Rear disc brakes for 3/4 ton?

[Billy81]

The main reason a lot of these guy's do the rear disc swap is because the drums can get full of mud and water when you go off-roading. That is also why most of them don't bother with the E-brake since they don't usually drive their trucks around town or do any towing.

[Mr. 250r]

If you can get a newer rear end cheap enough might as well do it as its not hurting anything except maybe taking up your time lol o and if you don't like the look of wider rear ends but i can't notice it but then again maybe im not looking

[wyattglock]

I have rear disc brakes on my 1 ton dually. Towing my 8000lb camper with a full load of firewood in the bed and my wife and kids in the truck, it stops shorter and better than it ever did with the drums. The drums I had were only reliable for blowing wheel cylinders. I tried everything from AC Delco to a no name brand and even after rebuilding the entire system front to back, a wheel cylinder would only last about 2 months. After 6 rebuilds I spent the money on the disc setup. Total spent was $365 and that included the Right Stuff prop valve for disc/disc. I guess it is all in what you are looking for.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by wyattglock

I have rear disc brakes on my 1 ton dually. Towing my 8000lb camper with a full load of firewood in the bed and my wife and kids in the truck, it stops shorter and better than it ever did with the drums. The drums I had were only reliable for blowing wheel cylinders. I tried everything from AC Delco to a no name brand and even after rebuilding the entire system front to back, a wheel cylinder would only last about 2 months. After 6 rebuilds I spent the money on the disc setup. Total spent was $365 and that included the Right Stuff prop valve for disc/disc. I guess it is all in what you are looking for.

Wow, blowing wheel cylinders definately sounds odd. I have the hydroboost on mine, still has the original 1979 issue rear wheel cylinders, no problems towing or anything.

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by Billy81

The main reason a lot of these guy's do the rear disc swap is because the drums can get full of mud and water when you go off-roading. That is also why most of them don't bother with the E-brake since they don't usually drive their trucks around town or do any towing.

That makes sense. Not an issue with mine however, a 2wd 1 ton wasn't meant for off roading so it doesn't see that type of abuse.

[JCampbell]

I wanted to do this conversion on my C30 DRW D70HD. I bought the Chevy Express DRW rotors and I was going to use DIY4X’s DRW D70 bracket kit w/ the Eldorado calipers. My Dad was also thinking about doing it to his 1 ton, but started to have reservations about the ability of the Eldorado caliper being able to stop/hold a 16000# truck/trailer combo. Mine’s more of a cruiser, so I wasn’t as concerned about it as he, but now I’m wondering if it’s worth the hassle just for the sake of “coolness”. Disks look badass on a dually, but I’d really like to get this truck back on the road. Reconfiguring the brakes is a little counterproductive to that endeavor. Especially when they work fine as-is.

[wyattglock]

One thing I have thought about doing now that my truck is setup for rear disc. The dually rotors I have on my truck are off a 2001 c3500, the proper caliper to fit on the 2001 c3500 is a dual piston design. It is longer, but other than that almost the same. I have thought about fabbing up brackets and installing these calipers to get more braking power to the rear.
One other thing that hasn't been mentioned, my rear prop valve on the axle is still very functional. I can definitely tell a difference when I have weight in the bed or on the rear bumper. The rear brakes grab with a lot more force during these times. Last summer I had almost 4000lbs of stone in the bed and the truck stopped better that way than unloaded.
Not sure how they would do towing 16k trailers. If I had access to one I would hook to it just to find out for you!

[Firebirdjones]

Originally Posted by JCampbell

I wanted to do this conversion on my C30 DRW D70HD. I bought the Chevy Express DRW rotors and I was going to use DIY4X’s DRW D70 bracket kit w/ the Eldorado calipers. My Dad was also thinking about doing it to his 1 ton, but started to have reservations about the ability of the Eldorado caliper being able to stop/hold a 16000# truck/trailer combo. Mine’s more of a cruiser, so I wasn’t as concerned about it as he, but now I’m wondering if it’s worth the hassle just for the sake of “coolness”. Disks look badass on a dually, but I’d really like to get this truck back on the road. Reconfiguring the brakes is a little counterproductive to that endeavor. Especially when they work fine as-is.

That's exactly my situation (5500lbs truck and 10,000 lbs. trailer) and those D52 Cadillac calipers just aren't big enough to do the job. I'd definately want something much bigger.

[spencer_41188]

http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/1206...r_disc_brakes/