Drum Brakes for front

[RedFish]

How hard would it be to find a rear end with the sbp?

A small bolt pattern 7.25 rear could be had for nearly free. Finding the drums for those rear brakes aint easy and they're expensive.

 

[72Dodge]

I thought it was just the REAR 10" SBP that were hard to find. I've had no trouble at all getting the 10" SBP FRONT ones, unless that's changed very recently too. Now, 9" front drums are another story altogether. I think I must have bought the last new pair in existence last year (stupid move in hindsight).

I agree, if the rear being swapped in has the 10" rear SBP drums, that would be a losing battle for sure. For some reason I was assuming it would have 9" drums, which I think are still pretty easy to find, as of this moment anyway, probably not for long though.

 

[Oklacarcollecto]

I thought it was just the REAR 10" SBP that were hard to find. I've had no trouble at all getting the 10" SBP FRONT ones, unless that's changed very recently too. Now, 9" front drums are another story altogether. I think I must have bought the last new pair in existence last year (stupid move in hindsight).

I agree, if the rear being swapped in has the 10" rear SBP drums, that would be a losing battle for sure. For some reason I was assuming it would have 9" drums, which I think are still pretty easy to find, as of this moment anyway, probably not for long though.

At the moment SBP 9" is readily available here but the listing is now gone for all the SBP 10" drums. I bet when the supply dries up on the 9" they will be in the same boat. Unless Rock Auto has their site straightened up many of there listings were wrong for our small bolt pattern cars.

 

[Mopar Dude]

Seems like a waste of time to swap the rear to me. Since you have a '74, you should already have the big ball joint UCA's in the front. Which means that all you need for the disk brake swap is the 73+ disk spindles, caliper brackets, rotors, calipers, disk master cylinder and prop valve. The UCA's are usually the hardest thing to find and most expensive, and you already have them.

Disks aren't just for race cars. Even the 10" front drums on these cars aren't that great for stopping power. The worst part about the 10" front drums though is that you can't get them. No one is currently reproducing the drums themselves, so you're on borrowed time. As soon as you need new drums, you'll either be 1. Out of luck, or 2. Spending a ton of money for someone's old 10" drums. And if you go with #2, you're just on borrowed time again. Not that many folks are throwing away the 10" drums anymore, because it's getting around that no one makes them. Prices online have gone up for them, and anything that is getting junked is probably too thin to turn anyway.

You should even be able to sell your current drum spindles for a decent chunk of money. The large ball joint 10" drum spindles are what is needed to do the 11.75" rotor/viper caliper conversion that Dr. Diff sells, as well as a few other aftermarket conversions. You could probably get half the money for new disk spindles out of the old drum spindles.

And then you wouldn't be limited to the half dozen wheel options that still come in SBP.

Just my .02.

Dont guess I really meant "race car". I have never had trouble stopping with the 4 wheel manual drums, but I just searched for brake drums and the parts stores dont carry them and cant get them. So...I guess it would make more sense for me to swap the front and maybe even the back eventually to disc as well. Whats the difference in the master cylinders? Is there one for disc front and rear?

 

[72Dodge]

At the moment SBP 9" is readily available here but the listing is now gone for all the SBP 10" drums. I bet when the supply dries up on the 9" they will be in the same boat. Unless Rock Auto has their site straightened up many of there listings were wrong for our small bolt pattern cars.

Glad I got my front (and rear of course) 10" drums when I could. If the GTS ever needs new fronts, it'll be installing discs for sure. I'm sure you're right that the 9" rears won't be made again, there's hardly any demand. The stash of new ones I have now should last the rest of my lifetime, but there's no way I would ever recommend anyone keep their car setup to use any of these obsolete drums.

After realizing all this, I'd still highly recommend a front BBP disc conversion for the OP (either ScareBird, or the '73+/FMJ conversion). If you can get the parts to do it 100% free, then sure, maybe install the parts, it'll get you by for awhile, but if any money at all has to be spent, don't put it on the losing horse.

 

[72bluNblu]

Dont guess I really meant "race car". I have never had trouble stopping with the 4 wheel manual drums, but I just searched for brake drums and the parts stores dont carry them and cant get them. So...I guess it would make more sense for me to swap the front and maybe even the back eventually to disc as well. Whats the difference in the master cylinders? Is there one for disc front and rear?

I think it would make more sense. The brake parts are readily available for the BBP disks and for the BBP rear drums. The BBP drum parts should be around for a good long while, as they came on pretty much everything all the way up to 1991.

Since you already have the BBP rear I think it makes even more sense, again, that's the harder part to find. And more expensive.

The master cylinder has a different bore and different sized chambers on the disk cars. Probably wouldn't be the end of the world to use a drum master, but to do it right you'd need a new master cylinder. And the combination (proportioning) valve, as that has the residual pressure valve in it for the drums.

As for the 10" drums, it looks like RockAuto still has 5 that seem to show the right dimensions. But I've heard before that not all of their listings for the SBP drums are correct.

 

[Mopar Dude]

I think it would make more sense. The brake parts are readily available for the BBP disks and for the BBP rear drums. The BBP drum parts should be around for a good long while, as they came on pretty much everything all the way up to 1991.

Since you already have the BBP rear I think it makes even more sense, again, that's the harder part to find. And more expensive.

The master cylinder has a different bore and different sized chambers on the disk cars. Probably wouldn't be the end of the world to use a drum master, but to do it right you'd need a new master cylinder. And the combination (proportioning) valve, as that has the residual pressure valve in it for the drums.

As for the 10" drums, it looks like RockAuto still has 5 that seem to show the right dimensions. But I've heard before that not all of their listings for the SBP drums are correct.

I read somewhere that my year has upper control arms that I can use in the swap. But then I read somewhere else that it wasn't true...lol. How and where can I find all the info I need on it. I have read through most of the brake threads on here but none of them are my exact car