Rear Drum Brakes to disc brakes

[97ChevyS10CoSP]

What do i need to do to swap my drum brakes to disc brakes someone told me i need a new rear axel but i was hoping that it wouldnt be something that expensive could anyone give me some information on how to swap the two anything would be great thanks!!!

[moneypitt]

7.5 2000 something 4x4 has disc bravoda has disc junk yards are fun 95 exsploder or newer has 8.8 with disc fits in s-10s and come with 373'410 posi fits great in 4x4 but its 3 inches longer in 2 wheel 1 1/2 longer on each side need wheel spacing ajustmens drill 4 chevy 4 3/4 or uni lug or ford rear no big deal if you need better rear end disc posi gears 4 arond $225 and $80 4 drilling axles after market mite have diffrent bolt paterns saw some $99 ech in jegs $325 good deal try www.speedway.com (http://www.speedway.com/) i think. its some catolog has a lot of stuff some things 2 ponder about when your trying 2 get a good night sleep

[moneypitt]

disc u can get them around $100 or so you can take it off your self or you can pay 2 have the junk yard when u price shop just ask if they do it if u dont know how ask if u can watch them take it off or u will there 4 along time. Rearende diffrential cover needs to come off, I believe it's called a cross shaft and the gear diffrentials need to come off. Break lines need to come off, and the axel should slide out. Than you take the calapure and the baking plates off. IT's kind of hard to explane it unless I'm doing it. I have done it a few times but not well enouph to write a mannuel on how to take them off. i guess I woudl have them take it off for the extra money and than research instilation and removal or a wing man that knows what the heck they are doing in little time it won't coast you a darn thing.

[97ChevyS10CoSP]

Sweet i didnt understand most of that because im not to much of a spec head but i would love to learn because im sold on the chevy blazer and my girlfriend just bought one so information on how to do anything to a blazer would be great

[97ChevyS10CoSP]

Moneypitt...So i do have to take the whole axel off and replace it?? Seems like a lot of work, Do you think that it is worth the trouble??

[Hammer Head]

I have a custom bracket in my ads that will let you use C5 corvette discs & calipers in the rear w/out having to pull the axles out. You could just cut the backing plates & mount these brackets on.

[97ChevyS10CoSP]

how large of a rotor would it let me put on ??? would it require any welding?

[Hammer Head]

No welding required, 12" or 13" depending on if you use C5 or C6 brackets & calipers, respectively.

[Auto-x]

You would seriously need to upgrade the fronts if you go to these lage calipers on the back.
If you have better braking in the rear, it is very unstable and dangerous.
If you don't want to upgrade the fronts, you can get a proportioning valve to limit how much pressure goes to the rear.

[Hammer Head]

Yep, yep & yep.

[Mikz86TA]

OK, I found a 2000 Jimmy in the yard fresh a couple days ago. It has a 7.5 open with 3.42s and disc. I have the 8.5 diff and drums. I want to do disc brakes on the rear for cheap. So from my understanding, my truck has the 8.5 diff with the axles that narrow just outside the pumpkin. So from what I can tell, this is basically a 8.5 center hybrid to 7.5 ends...right? I pulled the cover off of it and the crosspin bolt rounded off. So I was like F! I went ahead and got the calipers which were in great shape and made of aluminum. I also got the hard tube that runs across the axle to the calipers because it looks different for disc than drums. I got the attachment clamps and such for the tubes as well. I plan on finding maybe Earls Hyperfirm lines for the outter and center flex lines if they are availible. If not a guy I know makes lines like that. Im going to go back out there in a couple to try and get the crosspin bolt out and pull the axles so I can get the backing plates and park pad assembly. The rotors Im not sure about. They are in decent shape and look like theyve never been turned.....but no grooves are felt. My biggest deal is the park brake cables. On the disc setup, it ends on the lower side and has a ringed looking end that simply pulls on a lever that actuates a slave cylinder...I think. On the drums it looks to mount onto the drum back plate, enter and then attach. However, both cables on drum and disc run along the DSide outside of the frame rail. My concern is, could I get the disc e-brake cables and attach them to the 2 to 1 junction like on my drum setup? Basically the part under the cab where the 1 cable from the pedal connect to the 2 cables. I think this would be best since the part at the plates is seemingly different. But if someone has had experience, let me know what you did or found out. BTW, no e-brake is not an option. I have manual truck and also a remote start. THX for the help, Michel

[87wildside]

Is the disk setup using 2 cables all the way to the pedal or something? Or is the disk setup 1 into 2 with the triangle shaped thing where they join?

[Mikz86TA]

Actually, I didnt get that far. I was just about to go out and examine my truck futher. That way when I get out there I can compare. Its a long walk from the parking lot to the truck section. It was sweltering the other day and I was pressed for time. On my T/A I know its 2 cables that join to 1 cable above the dshaft with a 6inch or so threaded rod and nut that joins htem on a t plate thing. The Jimmy had 2 seperate cables that both ran up to the DriversSide and Outside the frame rail. But I dint investigate it too much. I was trying to get as much off as I could......I spent a while trying to get the crossbolt pin out. If Vice Grips dont work, I think Im F***ed on the rest. But at least I got the nice calipers and lines. Im sure another one will show up out there. I remember my truch also had 2 seperate from the back. I just need to go out and investigate it right now. Anywho...Its friggin SMOKEY out here due to the fires. And my allergies arent happy about it. I cant be out in that too much. Ill get back soon after i check it. THX =)

[Mikz86TA]

OK...this is different than what Im used to seeing but doesnt mean the Jimmy isnt the same. Bothe cables from the back come along the outter side of the lrft frame rail. They are loosely parallel in a thick wire loop guide just next to the leaf spring which the guide is bolted to the frame. Then they come up to a solid bracket thats bolted to the frame just where the bed and cab meet. One cable goes through it guided by a plactic grommet and the other one is attached with a metal clip. The one attached basically ends here and the cable inside the sheathing come out to a odd looking metal conjunction which attaches to the other cable end. That cable ending here, has its cable inside the sheathing extend toward the front of the cab where a simple single to single conjunction occurs. This forward conjunction seems to be where the inside cable from the pedal ( most likely the universal part on all s-series ) meets the rest of the park assemblies. So form my perspective, GM made the inside to this conjunction universal. From here back, it would seem there would be different assemblies for different body lengths and setups. My focus now would be, the wheelbase of a 4dr Jimmy versus a Reg. cab S-10?. There is a threaded rod about 5 inches long that I could adjust play in, but it would need to be close I think.

[87wildside]

I think you are right with the front part being the same as the rest and the rear cabels being different. That setup is completly different then my first gen so I'm not sure if I can help. Maybe look up some part # on gmpartsdirect.com?

[Mikz86TA]

OK heres some pics. One shows how the cables come together at the back and how one terminates (at the outter sheathing) at the main bracket (lower) and the other one just goes through it (upper). The lower one that terminates here, has its inner cable extend to a threaded rod to a weird silver asymeyrical conjunction. At this asymetrical conjunction is where the upper one terminates. Its inner cable then extends to the front where it meets a 1 to 1 junction. This is where the inside (universal) cable meets the specific cable assembly. There is a tension spring as you can see which Im not too concerned about. Adapting that or another one would be easy. Behind this main bracket is a looped wire guide that loosely keeps the 2 cables near each other and out of harms way. This would probably be reused and not be an issue. I think my concern is, lengthe of the Jimmy cables and how they attach. I know at the axle backing plates, they are really different and mine most likely wouldnt work. I was thinking about getting Reg cab truck Disc setup park cables, but I do not believe they exist. Ive only seen disc on 2 and 4 dr Jimmys/Blazers, Crews and 4x4 Ext Cabs. I guess I need to research body lengths. My reg cab is 108.3" and a Crew/Ext is 122.9". Anyone know what a 2 and 4 dr Jimmy/Blazer is?

[jeremy_gt]

How about this part which I found on Ebaymotors.com Its a drum to disc conversion bracket for a 7.5 rear end.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevy-GMC-S10-S15-Blazer-Tahoe-rear-disc-brake_W0QQitemZ220097704883QQihZ012QQcategoryZ3356 3QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem