how hard is it to do a front drum to disc brake conversion?

[crazychevyc10]

i currently have a '68 c10 long bed with drums front and rear and wanted to,know how hard it was to do a front disc brake conversion? will i need to upgrade the master cyclinder too? also is it ok to,do the front,first before the rear?

[Ozzy2013]

Its a fair amount of work if you are not mechanically inclined you might want to pay someone to do it .If you are handy with a wrench sure you can do it plenty of info right here look it up under the archived forums.Yes you need to upgrade the master cyl and proportioning valve.Yes you can do the front first.

[Mr Handy]

The hardest part of the swap is getting the ball joints apart to swap out the spindles up front. I would also recommend picking up a set of flare nut wrenches for working on your brake lines.
The amount of work it takes is worth it. I was able to do the swap and replace all the suspension in my truck in a weekend with the help of a knowledgeable friend.. I did drop spindles, disks up front, new mc, prop valve, springs and shocks all around, new bushing in rear trailing arms, ball joints up front, track bar and shock relocators out back. remember when you should have the alignment checked, I would ask around in your area if there is an alignment shop that all the car guys use.

[hugger6933]

If you can follow simple instructions I would call it about a 4 on the difficulty scale. The only special tools you will need are a pickle fork for separating the ball joints and flared wrenches for the use on the brake lines so as not to round the over. For the rest of it you could be following a post or reading along in a shop manual to get the play by play on what to do or there is always some one here to help out if you get stuck. Jim

[colgad]

Originally Posted by Mr Handy

The hardest part of the swap is getting the ball joints apart to swap out the spindles up front. I would also recommend picking up a set of flare nut wrenches for working on your brake lines.
The amount of work it takes is worth it. I was able to do the swap and replace all the suspension in my truck in a weekend with the help of a knowledgeable friend.. I did drop spindles, disks up front, new mc, prop valve, springs and shocks all around, new bushing in rear trailing arms, ball joints up front, track bar and shock relocators out back. remember when you should have the alignment checked, I would ask around in your area if there is an alignment shop that all the car guys use.

Mr. Handy, where have you been? We would like to see pics of your newly lowered truck.

[nlped]

Keith has done a great write up on exactly what parts, pieces etc are needed for this swap...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=444823

[boraxman]

Its not to terrible, just make sure you have some muscles, a BFH and a ball joint separator, follow the write ups and get an alignment when done/

[boraxman]

To add, you should get all your parts together first and have a plan. I wuld buy a later model master/booster as well as prop valve. Yo will need new or adapt the front brake lines in. I would keep the rears drum...Have fun.

[knomadd]

Take your time, and don't rush through it. If you have a hard deadline, make sure you have some help, preferably someone who knows what to do. Otherwise, I'd wait until you have enough time to get it done. It can take a weekend, or a few. It all depends on your skill set and the tools you have to do the job. It's not so hard that I'd say pay someone to do it, unless you're not at all mechanically inclined, like previously posted. Good luck!

[lolife99]

Use 63-70 conversion spindles.
Add a 71-72 M/C and a disc brake prop valve (or aftermarket equals).
I use ECE conversion brake hoses.
Bend new steel lines to connect to the new prop valve.
Done.

The key is disassembling EVERYTHING.
And inspecting and replacing parts that need it.
This includes all suspension parts and steering parts.

[no1udknow]

It's not too hard if you use a setup from a 73-87 c10. If you can get the entire suspension and cross member, it nearly bolts right in and you don't have to disassemble the ball joints or springs. I just did this mod, check my signature for the link to my build. I had the front clip and motor/trans out so it only took about 2 hours to swap.

Things to note:
you will need to drill 1 hole on each side where it mounts to the frame and wallow out 2 others on each side (minor work takes about 5 minutes)

If you want to remain 6 lug, you need to find a 73-87 c10 that has 1 1/4" thick rotors not the 1"thick. (they usually say "HD Brakes" on the option sticker in the glove box) then you can purchase and install the after market 6 lug rotors. Otherwise if you want to run 5 lug you can use any of them but you will need to find axles for the back or a rear end.

other than that, the 73-87 square body trucks are readily available at the junk yard and if you can get a complete front crossmember/control arm set up, the cross member bolts in, the pitman arm lines up, and the steering arm lines up. very easy swap in my opinion. only about 20 or so bolts.

[no1udknow]

I was lucky though, I also got the complete brake system including master, lines, and prop valve, all of which mounted to the original 68 frame with little work, the only thing I have had to do was get a piece of steel line and a reducer to hook the rear drum brakes to the prop valve.