What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

14 bolt full floater question?

dominic

dominic

1/2 ton status
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Posts
133
Reaction score
0
Location
Drummond N.-B. CANADA
just wondering any of you guys replace the drum brakes for disc/caliper convertion on rear 14bff,if so how much did it cost?and what would I need to do the switch? etc...:doah:pics would help to thanks.
 
dominic said:
just wondering any of you guys replace the drum brakes for disc/caliper convertion on rear 14bff,if so how much did it cost?and what would I need to do the switch? etc...:doah:pics would help to thanks.
Click to expand...


First of all search, as said it's been talked about before.

I have all of $60 into my disc conversion. But I had the rotors, calipers and pads already. I picked up my brackets for $30 off e-bay. Got some stock flex lines from Napa and I was good to go. I should swap the studs for some longer ones...but they haven't given me any trouble yet.

I'm guessing if you needed to buy all new parts...you could have it done for around $200. Maybe less if you shop around some.
 
Depends, but I got everything new and spent less than 200. That is including new lines for the front because one split while I was bleeding the back. I did not go for the emergency brake though, wish I would have so i could get it inspected, not sure if the performance is as good on those caddy calipers though.
 
Here is some skinny on the disc brake swap.. lots of people have "some info, but not the whole story", here are a few pics of my swap.

You need to get the right parts. Caliper brackets for a start. Then "THE RIGHT WHEEL STUDS".. everyone I see keeps saying to use the same studs from the rear drum.. WRONG... one more time WRONG. Be prepared to spend some money one just wheel studs... almost $100 for the CORRECT wheel studs. You will need the the HD 3/4 ton front disc brake calipers for the front axle, and regular k10, blazer, suburban, etc. calipers for the rear, this takes care of brake balance problems (provided you don't need the E-brake, more on that later).. the HD calipers are much larger than std calipers, so no proportion valve should be be needed. All parts will maintain GM OEM production requirements, so parts availability is always easy. Make sure to have the rear hub turned before you mount the front rotor to the rear hub, helps to ensure true disc / wheel run out. Now back to the E brake, pre 80 Cadillac El dorado, toronado, and I think, please don't quote me here, but riviera, and some other premium GM, all had the same rear disc brake with e-brake function. Get ready to drop a load of cash for these, even rebuilt from Napa, + the $150 ea core charge. Most people that have built this setup have used a driveshaft, or T-case e-brake (mostly depends on the T-case 208 or 241, and wether or not you have SYE installed), this method is usually much less expensive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
every person i've asked has said the rear stock lug bolts are what they used,..pressed thru the hat and rotor, if thats not correct, can you tell why and tell the correct ones that should be used?

also, no one has ever mentioned having the hubs turned, i have been told to have the rotors turned after they have been pressed on the hub to make sure its true w/the hub. your the 1st person i've ever heard mention trueing up the hub by having it turned prior to pressing in (again) non stock lug bolts. shed some light, don't be so vague!
 
i used standard 3/4 ton front rotors and the same wheel lugs pressed through them.have it on for 5 years and not had any problems.caddy calipers have the same performance as a standard caliper,just has the e-brake on it.if you dont use the ebrake then they dont reset when they start to wear out.you have t either make a custon bracket for the e-brake lever or have someone make one for you to use the e-brake.i think i spent about 500 dollars total on all parts including the e-brake brackets i had made.i need to get my truck out of the garage and get some pics.but there are others on here that have made their own brackets and say the brake works alright.mine will hold enough on flat ground but on hills im not sure if i would trust it on a high grade.the driveshaft ebrake seemsto be the best way so far if ive seen on this conversion.seems that people have better luck using that.
 
i have a line lock to the rear, hasn't failed me yet, you can press the brakes ..close the valve and the motor won't over power them. i used regular 3/4 ton front rotors and calipers, but i don't have any kind of inspections....oh yea, i reused the stock lugbolts...been 3 yrs on the brakes and about 1 1/2 years w/the line lock, haven't had any troubles...i changed to diy4x brackets alittle under a yr ago to do away w/spacers, used the ones w/bend & gusset in them.
 
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=200819

A walk through of the process.

And my final project.

tsmbrakes.jpg
 
ConceptCustoms said:
Here is some skinny on the disc brake swap.. lots of people have "some info, but not the whole story", here are a few pics of my swap.

Then "THE RIGHT WHEEL STUDS".. everyone I see keeps saying to use the same studs from the rear drum.. WRONG... one more time WRONG.
Click to expand...

How can you say that when so many people are using the SWR studs? I know I used the DRW studs but there are to many people out there using them to be WRONG, one more time WRONG.
 
ConceptCustoms said:
Here is some skinny on the disc brake swap.. lots of people have "some info, but not the whole story", here are a few pics of my swap.

The swap is easy, visit my site at concept-customsdotcom, and click on the engine and drivetrain link for some pics of this exact swap. You need to get the right parts. Caliper brackets for a start. Then "THE RIGHT WHEEL STUDS".. everyone I see keeps saying to use the same studs from the rear drum.. WRONG... one more time WRONG. Be prepared to spend some money one just wheel studs... almost $100 for the CORRECT wheel studs. email me if you need info for this, I am actually putting together a full kit that has all the "correct parts." I am happy to supply anyone with the right parts to make the job "perfect." Again, email me or visit my website for direct contact if you would like some advice for this subject. You will need the the HD 3/4 ton front disc brake calipers for the front axle, and regular k10, blazer, suburban, etc. calipers for the rear, this takes care of brake balance problems (provided you don't need the E-brake, more on that later).. the HD calipers are much larger than std calipers, so no proportion valve should be be needed. All parts will maintain GM OEM production requirements, so parts availability is always easy. Make sure to have the rear hub turned before you mount the front rotor to the rear hub, helps to ensure true disc / wheel run out. Now back to the E brake, pre 80 Cadillac El dorado, toronado, and I think, please don't quote me here, but riviera, and some other premium GM, all had the same rear disc brake with e-brake function. Get ready to drop a load of cash for these, even rebuilt from Napa, + the $150 ea core charge. I can actually get these brand new, a little less expensive again, e mail me if you are interested. Most people that have built this setup have used a driveshaft, or T-case e-brake (mostly depends on the T-case 208 or 241, and wether or not you have SYE installed), this method is usually much less expensive.
Click to expand...

Wow, one post and he's pimping his product, and without a vendor tag :rolleyes: And in a badly formatted and misspelled run-on paragraph to boot. :crazy:

The Caddy calipers can work, with a little care. Search 4x4High's posts.

I don't remember changing studs on my SRW 14bff when I went disc. The drum studs may be a smidgen small or have the wrong knurls or something , so that in theory they don't fit into the rotors the same as the front type. IME they fit and tightened perfectly well, so I wouldn't make blanket statements about right and wrong. Especially when there's so much variation in rotor castings.

There are other pre-made kits (Blackbird's Custom Trucks, TSM) or you can piece together your own setup from EBay, or lots of vendors here (who actually pay for vendor tags) -- ORD, DIY4x, and Ruffstuff all come to mind.

Whatever you do, I highly recommend you not go changing your master cylinder or proportioning valve willy-nilly. If you have brake issues after the swap, bleed. Bleed again. Keep bleeding. Then and only then, you consider replacing the master cylinder with a stock style :deal:

[Or convert to hydroboost, but that's more involved ;) ]

-- A
 
The SRW studs do work. There is enough thread engagment between the nut and the stud to hold the wheel on. It would be nice for them to be longer though. With the SRW's, the stud will not protrude through the open end of the lug nut (if using stock style nuts), a DRW will. If you are running steel wheels...this probably won't be a problem. If you're using aluminum wheels, with a thicker mounting flange, then I'd upgrade to some DRW studs. That and aluminum wheels tend to loosen after the first few miles, and it'd be nice to not have the lugs not fall off.
 
toomany said:
The SRW studs do work. There is enough thread engagment between the nut and the stud to hold the wheel on. It would be nice for them to be longer though. With the SRW's, the stud will not protrude through the open end of the lug nut (if using stock style nuts), a DRW will. If you are running steel wheels...this probably won't be a problem. If you're using aluminum wheels, with a thicker mounting flange, then I'd upgrade to some DRW studs. That and aluminum wheels tend to loosen after the first few miles, and it'd be nice to not have the lugs not fall off.
Click to expand...

Yes! We have a winner! When I did this mod, I tried the SRW (stock) studs and they did fine for my steel rims but I could only get about two treads when I tried the aluminum rims. The DRW studs did the trick. And yes, $96.00 for the set (16). So, all those successfully using SRW studs are probably running steel rims.

By the way, aluminum are not good for wheeling (they break easily). I only run mine in the winter with my 35s and run the steelies with the 38.5s.
 
I wish I still had the pictures of the last local guys "Disc Brake Conversion" I tried to explain this to. I'm going out on limb here to assume nobody here has ever seen someone lose a rotor on a descent. No Brakes going down a big hill probably really sucks!

The problem with the stock SRW or DRW studs has nothing to do with thread engagemant. Where the real problem lies is the the diameter of the head. If anyone here doesn't want to believe me, thats fine, but I will always put in my 2 cents on safety and engineering, especially when someone has asked a question, and yes, it has been asked a thousand times before. Then some else directs them to the same bad information!

The reason the head diameter is important, is that the stud needs to fully seat against the inner face of the rotor recess. You don't believe me still, go measure the OD of the front wheel stud, then the OD of one of the rear studs everyone keeps saying is correct. Now measure the head recess of the rotor. Take these measurements accurately, not with something like moms sewing maching tape or what seems to be the standard shade tree crap I see around here... two knuckle joints a thumbnail!

There are a VERY FEW aftermarket rotors that have larger stud recesses, but most are the same as OEM, and the stud DOES NOT SEAT ALL THE WAY. As stated earlier, studs cost about $100 for all 16, just do the reaseach to get one that actually works the way it was intended. Here is where the real problem is, the head of the stud wedges against the rotor body, and doesn't clamp it as is designed. Now introduce some torque in the sense of boucing around on rocks, hard cornering, etc, this further agrrivates the wedge effect, and viola, some dumbass is running around wondering why he has broken rotors. Then gets pissed because NAPA, or whoever the machine shop is, says, we can't press these and turn the rotor for you, they are the wrong studs, so off you go to try and press them yourself, and then go off to Autozone to have them turned (by the guy who really doesn't know crap), because the machinist at NAPA too is just some dumbass.

Remember boys and girls, just because some shadetree idiot makes it work, doesn't mean its right, or safe for that matter.

And one more thing to add, the last of my concern is trying to sell anything here, I'm pretty sure that the first post I made in reference to Dominics question had a lot of very specific info....seems to me, you guys would just rather haggle... and vendor tag my rear, Dominic asked a question about a conversion, I have offered my website to him for the pics he asked about, and offered the contact info to ask me questions, I actually have a real shop, and fabrication business.
 
That is true about the studs. I used DRW studs and ground the heads to a smaller diameter to fit into the rotor hole.
 
I'm going out on limb here to assume nobody here has ever seen someone lose a rotor on a descent.
Click to expand...

For me that's true.

Are you referring to the later style axle where the drum floats on the outside of the hub? On my early style, the rotor is sandwiched between the head of the studs and the wheel hub. The only way for the rotor to come off would be all 8 x 9/16" lugs breaking off at the head and even then it would just drop against the axle housing.

There are a VERY FEW aftermarket rotors that have larger stud recesses, but most are the same as OEM, and the stud DOES NOT SEAT ALL THE WAY
Click to expand...

This is the part where I'm confused. On the rotors I purchased, the outside diameter of the stud recess in the rotor was much larger than the head of the stud. I had no issues getting the studs to seat all the way. Are there rotors with smaller recesses that prevent people from pressing the studs in all the way?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom