The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk clip or kit a 49?

anybody recomend the disc conversion kits ? do these trucks drive ok even on freeway with a standard front end but added discs or should i just add a modern clip
even better anybody know a way to add discs and get a 5 bolt common bolt pattern without buying a kit???? i would be suprised if theres not a simple way using bonyard bits and maybe mix/matching bearings??

rusthater, I'm lookin at my Classic Performance Products catalogue. They have a 5 lug disc bracket kit for your truck for 95.00 You can check it out at-
www.classicperform.com

The problem with a junk yard disk conversion is that you have to fabricate the caliper bracket. For some guys thats a trivial task, but for most its not worth saving the $100 a kit cost.

My '55 1st GMC runs down a smooth freeway real nice with a stock front axle running a disk kit. I need kingpins, tie-rod ends and maybe an alignment, so running down a bumpy road its a little more work.

If your only reason to change is disk brakes I'd suggest rebuilding your stock front before looking at the IFS options.

The conversion involves at a minimum:

Caliper bracket
calipers & pads
flexible brake lines
rotors

I'm I belive you can do the conversion without changing the bearings but I think it is a good time to change them.

You don't have to do any work on the rest of the suspension or steering components to switch to disc brakes, but you probably should at least check them to make sure they don't need it because when you do the conversion it is easy to the do the rest of it.

One thing to think about is whether you plan on doing anything to the rear axel. If not, you might want to get a 6 lug conversion rather than 5 lug, that way you can use the same rims. Some vendors sell the 6 lug conversion kits or you can buy just the rotors and brackets and then get some calipers, pads, bearings and hoses from a FLAPS.

I belive they say the stock brake master cylinder has to be replaced also, the price really starts to add up. They also recommend roller bearings instead of the round bearings if you are using power steering. I think if you were going to do a lot of highway driving and like to go 70 mph, I would go with the clip. Otherwise, just do the disc conversion. I'm really happy with the way they stop, and it's one less thing to worry about.

I drive mine on the hi-way at 60 plus and have no problem,, lowered, and stock front axle,,stock brakes.......... well the rear brakes are'nt stock as I have a blazer rear end,, a little larger drum brakes but still all stock stuff.

a lot of folks want to up grade though so.......I am ok with what I have.

That you Wayne?
Funny, we live about 10-15 milea apart and end up talking on a forumin the US LMFAO!!

I'll bring my truck round one night in the week, we can have a look together and see what we can come up with.

Do we have to drink Budweiser now we have pick-ups?

Oh yeah, my number is lower than your number....

hi taff lol yeah sure cmon over

joker sounds ideal any chance of a picture of your truck i want mine lowered but with better brakes.ive heard from a few people here they dont drop too well on a std front end??

shoe. i would probably just bolt up a bulkhead booster/cylinder

nm51 thanks for the info but what are flaps? (yes i know your laughing taff)

oldsub i could make the bracket easy enough if somebody can post a acurate picture

resto44 cheers just looked at that site some of there stuff is a little more expensive but it does tell me wich discs(rotors) and calipers to get here.

everybody
the thing is over here most people simply swap in a jaguar front clip wich adds a whole bunch of upgrades all in one and there cheap and easy to do the problem/expence comes from either converting to right hand drive (the cab) or finding/fitting a lhd stering rack
also thers a lot of talk about law changes here wich may render the clip swap a bad idea as it could present problems with registering/licencing
but its not law yet! so its a choice/gamble that needs to be made
thanks everyone