Front Dana 60 brakes

[JeffHK5]

Looking to ditch the huge front swedg-lock style calipers on my GM dually 60. I'd like peoples opinions on who makes the best bracket for the money for putting 3/4 ton brake parts on my 1ton. I have seen names like "Cyberfire" and others whos work is highly reguarded and had hoped to draw them into this thread. If someone has a print/drawing of this bracket I'd pay a fee for a copy of it as I work in a shop with a lazer but don't feel like doing the R&D to get it right. I know, i'm lazy !
Thanks Jeff

 

[sled_dog]

Being a dually 1 ton, do you really feel its best to ditch the bigger brake setup? I'm not a fan of the downgrade idea. Whats the problem with the wedge setup? I'm not its biggest fan but it works well if you use new hardware when doing a brake job.

 

[JeffHK5]

Brakes

Well, I have done a poor job of explaining what I am doing. The dually 60 is in a 77 K5 with Hummer wheels so its not a tow rig its a beater. I have put it on a diet and front and rear 3/4 ton brakes will lose 100 lbs off the diffs! Does this make more sense ? Jeff

 

[Nonesuch]

They work fine. F/R 3/4 ton disk's stop far better than the 1/2 ton axles your K5 once had. DO a search on pirate4x4.com if you want some educated info on the subject. Just get ready to weed out the 1000's of bitch fest post's.

 

[K10ANDYKHAMNIC]

I put 3/4 ton brakes on my ford d60 equipped k10 . works just swell . plus it was half the cost for the parts .

 

[Triaged]

I'm not a big fan of downgrading. If you want to do anything look at the Camo60 on pirate. His axle weighs less then a stock 10B! Going to aluminum hubs, some nice Wilwood calipers/rotors would shave a bunch more weight then putting on crappy 10B brakes.

 

[K10ANDYKHAMNIC]

the 3/4 tons have bigger rotors .

 

[Triaged]

the 3/4 tons have bigger rotors .

1977 Chevrolet Truck K20 3/4 Ton 4WD - Pickup
Attributes: Rotor - Front
Diameter: 12 1/2''
# of Bolt Holes: 8
Bolt Circle Dimensions: 6.5''
Discard Thickness: 1.215''


1984 Chevrolet Truck K30 1 Ton 4WD - Pickup
Attributes: Rotor - Front
Diameter: 12 7/8''
# of Bolt Holes: 8
Bolt Circle Dimensions: 6.5''
Discard Thickness: 1.465''


Not a whole lot bigger in diameter but .25" thicker which is a good ammount and what makes them able to store/conduct more heat. Another point is how much larger the caliper is providing a lot more clamping force.

I don't think the rotors make up for the large difference in the weight between the 3/4 and 1-ton brakes. I think most of the weight is in the caliper and the also a good ammount in the cast caliper bracket. I wonder how much weight could be lost by just swapping on some Willwood 6 piston calipers? Too bad they don't make these for 1.5" rotors.

 

[JeffHK5]

Brakes

Yes I would love to have a copy of the Camo60, I think he said he had like 8 grand in the front diff alone! I don't see switching to 3/4 ton disc all round as a down grade in overall braking performance. I think its a big step up in back going from drum to disc even though my Dana 70 had a pretty stout setup from the factory. I agree, the factory 60 has alot of clamping force, enough to stop a 7,000 lb truck and a 10,000 lb trailer which seems like way more than my 4,000 pound K5 would ever need. My main reason is the ease of repair and the weight. I lost a brake backing on a Dana 30 in the woods and spent two hours trying to get the caliper out of the mount before I bit the bullet and cut and crushed the line.


Nothing says fun like a short wheelbase CJ on a long steep down hill and one front brake!


I have been toying with trying to adapt calipers off of a Super Dutie as they are semi-light and have a bunch of clamping force.
Thanks Jeff

 

[K5MONSTERCHEV]

HAHA, since when is it a big deal to put on SMALLER brakes? Man im really missing out on some of this stuff, doesnt make sense to me.