doing the rear discs (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Apr 16, 2003
Threads
54
Messages
194
I just got all the stuff together for the rear disc convo and i figured i would list prices to see if i go a solid deal

rotors - 18.00 each
calipers - 10.00 each plus 10.00 for a core which i will eat
hoses - 9.00 each
prop valve - 39.99
pads - 12.00
brackets - 50.00
machining on rotors - 36.00
grade eight hardware - 2.66
caliper pins - 10.00 for 4

rear brakes that will stop me - priceless

about 246.00. That seems like a decent deal and it would be less if i had the cores or knew a machinist well enough to cut me a better deal
 
I don't know much about rear disc conversions but if that's all you end up spending looks pretty cheap to me. I'd like to know how it turns out. And of course take pics and do a write up please. :D I still need to do the front conversion.
 
I want to do this conversion at some point. That sounds like a pretty good price to me, I've been told $500 for the entire conversion is fairly typical.
 
Where did you find calipers for $10 ea, and rotors for $18 ea? Are they new? Those prices seem pretty reasonable to me!

Rocky
 
i got the rotors at auto supermarket and yes they are new. the calipers are reman'd and u got those from a local parts store. The only sucky part is that i had to eat the core charge do they were really like 20.
 
if i put together a kit for, say 250 with no prop valve, do you think people would buy it? it would be way cheaper that tsm's kit and for many people, they can't get all the parts for 250, let alone round them all up and stuff so it might be a worthwhile buy
 
you could try it.
post as a vendor here and at pirate4x4 if you decide to do it.

i know that jto's price is something around 400 (cheapest i could find on the internet, way cheaper than downey). i looked into that, but figured it'd be cheaper to buy the parts (apparently i was right, ha ha.)

good luck if you do try,

malphrus
 
oh, and if you don't try it, send me some part numbers. :D :D :D
 
I was into mine for $143 but did not run a porportioning valve. I also cut the cruiser line and slipped the SAE nut from the Monte caliper over it and double flared it again, hence no new lines.
I got my calipers from a pick and pull yard. Pulled everything, pins, flex line, mounting tab and about 6" of the hard line, also had what appeared to be new pads, total of $10 with for everything.
26 a piece for the rotar (new).
I also paid about $85 for the brackets.

They work very well, really to well because I was untill recently running drum on the front. Just swapped in a axle w/ front disk from a 77' 40.

I will see how they work now, may need to add the proportioning valve.

How do you spell proportioning anyway? LOL
 
i will post a write up complete with part numbers when i am finished. I will be selling the kit and there will be like a one week turn around from order to shipping. i think i will go through ebay for the first few and after that ii will sell direct. the kit will include directions that are written by someone that actually did the conversion (me) and is hopefully able to describe something like this in words. It will go on sale in about 2 weeks.
 
Does anybody have a good source for the brackets, preferably other than JTO? I know the plans, actually very detailed drawings are posted in the tech links, but would be expensive to have done unless you can do it yourself.
Thanks,
Ed Long
I should add that I want the bolt-ons, THX
 
A guy in our club has fabbed a few sets. I can contact him to see what he will sell them for if you would like.
 
Most people do not realize how inexpensive this conversion is. At any autozone, kragen, chuckers, etc., the most you will ever pay with core deposit for the calipers is $30 each. The rotors are also super inexpensive. But word to the wise, you get what you pay for. $15 rotors last about 10% as long as k1500 rotors from your local gm pusher. Proportioning valves from summit, under $45 shipped to your door. And don't be afraid to try to double flare your own lines. If you have an autozone near you, they have free tool rentals and have decent flaring tools, buy a $2 piece of line to practice a half dozen times, and ten minutes later you have any fittings you want on your lines.

I imagine that the way the ebay cruiser scene eats up the jto front disc conversions is pretty indicative of what could be made on these kits for a brief period of time. My bet is $350 on ebay, and easy way to make enough to afford those 4.88's with front and rear arb's in a month. The price difference of what someone would pay with and without a proportioning valve would be negligable.
 
Rear disks

Sounds like you did the same conversion as I did and paid around the same. I used a short piece of brake line that is SAE on one end and metric on the other. One of the tech links has the Raybestos part number. Bolted it all up quick and easy, but I already had the axles out to install the locker. That is probably the only thing that would slow the process down, pulling the axles to remove the drum backing plate. Ive seen people cut them off, but that seems kinda lazy to me.
The only thing I would suggest about selling them is to list them as OFF-ROAD ONLY. You dont want some hack trying to sue you because he didnt install them correctly and drove into his neighbors pool. Even JTO lists their conversions as off-road only. Cover your ass.

Good luck, wish I would have thought to sell them too. Hodag
 
kit comparison

I guess I'm waking up an old thread, but does anybody know why the kit prices vary so much?

I'm not sure I have the time and interest to track down all the parts and have the rotors machined to fit, so I've been shopping for kits.

BTB is $512 (389 + 123 more for the lines)

JTO is $399

MAF is $565

TSM is $489.95 (269.95 + 120 for calipers + 50 for hoses + 50 for more hoses?)

Seems to be all the same stuff, I don't understand the huge difference in the prices, what am I missing here?

-Mark
 
Last edited:
I guess I'm waking up an old thread, but does anybody know why the kit prices vary so much?

I'm not sure I have the time and interest to track down all the parts and have the rotors machined to fit, so I've been shopping for kits.

BTB is $512 (389 + 123 more for the lines)

JTO is $399

MAF is $565

TSM is $489.95 (269.95 + 120 for calipers + 50 for hoses + 50 for more hoses?)

Seems to be all the same stuff, I don't understand the huge difference in the prices, what am I missing here?

-Mark


Probably the quality of the parts and the rebuilds. Jebus man, just source your parts as it is kinda of a no-brainer conversion. Price some "lifetime warranty" calipers from your local chain store. Get the brackets from someone here on Mud (I got mine from Poser), the flexi-lines...braided stainless for the bling, but many domestic vehicles use the same parts in plain old rubber. I mean 10mmx1.0 brakeline fittings are common. The rotors I got from the local AP store and had a buddy machine the centers. I network a lot, but you have to know a hotrod guy, who knows another guy, who has a lathe or a Bridgeport. You know hobbyists????
Its the journey, not the destination;)

GL

Ed:beer:
 
I have a question about rear disc brake conversion......

There is a local cruiserhead that makes brackets and does the Chevy conversions, but instead of having the rotors machined, he machines the hubs so that off the shelf rotors can be used. That way, the only time you would need machining done is if you have to replace the shafts.

Are there any downside to doing it this way that you can think of (other than having to dissassemble the axle the first time to do the conversion)?

I have a Man-a-Fre Wilwood front conversion, just waiting to get a knuckle rebuild kit and do it all at once.
 
Sounds like you did the same conversion as I did and paid around the same. I used a short piece of brake line that is SAE on one end and metric on the other. One of the tech links has the Raybestos part number. Bolted it all up quick and easy, but I already had the axles out to install the locker. That is probably the only thing that would slow the process down, pulling the axles to remove the drum backing plate. Ive seen people cut them off, but that seems kinda lazy to me.
The only thing I would suggest about selling them is to list them as OFF-ROAD ONLY. You dont want some hack trying to sue you because he didnt install them correctly and drove into his neighbors pool. Even JTO lists their conversions as off-road only. Cover your ass.

Good luck, wish I would have thought to sell them too. Hodag


Are the conversion kits listed as off road only because of liability or is there some small chance that running at highway speeds with the conversion, there is a small chance of failure. I know I am pretty lame for asking this, think I know the answer, just want to be sure. I am getting ready to do the front conversion on my 40. Hopefully someone here is from the columbia, mo area and will be able to help me with finding all the stuff I need.

Thanks in advance, and I hope my questions aren't too stupid...

JC
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom