Yes, lack of a parking brake is part of the reason for doing the rear disks, it seems no Matter what I do with the rear drums I can't get brakes on the rear. With the auto no parking brake wasn't an issue but I really need to figure something out now.
CO/UT trip (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter 4xsteve
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Yes, lack of a parking brake is part of the reason for doing the rear disks, it seems no Matter what I do with the rear drums I can't get brakes on the rear. With the auto no parking brake wasn't an issue but I really need to figure something out now.
TeddyBoy
Knighted by the King of MUD himself
Roger - have not decided if I'm day tripping the rig delivery or an overnight stay but if I can be of help while I'm up there I will be. I can weld, fab or just sweep the floor.
If anyone wants to tag along for the ride just lemme know.
If anyone wants to tag along for the ride just lemme know.
Last edited:
Thanks. I really hope to have it all done by then, Andy is coming up the following Monday and we plan to load and weight trailer.
- Thread starter
- #364
I was going to suggest Ted come up and help with tow rig preps, but he offered before I could volunteer him. 
@jason in tn01, Line locks are fairly easy from what I've heard, and very strong. Just realize that electric ones are a bit quicker, but they can't be left on as full-time brakes because of the power draw.
@jason in tn01, Line locks are fairly easy from what I've heard, and very strong. Just realize that electric ones are a bit quicker, but they can't be left on as full-time brakes because of the power draw.
TeddyBoy
Knighted by the King of MUD himself
I was going to suggest Ted come up and help with tow rig preps, but he offered before I could volunteer him.
cuz that's just the kind of fella I am.
@jason in tn what seems to be the problem? When I swapped to the FF in the 80 losing the drum brakes and self adjusting e-brake was the one thing I hated. Yeah, it has discs, but I haven't had a solid e-brake for several years. My 3rd gen e-brake is solid and I set it every time I get out. Not trying to talk you out of the swap, but seems like fixing the drums might be easier then doing the conversion right before the big trip.
Truck bed is off
Can you not pull the trailer with it on? Or doing some work on it before the trip?
4xsteve I also understand they bleed off over time, so using them as a long term parking brake is recommended. I'm more looking for something that holds really well for a few minutes at a time so to speak.
Jynx I agree 100% this is a poor time to start this swap however I have rebuilt everything I can in the drum brakes twice now, added tundra brakes to the front and still have the same scary soft pedal I've been trying to fix for a couple years, normal process is, adjust brakes before wheeling trip, half way through I'm pumping the pedal twice to get it solid, and my ebrake doesn't hold from the start. I just fed up with trying to get them to work. Any ideas? I'm open to them.
Jynx I agree 100% this is a poor time to start this swap however I have rebuilt everything I can in the drum brakes twice now, added tundra brakes to the front and still have the same scary soft pedal I've been trying to fix for a couple years, normal process is, adjust brakes before wheeling trip, half way through I'm pumping the pedal twice to get it solid, and my ebrake doesn't hold from the start. I just fed up with trying to get them to work. Any ideas? I'm open to them.
I have been pulling with a goose neck hitch but it lets the the 62 ft long 4 car Trailer twist to much causing frame cracks so shifting to a full size fifth wheel hitch. I would have had to cut bed way to much
To mount fifth wheel.
To mount fifth wheel.
TeddyBoy
Knighted by the King of MUD himself
Line locks are not meant to be long term, only short. Throw it in 1st gear and park it, been working for me for 7 years.
Welcome to the world of mini trucks, it's a very common trait. Guess having gears and not doing black tops with my rig is probably why I never much bothered to resolve the issue.
- Thread starter
- #372
Damn Roger, that looks like a lot of work. (Not that I expected it to be easy)
Does this mean you're going to swap the crawler hauler to kingpin as well?
Jason - A line lock sounds perfect for that. Same reason I plan to do one, but it is not high on the priority list due to my low gearing and rarely needing strong brakes. Mine get spongy very quick any time I have to use them really hard a few times in a row. I've never figured it out either, but I have discs already as well as a new master cylinder.
Does this mean you're going to swap the crawler hauler to kingpin as well?
Jason - A line lock sounds perfect for that. Same reason I plan to do one, but it is not high on the priority list due to my low gearing and rarely needing strong brakes. Mine get spongy very quick any time I have to use them really hard a few times in a row. I've never figured it out either, but I have discs already as well as a new master cylinder.
I am making a King pin hitch on a 4" heavy pipe that goes in where the goose neck hitch went so I can move to either trailer. Also my GN ball will stay under the 5th wheel so can pull 2 pins and remove plate and yes ball.
You have to match the mc up with the brake system in question, either disk/shoe combination or disk/disk combination. I think its best to replicate a OEM setup...ie use the mc from a 4runner that comes with 4w-disk. Some OEM setups or most I would guess with rear disks have a built in emergency brake that works off the manual cable...(mini-brakeshoe on many). Line lock or other hydraulic brake valve is good....other than if you loose your hydraulics for some reason...you loose all brakes.
When you have brake issues on older truck/car its a good thing to swap all the rubber hoses....and I mean all of them, no matter how they look on the outside....complete game changer for the better. I got schooled on that from my toyota mechanic buddy....he was right on the money when I had issues. Stock setup should be good for the most part and the stock emergency brake should work too...if you have all the parts ...etc.
I like 4wDisk..brakes, but you might have a good setup staring at you...just the hoses need replacing. On my 60 I swap over to four runner disk calipers on the front and a t100 master..no other changes other than swapping out the antique brake hoses. Not perfect but better than it was and the parking brake works well now.( I know there's no relationship to what I did and it, but it needed some adjustment under the vehicle to take up some slack.
allprooffroad.com has the answer you seek @jason in tn
Use's the existing front cable . No hyd. involved .
- Thread starter
- #376
I strongly recommend NOT using one of these setups. I've owned two different trucks with them and both were almost useless. Great concept, poor track record [with me].allprooffroad.com has the answer you seek @jason in tn
Use's the existing front cable . No hyd. involved .
What was the issue Steve? The caliper not hold the driveline? I haven't looked into them in a LOONNNGGG time, but curious what the method of failure was in your cases.
That looks way more pricey than anything I want to get into.
After some thinking I'm going to take some of Elbert's advice and swap out the three soft lines in the system, I've been meaning to do it for awhile just keep putting it off, throw on a new set of shoes and a hardware kit and see what I wind up with. Much more budget friendly and easier to accomplish with my limited home time.
After some thinking I'm going to take some of Elbert's advice and swap out the three soft lines in the system, I've been meaning to do it for awhile just keep putting it off, throw on a new set of shoes and a hardware kit and see what I wind up with. Much more budget friendly and easier to accomplish with my limited home time.
I think there are some different mfg who make that disk brake setup for the driveshaft..... I don't recall...who, but one shop makes them or did make them for the FJ60. I asked various people about it here on mud....the feedback I got was the caliper would not hold the rotor properly and would not secure the truck on a steep slope, another gripe was the brackets and linkage was too low hanging. Don't know if that was ever addressed by improvements. I was thinking about 4wd disks too at the time. I just decided that if I went with rear disks I would just get a complete FJ80 housing or get a 14 bolt with disks and modify that. When I inquired the consensus from the guys who comments was the weight of the vehicle overwhelms the disk parking break setup.
It appears as a cool setup....but I'm not sure proper pressure can be maintained on the caliper to hold the rotor, or for some reason there is an inherent flaw. IAt first when I saw it...I though problem solved but I never moved forward on that. Maybe improvements have been made...the one I was looking at was made for the FJ60....don't know if the design is much different or not. I assume a 60 weighs a little more than a 4runner.
It appears as a cool setup....but I'm not sure proper pressure can be maintained on the caliper to hold the rotor, or for some reason there is an inherent flaw. IAt first when I saw it...I though problem solved but I never moved forward on that. Maybe improvements have been made...the one I was looking at was made for the FJ60....don't know if the design is much different or not. I assume a 60 weighs a little more than a 4runner.
see where that gets you......can you swap in a OEM 4runner rear axle with disk brakes that has the built in parking brakes? from a salvage yard...that might be non-budget friendly. I'm telling you the swapping of the brake hoses made a big difference for me. Prior to that I could bled it all day long and still ineffective application, after the hoses were swapped....brakes came alive and actually worked. See what happens, but I"m betting it will make a drastic improvement.