frank mccoach
Diggers Dart
could anyone suggest the best kit to convert my dart to disc brakes I have 10inch drum now with 14 cragars I want to swap the brake booster at same time but would prefer to buy a complete kit thanx for any help
Ill agree to disagree on this: You have a seized or hanging piston in a 4 piston, youll know. You will get a pull just by allowing the car to coast with no steering input, and especially when you apply the brake in the same mode...it'll pull. As for allowing it to damage the rotor, they have tattle tale tabs...There is nothing wrong with a single piston caliper, but the 4 piston provides better modulation, possibly more uniform pad life, and less maintenance at the cost of being more expensive to produce. Kind of like the shaft rockers to the stamped: They both do the job on a hydro, but one is far cheaper to produce with a minimum impact on performance, no brainer in the "nickle a unit" cost aspect. Either are 10X better than drums on the front. Both systems call out the same rotor runout .0025, but I believe the 4 piston actually has less drag potential as both sides recess .005 inches, while the unknown single piston design will probably recess the same amount but over both sides, so it will ride .0025 off the disc. As for more pedal travel for a 4 piston (.005 x 2 clearance), they may have a larger MC bore to begin with to negate that. Choose what you like.I'm not a fan of multi piston calipers. If 1 piston sticks you have a dragging brake pad. You may not know there's a problem till it grinds into the rotor. If you have a single piston caliper and it seizes, you have a drag and a pull. You know right away that there's an issue. Nothing wrong with single piston calipers.
I have had both on trucks for 28 years and like the single piston calipers for the reasons I stated above. Both work and the multi-piston calipers work a bit better while taking up a smaller space and requiring a smaller diameter wheel. My way of thinking: what causes most calipers to fail? Seized pistons! Single piston, only one. 4 piston, 4 different pistons to seize. If I have a choice, I'll take the single piston. Just my opinion.Ill agree to disagree on this: You have a seized or hanging piston in a 4 piston, youll know. You will get a pull just by allowing the car to coast with no steering input, and especially when you apply the brake in the same mode...it'll pull. As for allowing it to damage the rotor, they have tattle tale tabs...There is nothing wrong with a single piston caliper, but the 4 piston provides better modulation, possibly more uniform pad life, and less maintenance at the cost of being more expensive to produce. Kind of like the shaft rockers to the stamped: They both do the job on a hydro, but one is far cheaper to produce with a minimum impact on performance, no brainer in the "nickle a unit" cost aspect. Either are 10X better than drums on the front. Both systems call out the same rotor runout .0025, but I believe the 4 piston actually has less drag potential as both sides recess .005 inches, while the unknown single piston design will probably recess the same amount but over both sides, so it will ride .0025 off the disc. As for more pedal travel for a 4 piston (.005 x 2 clearance), they may have a larger MC bore to begin with to negate that. Choose what you like.