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Due to the heavy loads I tow with my car sometimes, and the ever increasing weight of the the car itself, I've decided to install discs on the rear to increase the braking power. However, I'm not one to splash money around, so I don't want to spend a cent if I can get away with it.

Going with an idea that popped into my head a few weeks ago, I made up a rough prototype to check feasability and to work out measurements etc...





Because the front shafts (the splined bit) are bigger than the rear, it's not as simple as just bolting some spare front hubs onto the rear. What I went with, was cutting off the drum section of the rear hub, machine the seating surface into the back of it for a front disc to nestle into, drill and countersink the bolt holes and end up with with something that fits properly and has plenty of clearance. The caliper will simply bolt to a heavy mounting plate that will secure to the backing plate mounting on the suspnsion arm.

As well as beefing up the rear brakes, I'm going to look at how easily I can mount an extra set of calipers on the front discs, with the aim of increasing clamping power and contact area on the disc.

Oh, and the other BIG advantage of using the standard calipers (well, the ventilated ones) on the rear, is I can install an extra handbrake lever and have front AND rear handbrakes for holding on steep slopes, depending on which end is uphill...

your a clasic steve. you shou;d live closer to me .so when i start building my trucks you could do some designing on them i got most of it sorted just a few minor major things to sort . now the shit trucks gone im working closer to the big sucker.

i also had to fit cordless remote shutdowns to the trucks for one of the big companeys i work for now that was a mission cause i hate spending money when i recon i can make it. was brain dead for a wile nothing i did worked on both trucks. and befor you all go easy na its not the keyed shutdown is a reverse polarity motor pulling the cable. i had my sparky on it for 4 hrs and had to go back to the drawing board . think i got it sorted now.and beleave it or not it uses a subaru part.

the real deal is about 1500 bucks.

dibs

Steve, how about looking at how to fit the front shafts of the MY/L series to the rear - I'm sure it would almost be just a bearing to suit the thicker shaft... I believe this would allow us to fit later model subaru brakes to the rear a lot easier, all we would need is the crossbred adaptor plate and backing plate to fit the rear brakes - no need for a compeletly new hub. It will however create more problems when removing the rear diff... But I reckon that's a worthwhile side effect!

Also with the extra caliper on the front I reckon you'll have some brake fade issues on your hands with that one - you have to keep the disc and pads cool!

Cheers

Bennie

Yeah, I did think about popping a set of front shafts in, but converting the drums into hubs for the disc to bolt onto is pretty damn easy...

As for the front, yes the disc will have more heat generated in it under really harsh braking with a big load on, but I'm adding ducts to help force more air through the disc at higher speeds, so that should more than compensate. The pads will actually run cooler, since there'll be less pressure on each of them, and the overall heat generated will only be propertional to the increase in effectiveness. (Bit of physics and thermodynamics considered in working it out). The proof will be in the pudding though...