Rear disc brakes on a TJ?
- Thread starter Caledonian
- Start date
This will make it easy and convenient;
https://www.shop.blackmagicbrakes.com/Rear-Disc-Brake-Conversion-Kits_c105.htm
EDIT: Noticed you are not in the US. Shipping may kill the deal.
It's easy to do, but you won't gain any any actual performance from them.
I used the parts from a ‘98 Grand Cherokee. I rebuilt the calipers and got new brake rotors from RockAuto. Been working very well...
Little to actually gain on the rear axle, brake wise. And they really don't require maintenance to keep working. It might be an item to put at the bottom of your list. Nearly everything else would be more important to get done first.
UKTJ
TJ Addict
@mrblaine I wondered if the closure of the Black Magic International Store is just a Covid / short term post disruption measure or is it gone for good, being more hassle than it is worth? If the latter, for future reference would you be able to ship items to a freight forwarder?[/USER]
Short term or as short as a term that lasts until the virus bullshit stops. We had several orders drop into a black hole after getting over the Canadian border. I don't have the profit, motivation, or personal beliefs that will allow me to keep shipping product over and over to the same person until you finally get one. When things get back to some semblance of normal, we'll resume and we have done a few on a case by case basis with the caveat that if it drops off the radar before it arrives, I don't want to hear about it. It is simply not my fault and there is nothing I can do to fix it.
We have always been able and should always be able to ship to a US address for a FF.
UKTJ
TJ Addict
Kaptainkid1
TJ Enthusiast
If you're a mudder then the rear disc works better and braking doesn't fade. Drums in deep water or mudding will fail to function properly and could totally fail in those conditions. So I say rear disc brakes are better in that scenario and overall. I'm fan of disc all around. That's why all top end cars, SUV and 4x4 have them. The Grand Cherokee ZJ mod is good upgrade. Why do you think Rubicon have 4 disc as part of the package? It's an upgrade.
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Yes with the exception of not needing to swap out the bearings to install the flanged disc specific retainers. Instead it just bolts right up after you pull the shafts.
Thank you!!! Which Dana 44 Disc Brake Conversion Kit would you recommend for my Dana 35, @mrblaine? Lastly, any idea when said kit will be in stock?
The rear brakes have so little to do with the overall braking, something like 25%, that even though disks do work better in mud, it's of very small benefit overall. The rear brakes are already purposely crippled by the brake proportioning valve, again on purpose, since when they are allowed to work in a non-crippled manner they will lock up and cause a loss of control in emergency stop situations. The proportioning valve only gives 25% or so of the braking duties to the rear axle so even upgrading from drum to disk gives very little benefit, even in mud, braking-wise.
I wish we were able to see a video of two similarly built TJs with one having rear discs and the other with drums, so we could test the braking distance to see how much of a difference discs would make
Bike riders know this without even knowing sometimes! 25% rear 75% front else you are likely to hit the ground eventually
Since the rear brakes are significantly crippled by the brake proportioning valve, I doubt there'd be any significant braking difference between them.
22 years ago I converted my '97 TJ's rear brakes from drum to disk. That was before I understood the real purpose of the proportioning valve. I had done some before conversion braking tests in anticipation of seeing significant braking improvement after I got the disks in. Nope, and I was both shocked and seriously disappointed. It was after that when I discovered the main benefit to rear disk brakes.... they're much easier to work on.
In the front? No doubt front disk brakes make a significant improvement in braking. Just not so much in the rear.
A drum to disc conversion in the rear not making much of an improvement; is that specific to the TJ? My LJ with 4 discs stops a lot better than the TJ's I've driven. I thought with the TJ I would need a conversion when it's time to move to bigger tires.
What about the parking brake? Is it easier to lock up the rear tires using the parking brake with rear disk?