70 K10 Disk brake conversion

[pwdcougar]

I'm sitting here in the garage dreaming about the future. Right now I'm knee deep in body work.

Is there a conversion kit for converting power drum brakes to power front disk? My truck is a 1970 4WD K10

Thanks

Paul

[dell72]

Swap in a Dana 44 from a newer truck with disk brakes already on it.

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by dell72

Swap in a Dana 44 from a newer truck with disk brakes already on it.

Bingo this is the cheapest easiest route. The 71+ axles bolt right in.

[pwdcougar]

Thanks guys!

[Mike C]

You can also just swap the knuckles on out onto your open knuckle housing. That way you can keep the factory gears and know you have the correct ratio. You still need a donor front, but you don’t have to worry about matching gear ratio that way.

[dell72]

The drum brake axles have a closed knuckle design where the disk brake axle is an open knuckle. The two designs are not interchangable at the knuckle. If you can't find a donor with the same gear ratio you should be able to swap the gears from the OEM housing to the donor Dana 44

[rsavage]

Originally Posted by dell72

The drum brake axles have a closed knuckle design where the disk brake axle is an open knuckle. The two designs are not interchangable at the knuckle. If you can't find a donor with the same gear ratio you should be able to swap the gears from the OEM housing to the donor Dana 44

My 69 Blazer is drum brakes and the stock dana in it is not a closed knuckle. It is an open knuckle with visible U joints

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by dell72

The drum brake axles have a closed knuckle design where the disk brake axle is an open knuckle. The two designs are not interchangable at the knuckle. If you can't find a donor with the same gear ratio you should be able to swap the gears from the OEM housing to the donor Dana 44

70 is a one year only axle with an open knuckle setup and drum brakes, it also uses the same 71+ lock in hubs with red dials.

[ohboy321]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

70 is a one year only axle with an open knuckle setup and drum brakes, it also uses the same 71+ lock in hubs with red dials.

My K10 is based on a 70 chassis and has open knuckles with drum brakes. I looked into the details of going to disk brakes and posted this in a thread a couple of years ago....

Originally Posted by ohboy321

I also have a K10 with a 70 drum brake axle. I had looked into what was needed to do the conversion and found that 70 and 71 axle shafts were shorter and had smaller u-joints than 72 and up D44 axles, so for my truck I would need parts from 71 to do the change over to disks.

Here is a link to the Spicer Dana axle data: http://docslide.us/documents/spicer-dana.html

I used it to reference the parts differences between years of manufacture. If I decide to do it I will look for an axle out of a 72-78 and swap the entire thing so I get the beefier shafts, disks, and still be able to run with a D44.

This site here also had some good research info: http://d44tech.com/index.html

As davischevy mentioned, there are other threads discussing the subject that can also be helpful.

Since I posted that I have gone through the entire drum brake system and with stock height tires it stops pretty well. Disk brakes would still be nice, and if I stumble across either the parts to upgrade what I have or a donor axle I would move that up on the list of things to do.

Steve

[Tommyups]

I just installed the ECE disc brake conversion kit, highly recommend

[Mike C]

Originally Posted by Tommyups

I just installed the ECE disc brake conversion kit, highly recommend

I too recommend the ECE conversion and did this on my 69 short stepside. But his 70 is a four wheel drive and there are no aftermarket conversions.

Using a complete or parts from a later model axle is the way to proceed. The main discussion seems to revolve around how many are aware of the ‘70 one year only drum brake open knuckle axle.

And while the drum brakes can work and in some cases work fairly well, I can’t see spending the time and money to keep them for a vehicle that will see any time on the road, and if you off-road, if water crossings are ever on the map.

I have a couple of jeeps that still have the drums in front, and the 11” conversion on my M38A1 works well, if it hadn’t still had the frame mounted master I would have done discs.

[JK 1961]

Years ago I drilled and installed backing plates from a 71 K10 for my 70. It took about 2 hours. Not a tough job at all , plus did not have to mess with matching axles. The rest was a complete bolt on application. I did have to replace the centering valve for disc brakes.