Wheels

Any reason to swap from sbp to bbp besides wheel selection since 15's are available for sbp? Thanks.

used to be that no one was making replacement rotors or drums for the sbp - so once your brakes wore out, you were done... switching to the larger bp allowed you to keep driving the car. I also think that the larger bp is considered stronger as are the associated parts - a-arms etc.

Hard to find good, modern tires for handling in a 15 inch anymore, so going BBP allows a much larger selection of tires in 17 inch and larger sizes....

Yup, I agree. Parts are easier find for the BBP brakes, both front and rear. Currently I think most of the parts are available to rebuild the SBP drum brakes including the drums, not sure about the KH disks. There have definitely been stretches between production runs where you could not get new SBP drums though. But even if the parts are available the SBP parts are more expensive. The BBP rear drums have more surface area, so, more braking force. The KH disks and 73+ BBP single piston disks are about the same for stopping power unless you upgrade to the later 11.75" disks (which you can do with 15" rims!). BBP uses 1/2" studs instead of 7/16", so, the studs are are stronger, and the upper ball joints are larger on the BBP spindles. Although I don't think I've ever heard of anyone breaking one of the small upper ball joints. Wheel bearings are larger for the BBP spindles and disks as well, so they should be stronger/last longer for the BBP set up as well. Again, probably not a big deal for most people.

Wheels are available for the 5x4" pattern, but your selection is pretty much limited to stock styles and maybe a couple different aftermarket styles (ie, cragars) unless you go custom. With the BBP the sky's the limit, you can get pretty much any style wheel you'd like. And more backspacing options, so more tire size options too. Most of the wheels offered for SBP only have a couple of width and backspace options, so tire choice it limited further.

Honestly I wouldn't mess with reconditioning a set of SBP brakes if I was going to buy a new set of rims. By the time you've reconditioned and bought new parts for the SBP set up you're not going to be too far off the price of converting to BBP, and if you do that life will be a lot easier when it comes to replacing parts in the future, not to mention choosing wheels and tires.

I've got all sbp now. Nothing to scavenge bbp from junkyards around here. So swapping to bbp is expensive is why I asked. Thanks

cuda620 said:

I've got all sbp now. Nothing to scavenge bbp from junkyards around here. So swapping to bbp is expensive is why I asked. Thanks

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All you really need is spindles and upper controll arm, the rest can be bought at most any parts store. Not expensive really

replicaracer43 said:

All you really need is spindles and upper controll arm, the rest can be bought at most any parts store. Not expensive really

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Gotcha, thanks. Gotta go shopping no to find upper A frames and spindles. Then 73 and up hubs,calipers, and upper ball joints?

I bought all new drums, brake shoes and brake components (retainers, springs, self adjuster cables, and adjusters) wheel cylinders etc. I installed new wheel lug studs and bearings in my SBP spindles and rear axles. 1965 Barracuda...Rockauto. Granted SBP spindles are hard to find, but easy to rebuild.
Norm

Thanks for the info guys. My drums all the way around and manual work well. I just hate to spend on all new wheels and tires. Got new 70 series and rallys all around and you know I won't get much outta them to sell. I like Mikes idea though. 15's on back and 14's on front. Ideas ,,..mind wanders,,, lol!