin, WA
Posts: 2,352
Wiki Edits: 0

Cool

you can put discs on a chevy truck with a 14 bolt full floating rear, w/o any mods to the lines or master cylindar, or conversly, you could take the master cylinder/p.b. booster and porportioning valve off one and stick it on your truck for your 4 wheel discs. but it has to be a 14 bolt rear from a 73-87 truck probably a 3/4 or 1 ton. they have a 1/4" line to the rear brakes instead of 1/8". what F-1 said is entirely true, but the 14 bolt takes so much pressure that its the same for disc calipers. my 56 has discs all around
Reply With Quote
Reply Back to top


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump




Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 2.3.2 © 2005, Crawlability, Inc.
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:36 PM.
Copyright Hotrodders.com 1999 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.