What is the easiest way to put disc brakes on my 1974 D30 front end?????? I know that you guys got to have a good junkyard how to for me:D :D ........I don't want to spend alot of money considering it's only a D30.........I'm just tired of going through mud puddles and not being able to STOP:eek:

get the knuckles out off a mid 77 to 81 CJ, swap.

its as easy as that. You can reuse the hub lockouts, and I've heard you can reuse the wheel hubs, but I replaced them back when I did this swap.

Originally posted by CJ5-man
get the knuckles out off a mid 77 to 81 CJ, swap.

its as easy as that. You can reuse the hub lockouts, and I've heard you can reuse the wheel hubs, but I replaced them back when I did this swap.



The hard part with that is finding a D30 of that year without paying an arm and a leg for.........Is there some other way to use some different type of parts that are accesable at a Pn'P

hard to find? these are narrow track Jeep axles. They are almost hard to give away. Look for someone doing an axle swap around you. If you drop the slightest hint that you are interested in them, chances are they'll be bugging you to get the damn things out of the driveway.

I've looked on the BB for about 2 months now and everyone that has sold D30 are from back east ,,,,,,,,Shipping would kill me:eek: ...or the disc brakes are gone already:( ...I might try the wanted fourm.........but you know how that go's:D

you can get the disc brakes from a Dana 44, too. but you'll need to swap out the 27 spline outer shafts for 19 spline half-ton units. this means you need to upgrade your inner shafts to aftermarket for the 297 joint. the cash outlay for the inner shafts sucks, but the payback on the swap is that 1/2 ton servie parts (bearings/hubs/brakes) are about half the cost of CJ parts.

And if you can't find half ton parts in a junkyard, you must be dainbramaged.

You don't even have to upgrade your shafts to go with Dana 44 disks, just get the knuckles out from any Dana 44 (except Scout II) and find a very Early Chevy Dana 44 that used 260 joints. It's a good temp setup becuase you can transfer over all the brake stuff when you go to a 44 down the road. I've actually done it the opposite way too, for a guy that wanted me to install a Waggy 44 and do an SOA on his Jeep, but he wnated to keep all his new Dana 30 disks and lockouts, just cut down the Chevy 260 joint shafts to waggy length and used all the Dana 30 crap on it. I know it was dumb, but the guy wanted cheap, and he can upgrade when the brakes are toast.

find a very Early Chevy Dana 44 that used 260 joints

just an FYI,
in the past five years, I've actually laid hands on these shafts only once. most of the vehicles these things went in have long since passed from the yard to the crusher. the shafts will also be a minimum of 30 years old. you could get new ones, but that puts you back at the same $$ range as upgrenading to the 297 shafts.

Originally posted by 4Bangler
You don't even have to upgrade your shafts to go with Dana 44 disks, just get the knuckles out from any Dana 44 (except Scout II) and find a very Early Chevy Dana 44 that used 260 joints. It's a good temp setup becuase you can transfer over all the brake stuff when you go to a 44 down the road. I've actually done it the opposite way too, for a guy that wanted me to install a Waggy 44 and do an SOA on his Jeep, but he wnated to keep all his new Dana 30 disks and lockouts, just cut down the Chevy 260 joint shafts to waggy length and used all the Dana 30 crap on it. I know it was dumb, but the guy wanted cheap, and he can upgrade when the brakes are toast.


So what your saying is to use D44 stuff form the ball joints out????I'm not to wise when it comes to axles :D

Here's a much easier way to get the Dana 44 brakes. The only parts from the Dana 44 you'll use are the bracket that holds the caliper and the caliper itself. Get em from any '70s Chevy pickup or full size Jeep. You'll need new rotors and CJ wheel bearing hubs. The rotor mounts on the back side of the hub and the original '74 hubs aren't machined flat to accept the rotor on that side. Replacement hubs are machined on both sides for either drums or discs. The rotors you use are the early '78 thick (1-1/8") rotors. The late '78 are only 7/8". For brake lines go with '78 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup lines. Some grinding of the knuckle will be necessary for the caliper to slide. It's not completely cheap, but cheaper than swapping all the Dana 44 parts and getting custom inner shafts. I spend about $200 on the last one I did.

Originally posted by TOY 2
What is the easiest way to put disc brakes on my 1974 D30 front end?????? I know that you guys got to have a good junkyard how to for me:D :D ........I don't want to spend alot of money considering it's only a D30.........I'm just tired of going through mud puddles and not being able to STOP:eek:

You buy them from me and have them shipped to you.

-knuckles
-pads
-rotors
-calipers

:D

Originally posted by 1MutCJ7


You buy them from me and have them shipped to you.

-knuckles
-pads
-rotors
-calipers

:D


How much $$$$$$$

Sorry, my internet service crapped out for a while, but to anser your earlier question, yes, Dana 44 knuckles and balljoints and everything outside of them.

As for the Dana 44 260 joint shafts, I still have the outers from the set I cut down for that guys's Dana 44 with 30 junk on it, and I have another set that I pulled for spares then realized that they were small joint, all of these came from the small town of Alpena Michigan, so I figured that they were more common than that, but I guess since they are rare I should hold on to them or put them on e-bay for $100, naw, if you decide that you want to go that route, $10 each for the outers + shipping, PM me if you're interested.

Something that will make your life easier, get your knuckles, caliper mounts, calipers (for cores), lockouts and spindles from a pre '76 Chevy 1/2 ton or Jeep Waggy, make sure that the spindles are the small bearing type, search on here for pictures of the small bearing vs. big bearing, then get hubs off a pre '80 Ford 1/2 ton to get 5 on 5.5, search for 5 on 5.5 on Dana 44 for all the details, skip past the 900 posts that say "search newbie" and dig down until you find all the good tech, it's there. Good luck.

Originally posted by TOY 2



How much $$$$$$$

$50 plus shipping. The pads are fairly new and the rotors were just turned about 5000 mi. ago. For another $20, I'll throw in some extended SS braided brake lines.

I'm just waiting for a new tie rod and drag link for my hi-steer set up and I will be taking these parts off my jeep.

Originally posted by CSP
Here's a much easier way to get the Dana 44 brakes. The only parts from the Dana 44 you'll use are the bracket that holds the caliper and the caliper itself. Get em from any '70s Chevy pickup or full size Jeep. You'll need new rotors and CJ wheel bearing hubs. The rotor mounts on the back side of the hub and the original '74 hubs aren't machined flat to accept the rotor on that side. Replacement hubs are machined on both sides for either drums or discs. The rotors you use are the early '78 thick (1-1/8") rotors. The late '78 are only 7/8". For brake lines go with '78 Chevy 1/2 ton pickup lines. Some grinding of the knuckle will be necessary for the caliper to slide. It's not completely cheap, but cheaper than swapping all the Dana 44 parts and getting custom inner shafts. I spend about $200 on the last one I did.

I was wondering just the other day if the D44 caliper bracket would work on a D30 CJ with the D44 knuckles. Looks like it's worth a shot.
Bryan

Yeah it works really well. I would imagine that using the 44 knuckle would eliminate the need to grind the knuckle and caliper. I didn't switch to 44 knuckles when I did mine. The bolt pattern for the 30 and 44 spindles is exactly the same. There is a bit of a spacing problem. Using my recipe the rotor needs to be about 0.05" farther away from the knuckle. I had to remove about 0.05" of the inner pad to get it to fit between the rotor and caliper. You could use a shim in the hub behind the inner bearing race to space the hub out. I just took a belt sander to the pad to remove the little bit of material that was hanging it up.

All you really need is the backing plates from a mid to late 70's 1/2 2wh. dr. Chev p/u. Use Chev calipers, jeep rotors and hoses to fix you suspension. You have to grind a alittle on the caliper, very little and a little on the knuckle. I mounted mind on the inside of the hub so I had to have the inner hub surface michine flat, but you can mount them on the out side of the hub, just like your brake drum. Good Luck

Originally posted by Loafer409
All you really need is the backing plates from a mid to late 70's 1/2 2wh. dr. Chev p/u. Use Chev calipers, jeep rotors and hoses to fix you suspension. You have to grind a alittle on the caliper, very little and a little on the knuckle. I mounted mind on the inside of the hub so I had to have the inner hub surface michine flat, but you can mount them on the out side of the hub, just like your brake drum. Good Luck

Isn't that pretty much what I already said?:confused: :flipoff2:

"Isn't that pretty much what I already said? "

====

Yea pretty much except you don't need the hubs, as I said you can have your hubs machine flat, course I get my machine work do for free so the cost of machining may be about the same as different hubs.

Originally posted by Loafer409
"Isn't that pretty much what I already said? "

====

Yea pretty much except you don't need the hubs, as I said you can have your hubs machine flat, course I get my machine work do for free so the cost of machining may be about the same as different hubs.

If you can (and are willing to) get your hubs machined, you can also machine-in the 0.05" offset previously mentioned...

Bryan

OK ......let me see if I have this right:D


Go to the local p'n'p and find a early 70's chevy pickup with a D44 front end and take the ...knuckle, backing plate ,and calipers?


Then go to the parts store and get rotors for a 76 cj5/7 with a D30 front?

Then have my D30 hubs machined .005" on the inside face?

Then buy the outer shafts from 4Bangler?


If I'm missing anything here please set me straight.......What kind of u joints do I need to mate my D30 inner shafts to the D44 outers I get from 4banger?

I want to thank all you guys for the help in my quest for disc brakes:D :D

I think yuo need to re-read CSP's an my post.
You don't need the 44 knucks or the outer shafts. I don't know about the >050 off set that was mentioned as I didn't have to do that, iut may be that the machining of the back of the hubs for a flat mounting surface for the rotors negated the nned for it. You will need new studs with long enough serated shoukdes to reach thru both the rotor and the hub. Actually a prettty straight forward mod. Good Luck

Lets see if I can get it right this time:D


backing plate and calipers from an early 70's chevy pickup(2wd)?


Then go to the parts store and get rotors and wheel studs for a 76 cj5/7 with a D30 front?


Then have my D30 hubs machined flat on the inside face?

That's it:confused: ........Seems too easy:D

Truthfully I don't recall what the studs where from, it's been about 10 yr's ago I done the conversion. But you should have no problem getting them by size, this assimes you go to a parts house, not one of those fast food type places.

Just get the studs for any disc braked CJ. I bought mine from 4WD Hardware at the same time I ordered my rotors. You're basically building a '77-early 78 CJ disc brake system with a GM caliper. You're going to have to grind the knuckle some to allow complete free travel of the caliper, but yes it is that easy.

I just want to thank you guys again:D :D .....It seems easy but I haven't done it yet:D

Originally posted by TOY 2
backing plate and calipers from an early 70's chevy pickup(2wd)?


Then go to the parts store and get rotors and wheel studs for a 76 cj5/7 with a D30 front?


Just noticed this.

Backing plates must be from 4WD Chevy and '74-87 will work. Doesn't matter what the caliper year is. Use them as cores and buy new ones. I bought a set a couple of weeks ago for another project and new ones are only $15 each after the cores are turned in.

The rotor should be from a '77-early 78 CJ. Discs weren't available in '76. Make sure that the rotor is 1-1/8" thick and not 7/8".

Originally posted by CSP


Just noticed this.

Backing plates must be from 4WD Chevy and '74-87 will work. Doesn't matter what the caliper year is. Use them as cores and buy new ones. I bought a set a couple of weeks ago for another project and new ones are only $15 each after the cores are turned in.

The rotor should be from a '77-early 78 CJ. Discs weren't available in '76. Make sure that the rotor is 1-1/8" thick and not 7/8".


So What year chevy do I tell the parts store for the caliper??Dose it matter???

One other question for you ..........Will my brake lines hook up the the chevy caliper???????...or do I need an adapter to make my new SS brake lines to work???

Or even easier buy 1mutcj7's for pretty much free and bolt them on, bleed brakes and find a puddle.

Originally posted by Steve N
Or even easier buy 1mutcj7's for pretty much free and bolt them on, bleed brakes and find a puddle.


What and where does he have for sale:confused:

In this post check it :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Steve N
In this post check it :rolleyes:


Duh:rolleyes: :rolleyes: .....Helps if I read my own thread:D ........I just checked today on prices.....Parts store wants $50 just for 1 rotor:eek: ..........so I think I will hit him up for his stuff when he gets it pulled

Originally posted by TOY 2



So What year chevy do I tell the parts store for the caliper??Dose it matter???

One other question for you ..........Will my brake lines hook up the the chevy caliper???????...or do I need an adapter to make my new SS brake lines to work???

Older Chevy calipers are SAE, newer ones are Metric. Go with whatever you have now. Not sure exactly what the cut off year is, but I know from personal experience '77 is SAE and '85 is metric.