Drums to disc brake help

-

Seth Shier

Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2016
Messages
17
Reaction score
46
Location
Buffalo ny
Thanks for those who helped me last time, I have a 1972 duster twister, if I want to do a drum brake swap to disc brakes do I have to change the upper A arms? Because all of the kits that I have looked at come with new upper A arms, I already have spindles from a 73 dart that should work on there. Thank you for helping out!
 
You do if you go with 73 and later disc spindles , you don't if you go wilwood or early 4 piston Kelsey Hayes.
 
Go to Doctor Diff website. He has all the stuff you need without buying a kit.
Cass is a very nice guy!
 
Another reason I went with Wilwood no need to change a-arms,spindles ect..bolts right on:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Another reason I went with Wilwood no need to change a-arms,spindles ect..bolts right on:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Yup! Just spend twice as much money for crap you have to safety wire together and can only get parts from aftermarket suppliers! Oh, and most of your stock wheels won’t fit anyway because the hubs are too big for the stock hub registers!

Call Cass @DoctorDiff. He can get you everything you need for a 73+ Mopar disk set up. Sounds like you’ve already got the 73+ spindles, no need to drop a bundle on anything else. Just tell Cass what you’ve got and he can set you up with the parts you need.

And stay away from those MBM and pirate jack kits. Seems like the rotor quality on those is terrible.
 
Yup! Just spend twice as much money for crap you have to safety wire together and can only get parts from aftermarket suppliers! Oh, and most of your stock wheels won’t fit anyway because the hubs are too big for the stock hub registers!

Call Cass @DoctorDiff. He can get you everything you need for a 73+ Mopar disk set up. Sounds like you’ve already got the 73+ spindles, no need to drop a bundle on anything else. Just tell Cass what you’ve got and he can set you up with the parts you need.

And stay away from those MBM and pirate jack kits. Seems like the rotor quality on those is terrible.

But you’re not comparing apples to apples. Wilwood is not twice as much if you buy similar performance discs and calipers. Also no need to tie wire anything if you follow the directions which recommends certain Loctite.
 
But you’re not comparing apples to apples. Wilwood is not twice as much if you buy similar performance discs and calipers. Also no need to tie wire anything if you follow the directions which recommends certain Loctite.

The rotors are the same size as the wilwoods, swept area is similar. Yes the wilwoods are lighter, and yes they’re a multi-piston caliper. But every single part is more expensive, including the pads. And sorry, I’m not loctiting my rotors to my hubs. Not on a street car.

The 73+ disks work very well, and cost quite a bit less. Especially if the OP already has the disk spindles!
 
Just put one of the Kelsey hays onto a 66 Valiant. Bolted right up. No issues whatsoever. That has to be the easiest swap ever. 4 in bolt pattern still and fits nicely under the 14 in rally wheels. Stock look
 
Although I am sure everybody else's suggestions are fine, I'd recommend calling Stainless Steel Brake Corp. I put their kit on my 69 Barracuda. It was an easy bolt on kit that did not require new A arms. The brakes work GREAT.
 
Just put one of the Kelsey hays onto a 66 Valiant. Bolted right up. No issues whatsoever. That has to be the easiest swap ever. 4 in bolt pattern still and fits nicely under the 14 in rally wheels. Stock look

Well they’re stock parts so I would hope they’d bolt right up! Same goes for the 73+ style brakes.

KH’s are a good set up if you want to keep the 5x4” pattern. But, you have to find the parts, and that’s not always easy to do. And not everyone wants to keep the 5x4 pattern either, it really limits your wheel choices.
 
Aftermarket ( Doctor Differential maybe ? ) has a taper bushing to poke in the 73 model spindle hole that makes the earlier smaller ball joint stem fit it. I haven't used these pieces, just see other owners have. Seen no negative feedback. So that's positive,,, right? The only drawback is, The aftermarket kits that contain 4 ball joints for this model or that model would be wrong for this mixed makeup. You'll need to piece mill the rebuild, upper ball joints correct for the car, lower ball joints correct for the spindles.
I would screw the upper ball joints out of the arms before buying anything. If those threads fail you'll need upper arms anyway. Chit happens. Good luck
 
I believe when I was running factory stuff Bill at RMS reamed my stock spindles to accept a 73 and newer UCA.
 
I believe when I was running factory stuff Bill at RMS reamed my stock spindles to accept a 73 and newer UCA.
Reaming the smaller hole in the earlier spindle is the opposite of what this member seeks.
 
Just my 2 cents: mine was a 73 /6 car with drums all around but still had the big ball joint uppers. You'll need '73 + up uca's, and the right spindles which it looks like you have. Don't know of any other options but i had the big uppers and the swap has been painless with the right caliper brackets and such. Good luck with the swap
 
Yup! Just spend twice as much money for crap you have to safety wire together and can only get parts from aftermarket suppliers! Oh, and most of your stock wheels won’t fit anyway because the hubs are too big for the stock hub registers!

Call Cass @DoctorDiff. He can get you everything you need for a 73+ Mopar disk set up. Sounds like you’ve already got the 73+ spindles, no need to drop a bundle on anything else. Just tell Cass what you’ve got and he can set you up with the parts you need.

And stay away from those MBM and pirate jack kits. Seems like the rotor quality on those is terrible.


CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP..the birds are out again..no factory Mopar crap should EVER be compared to the high quality of Wilwoods,if you like that factory **** good for you but don't put down Wilwoods just cause' you can't afford them!!!
 
CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP..the birds are out again..no factory Mopar crap should EVER be compared to the high quality of Wilwoods,if you like that factory **** good for you but don't put down Wilwoods just cause' you can't afford them!!!

Look dude, I run 13" disks with multi-piston calipers from DoctorDiff. They'll absolutely flog those tiny little wilwood disks you think are so great. Not even close. And oh, yeah, they only cost about a hundred bucks more than that overpriced wilwood stuff. I can afford wilwoods just fine, I just don't use them because I don't like their bolt together rotors and hubs, and I really don't like that the hub registers are so large for most of their kits that they significantly limit your wheel choices. And they are absolutely overpriced for what they are. Wilwoods quality is no better than the larger diameter kits doctordiff puts together. I wouldn't expect you to know that though, because you haven't seen doctordiff's 13" kits.

The factory 73+ 10.95" disk brakes work pretty darn well. So well that they ran them without modification on heavier cars (FMJ bodies) all the way up to 1989. If you want to run wilwoods on your garage queen to save some weight, awesome. But for a street car the factory brakes work quite well and cost significantly less. Plus they use all factory parts, so you can get parts and pads anywhere. On a street car you'll never notice the additional weight from the factory parts, and the performance will be the same (traction limited!) unless you're running tires wider than 225 with a better than average compound.
 
Bolting the rotors to the hub is not a big deal and Loctite is wonderful stuff. I guess unless you’re a purist or something that doesn’t like using Loctite wilwoods are actually very nice brakes. I’ve used quite a few different types of wheels and haven’t had any problem with them fitting. That’s just my opinion.
 
Bolting the rotors to the hub is not a big deal and Loctite is wonderful stuff. I guess unless you’re a purist or something that doesn’t like using Loctite wilwoods are actually very nice brakes. I’ve used quite a few different types of wheels and haven’t had any problem with them fitting. That’s just my opinion.

I didn't say it was a big deal, I just don't like it. Wilwood sells a ton of kits for a ton of cars, I'm sure if it was some big problem people would say something about it. Their hub register size depends on the kit, and they have recently changed some of their kits, so wheel choice is definitely a consideration with some of their hubs now because they have gotten bigger quite recently. And I know the Wilwoods are nice brakes, I've seen them before, I know they work well.

But, for what they are they are absolutely overpriced. They command a big price because of name association, people like to say they have wilwoods regardless of whether or not they perform better. And on the vast majority of these cars, the way their owners drive them and the size and compound of tires that are run up front, they won't stop you any better than a stock set of 10.95" mopar disks and calipers. You won't notice the weight difference on a street car, and if the 73+ disks are set up properly with a decent master cylinder you won't notice any difference in stopping distance for any of the tires folks typically run on their 14" and 15" rims. Stroked340 loves to make a big deal out of the wilwoods, but with the skinny little hockey pucks he runs on the front of his almost totally drag strip car he could probably use a set of cantilever bicycle brakes and still stop just as well. No front wheel traction=no stopping power, no matter how awesome your brakes are. Gotta have the rubber to put it to the ground, just like putting engine power to the ground in the back.

The 73+ mopar disks, while not nearly as pretty, will work just as well for the large majority of applications. If you're a drag racer trying to lose a few lbs and are willing to trade dollars, the wilwoods are lighter. But running aluminum hubs on the street isn't everyone's cup of tea either. And I can't imagine a single reason why someone would want to go to aftermarket brakes and keep the 5x4" bolt pattern. You're already not stock, so, why not go to a stronger, and more widely used bolt pattern while you're at it. Originality is out the window with wilwoods, might as well take advantage of the rest of the upgrade.

And Cass at DoctorDiff is a great resource and vendor. I would use his parts over wilwood every single day of the week. Better knowledge, better product support, and most often than not better and more cost efficient products.
 
I just looked this thread over again and could not find where the thread starter asked for recommendations on aftermarket brakes.
 
I just looked this thread over again and could not find where the thread starter asked for recommendations on aftermarket brakes.

He never did. Stroked340 brought it up, because he always brings it up. Has to make himself feel better about spending all that money I guess. The OP already has 73+ spindles, he could complete the 73+ disk set up for a few hundred bucks and that's on the high end.
 
I would use his parts over wilwood every single day of the week. Better knowledge, better product support, and most often than not better and more cost efficient products.

Dream on...not even close:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:..
 
Dream on...not even close..

It's true. I've used both, unlike you. Cass understands and supports his products far better than anyone you'll ever talk to on the Wilwood tech line.

Have your own misinformed opinion if you want. But you have a lot of those, so, I'm not really surprised.
 
You know, I've talked to Cass, and you can't knock his knowledge or personal service. It's outstanding. That being said I got my Wilwood stuff from Bill Reilly, also extremely good with knowledge and customer care.

I have also run wilwoods on the stock setup, now on an AlterK and I've run 73 disc setup. Me personally, I like the Wilwood stuff for a variety of reasons. I've never needed any parts, AKA pads yet, but pretty sure it isn't a big deal to order a set and have them in a couple days.

I'm no master mechanic either, but I was able to assemble all of the Wilwood stuff myself and install it at my home.
 
You know, I've talked to Cass, and you can't knock his knowledge or personal service. It's outstanding. That being said I got my Wilwood stuff from Bill Reilly, also extremely good with knowledge and customer care.

I have also run wilwoods on the stock setup, now on an AlterK and I've run 73 disc setup. Me personally, I like the Wilwood stuff for a variety of reasons. I've never needed any parts, AKA pads yet, but pretty sure it isn't a big deal to order a set and have them in a couple days.

I'm no master mechanic either, but I was able to assemble all of the Wilwood stuff myself and install it at my home.

Me too..you can keep that factory ****!!
 
... do I have to change the upper A arms? ...
Getting back to your question. No, not if you get the special tapered shim to slide over your exiting upper ball joint shaft so it fits tight in the 1973+ spindle hole. I think Dr Diff sells them. If you decide on a later UCA, consider the after-market tubular ones. They aren't terribly expensive and besides adding visible bling, they let you better adjust the caster for today's radial tires. Otherwise, you probably need special Moog offset bushings to get proper caster and camber.
 
-
Back
Top