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Disc brake conversion
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Mon May 17, 2021 5:20 am    Post subject: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

So I’m tired of drums on the back of my rig.
I am going to do a rear disc brake conversion.
There is a ton of them out there any suggestions of what makes or bad experiences.
Also think I’m going to just delete front brakes all together.
What master cylinder should I go with.

As you can see any help on this topic will help.
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BFB
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PostPosted: Mon May 17, 2021 4:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

ooooh your gunna get an ear full about not running front brakes... haha sucks to be you! heh heh
all joking aside, your gunna need to tell everyone what your rig is...
ive run several rails with only rear disks and they were fine as long as your paying attention and know that if your doing 70 mph, you aint stopping quick. 20 to 40 i could typically lock up the rears though. and both of those were only 1200 lb rails too.
most of the set ups i used were typical empi styles but i did have an older Jamar wide 5 on my rail this i converted to a dual caliper set up. the jamar set up was pretty cool even before i made it dual but they seem over priced to me
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oprn
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PostPosted: Mon May 17, 2021 7:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

Just stay off the roads and out of the traffic.

My rail came without and I ran it for several years that way out here in the prairie back country no problem. Then I encountered my first serious hill in mountain country... that was when the epiphany struck! Not only was I in serious danger of drowning in that lake, I was going to take my son down with me! Even at 15 mph, rear only does not work well downhill!
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2021 4:47 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

Oh ok....got ya. Yes I was looking for input.
Now due to that information. I am fully convinced I will run rear disc and front drums.
Question is can I run my current dual port master cylinder.
And if so I was reading oh here go with a 10 psi residual valve on front and 2 psi to rear disc....would this be correct.
I spent all winter re building this....all new brakes (drums) and just not quite satisfied with it. So want to up grade...
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2021 4:52 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

And I mean all brand new...every line, brake cylinders, shoes, drums, master cyl, resivoir, brake springs, not one thing left to make it better with current set up
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oprn
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PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2021 9:38 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

I can't answer that. Each car is different and each driver sees brake balance differently too. If it were me I would give the master cylinder you have a try first. The balance will depend on not only the weight distribution of your car but also your tire diameters will play a big part. The taller your rears are the less effective those brakes will be. The shorter your front tires are the more effective they will be.

I haven't run my rail for several years due to it needing an engine rebuild but while is was down for that this winter I added stock early drum front brakes. I am running stock '68 Bus rear drum brakes, 24" tall rear tires and 28" fronts with an early Bus single port master cylinder. I am anxious to see how the brake balance will play out. With the Bus drums only the brakes were surprisingly effective on the flat other than the tendency for the car to swap ends if you tried to steer through a corner at speed with them on but on serious down hills they would lock up far too soon with the weight off them.

In fact on a steep down hill the rear tires would slide just from engine compression without even touching the brakes!
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jimmyhoffa
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PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2021 8:45 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

I went through a nearly identical thought process Ksmit. I had type 1 front drums and type 3 rears and I just felt the rears left something to be desired.

I restored a set of old Neal discs and couldn't be happier. I'm running Wilwood 4-pot calipers and Carbotech pads and it's perfect.

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As a bonus, good discs (not the iron boat anchor China rotor) are plenty lighter than drums, so I shaved a respectable bit of unsprung weight.

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I have front drums and don't feel compelled to upgrade in the slightest. I run hard off road and commute an hour round trip to work on the interstate.
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 7:02 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

DAM nice set up Jimmyh....wish you where In Michigan I would pay for some help on this thing...but I’m learning as I go(lol).
Don’t quite have the know how to inter mix a bunch of different make tho.
Thanks for all the information.
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jsturtlebuggy
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 8:17 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

Have you looked at JAMAR disc brakes. The center hub is made out of chromoly,no more stripped splines.
I using JAMARs’ disc brakes front and rear on my buggy.
With trying to find quality parts for stub axles and bearings, I went with MicroStub rear setup which uses a Chevy 3/4 ton front hub and custom stub axle that uses 930 CV joints.
Since calipers do not have E brake I had add Wildwood mechanical calipers.
Trailing arms are aftermarket that are setup for the the microstubs.

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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 11:09 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

Another sweet set up...I appreciate the help, but now I see I need to step up my game on my built....lol
I’m going to look up jamar right now...thanks all
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 5:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

JimmyH.... What master cylinder do you have with that set up
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jimmyhoffa
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PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2021 6:44 am    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

I sent a PM to Ksmit but I have a balance bar pedal set with a 3/4" bore master to the rear calipers, and 5/8" bore to the front drums. (just so everybody else knows)

As for the Jamars, their design is almost identical to the Neals. So close, in fact, that I'm actually using Jamar's chromoly hub as the center of my Neals. Very Happy

If I were buying new disc brakes today and hadn't found my set of Neals for $50, I'd DEFNINITELY be buying the Jamars. They use good calipers, have the chromoly hub design, and have replacement parts currently available. They're available for short and long spline VW and Microstub as well, as pictured above. That pretty well checks all the boxes in my mind! I have handled a set in person, and they are made well.
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Ksmit258
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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2021 1:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

Looks like I’m pulling the trigger on the jamar brake set up...was hoping I could run a standard vw master cylinder with this set up.
Not currently ready into redoing all that...and quite honest not sure I could handle settting it up..
If I do front and rear disk I wanted to purchase a vw disc master cylinder without the standard residual valve built in.

Thanks
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JWHracing
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PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2021 1:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

What piston calipers are you going to run? 2 piston calipers might work okay with a stock style master. 4 piston most likely won't. not enough volume.

I have Jamar 4 piston rears paired with a 7/8 master.
I have Jamar 2 piston fronts paired with a 7/8 master as well. The pedal is an aftermarket dual master setup with a balance bar and adjustment knob on the dash.

When I first did the 4 piston conversion, i still had drums up front. The stock dual circuit master was not enough to work the rear calipers. i had to pump them up and even then it wasn't going to cut in a panic situation.
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jsturtlebuggy
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PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2021 4:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Disc brake conversion Reply with quote

The setup I shown on mine, yes I am using Neal dual master cylinders with a balance bar to adjust proportionately between front and rear circuits. I am using 3/4in master cylinders and a 2lb residual check valve for the rear circuits. This is because steering brake is mounted higher then master cylinder.
Front Jamar setup is two pistons mounted on Combo spindles.
Neal products are no longer available because they closed the business.
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Right now this is the only I have on the Samba showing front brakes
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