TJ rear disc brake conversion

Did any of you folks that, have done the rear disc brake conversion, use the steel preload ring, that is supplied with the Terra flex kit? I am pretty sure it is not needed for the axle I am running, but donno for sure. Can't see what it's purpose is, on my axle any how.
 
Did you see that, and not that it's a big deal, on account of I have already modified the backing plates, to fit my axle, but did you see that the bolt holes did not match the ones on the dana 35? And that I had to drill new holes, for the backing plates to fit? Even though they were marketed as fitting a jeep dana 35. I am curious, because for me, and for the money that the kit costs, seems that they should have bolted on to my rear axle without modification. Seems to me like I was sold the wrong kit. I will still be thrilled if I can make it all work, with some smaller calipers. And the instructions do state that it will not fit all factory rims, but they say nothing about you having to drill out new mounting holes in the back plate. And as far as terraflex customer support, I think it's a shame that after a guy spends 800 dollars, on a product, it doesnt fit, and when I called the company the best thing they could do for me was sell me more parts, to correct the issue, at a discounted price. Because I had lost my proof of purchase, as I bought the kit a couple years ago. I have dealt with companies that stand behind their product reguardless of proof of purchase. And that's just what seems right, to me. I only mention this, because buyer be ware, if you order this kit, keep your records, and also check and see that it mounts up right away, because Terraflex is not gonna help you out, down the road.

I thought we already went over the housing end bolt patterns?
TJ Dana 44, ZJ, Liberty, Chrysler 8.25 are the same with a small difference in centerbore.
XJ Dana 44 is stand-alone that no one makes a kit for.
Ford 8.8 and Torino big bearing Ford are the same.

Did you ask them about the bolt pattern?
 
Did any of you folks that, have done the rear disc brake conversion, use the steel preload ring, that is supplied with the Terra flex kit? I am pretty sure it is not needed for the axle I am running, but donno for sure. Can't see what it's purpose is, on my axle any how.

Compensates for the difference between the disc brake backing plate and drum brake thickness when you have tapered roller bearings at the housing end and not c-clips. If you have c-clips, you don't use it.
 
I thought we already went over the housing end bolt patterns?
TJ Dana 44, ZJ, Liberty, Chrysler 8.25 are the same with a small difference in centerbore.
XJ Dana 44 is stand-alone that no one makes a kit for.
Ford 8.8 and Torino big bearing Ford are the same.

Did you ask them about the bolt pattern?

Yes, i did, they technically support guy told me on the phone that I was sold the wrong kit. And there was nothing he could do, except sell me diff backing plates at a discount. And I did t want to do that, so after some careful measuring, and a carbord template, I figured that there was enough room to drill the plates out, so that it would bolt up. And it worked.
 
Yes, i did, they technically support guy told me on the phone that I was sold the wrong kit. And there was nothing he could do, except sell me diff backing plates at a discount. And I did t want to do that, so after some careful measuring, and a carbord template, I figured that there was enough room to drill the plates out, so that it would bolt up. And it worked.
Were you sold the wrong kit by an authorized Tera dealer or some backdoor deal?
 
Were you sold the wrong kit by an authorized Tera dealer or some backdoor deal?

I think it come from jegs, I don't remember 100 percent and their customer support is trash, I spent along time on hold recently, to try and find out about some back ordered fender flares from April. I was on hold for al.ost 2 hrs before I got through. But, it was nearing the end of June and I was sick of waiting. But the kit was bought brand new, and I only just took the parts outta the plastic wrappers a few days ago.
 
Compensates for the difference between the disc brake backing plate and drum brake thickness when you have tapered roller bearings at the housing end and not c-clips. If you have c-clips, you don't use it.

10 4, that's kinda what I thought.
 
Were you sold the wrong kit by an authorized Tera dealer or some backdoor deal?

Also the instructions that came with the kit say that it is for a TJ wrangler, so to me, somebody f-ed up packing the kit from terraflex, it was in a sealed terraflex box.
 
mrblaine I am having front brake issues. I have a small divot in my steering knuckle, from brake pad wear. The spot where the brake pads slide on. And I was gonna try and weld and grind it, but I'm out of shielding gas. I might could still fill it in with a little weld. But I was thinking that maybe there is a ss abutment clover/clip that might work. I am struggling to find any. could you point me in the right direction? Thanks
 
mrblaine I am having front brake issues. I have a small divot in my steering knuckle, from brake pad wear. The spot where the brake pads slide on. And I was gonna try and weld and grind it, but I'm out of shielding gas. I might could still fill it in with a little weld. But I was thinking that maybe there is a ss abutment clover/clip that might work. I am struggling to find any. could you point me in the right direction? Thanks

Need to @ him @mrblaine
 
mrblaine I am having front brake issues. I have a small divot in my steering knuckle, from brake pad wear. The spot where the brake pads slide on. And I was gonna try and weld and grind it, but I'm out of shielding gas. I might could still fill it in with a little weld. But I was thinking that maybe there is a ss abutment clover/clip that might work. I am struggling to find any. could you point me in the right direction? Thanks

They don't exist and can't unless you want to grind clearance in the pad notches.
 
@mrblaine, I was able to get the new calipers, which you recommended, from a grand Cherokee, and I also had to replace the studs with longer ones, and I also used extended lug nuts. Seems to all fit nicely together under the stock canyon wheels. I am very grateful for all the advice/ help. Also I hope this helps anyone else trying to do the same thing. Lastly, I have been experiencing spongy brakes. I thought it was the master, so I replaced it. I am still having the same issue. Brake light is on the dash. Other than bleeding my lines out, because from my experience with brakes this is do to air in the lines, is there any other common problem that might could cause this? Jeep seems to be stopping fine, but I feel like the pedal is not as hard as it should be. There is too much travel in the brake pedal. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks
 
@mrblaine, I was able to get the new calipers, which you recommended, from a grand Cherokee, and I also had to replace the studs with longer ones, and I also used extended lug nuts. Seems to all fit nicely together under the stock canyon wheels. I am very grateful for all the advice/ help. Also I hope this helps anyone else trying to do the same thing. Lastly, I have been experiencing spongy brakes. I thought it was the master, so I replaced it. I am still having the same issue. Brake light is on the dash. Other than bleeding my lines out, because from my experience with brakes this is do to air in the lines, is there any other common problem that might could cause this? Jeep seems to be stopping fine, but I feel like the pedal is not as hard as it should be. There is too much travel in the brake pedal. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks

The brake light shows you can't bleed one circuit properly due to the shuttle valve being shifted.
 
Sorry to stir a dead thread, but are there back plates for TJ rear disc brake conversions (mine is '02 Dana 44 from stock) that one can harvest from junkyards? In my quest to redo everything, I am still contemplating doing the rear disc conversion if for no other reason to make it easier to service for myself.
 
Sorry to stir a dead thread, but are there back plates for TJ rear disc brake conversions (mine is '02 Dana 44 from stock) that one can harvest from junkyards? In my quest to redo everything, I am still contemplating doing the rear disc conversion if for no other reason to make it easier to service for myself.

There are 3 options. A Liberty from around 07 IIRC, TJ 03-06 obviously, and ZJ with a small change to open up the center bore to clear the Set 10 bearing and oil seal. Look up the TJ Rubicon on Rock Auto and use the buyer's guide by clicking on the blue part number. That will bring up the years of the Liberty the parts fit.
 
What do you tell the parts guys when you need rear brake shoes ?

Tell them what your kit was based on, or what you pulled the parts from to make your own, not necessarily what you installed it on.

As a slightly different example of this, my dad has a homebuilt kit helicopter with a lot of automotive parts (*), that kept burning up starters. So we'd go to the local Napa or O'Reilly's or whatever and mess with them. See how long it takes them to figure out that their system doesn't have a Rotorway Talon in it... :cool: Then we ask for a 1985 Nissan Sentra, and it comes right up. Sometimes we show them pictures, and we had one guy not believe that our core return was bad because it wasn't dirty. Then the other guy behind the counter reminded him that it was in a helicopter, not a car. No dirt there, to get on it. "Oh."
We have a different starter now, and ring gear to match, that works a lot better. This one comes from an Audi...

(*) That's actually pretty common with aviation in general: automotive parts exactly like the stuff we get from our local parts stores, but by the time they get through the bureaucracy to be certified, they're 10x the cost for the exact same thing. But a homebuilt experimental is not required to have that paper trail and so it *can* use the same thing straight from the car parts store. Being registered as "experimental" also comes with restrictions about how it can be used, despite the serious homebuilts actually being better in pretty much every way than a lot of certified ships that don't have those restrictions...but that's a whole 'nother discussion!
 
Last edited: