My
Jeepster came with 10 inch drum brakes from the factory. To
help it stop better with the larger tires I decided to
upgrade to disc brakes. This also helps them last longer on
the trails. Since I'm working on a tight budget buying one
of the kits available for this was out of the question for
me. I was lucky to find on the net that I could do this
upgrade with parts from a salvage yard though. Some of the
parts I got just for cores at the parts store. This is how
it worked for me. I can't say this is guaranteed to work
for anyone else.
PART'S LIST
1978 Blazer
(What I found)
Used Parts:
Both backing plates
Calipers (for cores)
New Parts:
Calipers
Brake Pads
Rubber Brake Hoses
1978 Jeep CJ:
Used Parts:
Hubs
New
Parts:
Rotors
Wheel Lugs
Other Parts:
New Master
Cylinder
Studs (For mounting the backing plates)
Inverted hex pipe plugs
THE INSTALL
This job wasn't very hard to do and should have only taken
an afternoon to do. I ran into problems trying to bleed the
brakes but that was remedied when I replaced the master
cylinder with one that could handle the larger volume of the
disc calipers. The Job was a basic bolt on with just a
little work with my 4 inch grinder.
I
started out by raising and supporting the Jeep on stands,
then taking everything down to the knuckles off. Then using
studs instead of bolts I installed the Chevy backing plate
and original spindle. I used the studs because the bolts
have a tendancy to work their way loose. I then took the
fill plugs out and installed the inverted hex plugs. This
keeps them out of the way from the caliper whe it's
installed. I set the calipers in place several times to
help see where I needed to grind the knuckle for fit.
After I installed the rotors on the hubs I installed them
using bearings for the 71 models Jeep. Then I got the
calipers and pads on and hooked the new brake hoses up.
Then installed my new Warn selector hubs and wheels. The
whole thing only took 2-3 hours to get to this stage. It
was then that I ran into some problems. When I went to
bleed the brakes I couldn't get a firm pedal. After trying
several different things and doing more research on the net
I figured that the calipers weren't getting enough fluid.
So down to the parts store where we went throughall kinds
of master cylinders looking for one that would bolt up and
work.
The improvement in brakes was outstanding. Some people have
had to use a proportioning valve but I didn't for this. I
may need to install one later when I upgrade the rear brakes
using Cadillac parts. But that'll be another page.
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