The plan is to have the knuckles rebuilt this fall. Seeing as our local shop is at $45 an hour, I think it makes sense to have them do it rather than myself. Right now running original drum brakes on the 72 40, would love to have better stopping power coming down the mountain. Here is the question.......... if i can get my hands on a front axle assembly from a 85 toyota pickup (I think i've found one), does it makes sense to at the same time swap inner axle and out? I am assuming essentially the same amount of work (other than likely needing new pads and likely rotors) Thanks for the input.
Knuckles, disc brakes and mini truck question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter troutbum4
- Start date
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It sounds like you're thinking of having the shop do a disk brake swap and rebuild the knuckles at the same time?
As long as they are knowledgeable of the details of the swap, it's not a bad idea.
Although, it's really not difficult to do yourself and there's a lot of detailed threads here on how to do it.
As long as they are knowledgeable of the details of the swap, it's not a bad idea.
Although, it's really not difficult to do yourself and there's a lot of detailed threads here on how to do it.
Skreddy
SILVER Star
I think the upgrade is worth it. If you can do the work yourself, I bet you’d save a ton of money. It’s not hard; it is messy and can be tedious, but it’s not hard. $45 an hour is cheap but parts are not and the parts you “need” will add up fast. I’d bet a shop charges 8-10 hours min for a mini truck disc swap. At $45 an hour, it probably still totals well over $1000 after parts and ancillary work. Not a bad investment in the upgraded braking, but if you can do it yourself, there’s money to be saved for other upgrades.
If skills or time, etc mean you can’t do it yourself, then I say go for it!
If skills or time, etc mean you can’t do it yourself, then I say go for it!
I’m going to start driving up for work at $45/hr!!
I did this swap and recommend it. You will use the outer axle(birfield), knuckles and disc brake rotor and caliper. The inner axle is not the right length, but you can reuse the LC inner axle with the mini outer. Im using the “j” steering arm with the back portion of the drivers side cut off. For TRE’s I’m using FJ60 ends.
As others have said, you can save a bunch of dough doing it yourself. This is one of the first mods I did on my truck. And a good learning experience. Flip side is it is a messy job, so at $45/hr I might consider farming it out.
Side note- there are desirable upgrades for the caliper and rotor. Search here and it’ll be laid out for you.
I did this swap and recommend it. You will use the outer axle(birfield), knuckles and disc brake rotor and caliper. The inner axle is not the right length, but you can reuse the LC inner axle with the mini outer. Im using the “j” steering arm with the back portion of the drivers side cut off. For TRE’s I’m using FJ60 ends.
As others have said, you can save a bunch of dough doing it yourself. This is one of the first mods I did on my truck. And a good learning experience. Flip side is it is a messy job, so at $45/hr I might consider farming it out.
Side note- there are desirable upgrades for the caliper and rotor. Search here and it’ll be laid out for you.
$45/hour shop rate is a steal - go for it 
even twice as much won't cut it here in AZ
even twice as much won't cut it here in AZ
