Disk Brake Conversion

[nainoa10]

I am installing a Disk Brake conversion on my 74 that I purchased from WH. The fist problem is that the spindles look different from the back, the older one is concaved and the newer one is flat. will my newer one work?

The second is that when I installed one side of the brake system, after tighten every thing down , there is not enough room for the caliper between the dust cover and the back of the rotor. Nothing looks bent and the rotor spins freely.

Any Help would be great.

 

[dk6]

Did you call WH and describe the situation to them? I have the kit for my 74 in the garage and am looking to start the conversion this week. I also bought the power brake booster, a 2.5" lift and a new bushing kit. I'll be busy for a bit.
Keep me posted as to what you find out.

 

[Eugene F. Flor]

I am in the process of converting my '75 to power front disc brakes. I bought my kit from Tom's bronco parts. I'm sure it is the same as the Wild Horses kit.
I had several (discoveries) things I had to change to get this to work.
I have mocked up this assembly way too many times to get everything to fit.
But patience prevailed. These are a couple of problems I discovered.

1) the knuckle had to be ground along with the caliper. This I expected, but "why" was never clearly explained. The reason is to allow the caliper to move in and out as the pads wear. This is important. These calipers are floating on the bolts

2) The backing plate does not allow the pads to fit properly. In other words, I had to machine room (on the backing plate)so the pads could move around freely without hitting the backing plate. As it was sent to me, the pads installed hit the backing plate and cocked them. After machining in clearance on the backing plates, the pads fit properly. This fixed this problem.

3) The snap ring on the internal shaft of the axle is a throw away. This too was never explained. The outer snap ring is used and the internal one is discarded. Why? There is no room with the new spindles to allow the old axles to fit the Warn hub assebly..
I was pulling my hair out thinking something was terribly wrong.
I finally found out that this inner snap ring is not used from an internet article I found.
Thank god for the internet and other bronco owners who have paved the trail with this conversion.

Hope this helps.
Eugene Flor
[email protected] If you have any questions

 

[Guest]

Eugene, can you describe the back plate machining you did?

 

[Eugene Flor]

When I tryed to install the inside pad the rivets hit the backing plate and cocked it.
It did not fit worth a damn.
I found a picture of the original chevy backing plate on the internet. I saw that it was much flater in the area where the pad would be. So to remedy my aftermarket backing plates, I marked with a felt tip pen the outline of the pad when installed. Then set up the pin location (threaded part that the caliper bolts to) and the inside flange bolt holes (which goes flush with the knuckle) parallel by bolting them to the table on a bridgport milling machine.
I took a skim cut with an end mill of the outline of the pad location. Thusly making it square and opening up a little more room for the pad. I did not take off much material.
If I had to guess I would say a little more than the thickness of the top of a rivet. (.031"-.063")
Had the aftermarket backing plate been formed exactly like the chevy original I probably would not have had this problem.
The alternative would have been to cut down the pad to make it fit. As it was, I wanted to be able to throw in new pads after these wore out. I could not see removing brake material to make the pad fit.
Anyway, It all went back together and the pads could move without rubbing on the rotor when I spun it.
This was a pain and yes I would have bitched at the company that sold this but why bother. Just get it done. Like I said earllier I had to mock this installation up a multitude of times. I was not thrilled but patients prevailled.
Hope this helps

 

[dk6]

Thanks Eugene, my kit came with GM backing plates but I will double check the pad fit when I bolt thing together. I am at the grinding down the knuckle stage this afternoon.
Thanks for your help, Don