The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Disc brakes for a '34 1.5 ton

I want to upgrade the drum brakes to disc brakes, it appears I have to replace trhe axle with a straight axle and put on brakes from '57 Chevy pickup. Does this sound right? Any other suggestions?

Welcome to the 'bolt. Help us help you by telling us a little more and answering some questions.

A '57 Chevy did not have disk brakes, so no that doesn't sound right.

Or do you mean replace the front axle with a later one, and use a disk kit for the later axle? That might work to a degree, but a 1-1/2-ton truck needs bigger brakes than the common disk kits.

If you want to maintain the current load rating your project is a bit more challenging. What are you trying to accomplish, and what wheels and tires do you plan to run?

How do you want to use the truck and why are you converting to disk brakes?

I'm not trying to challenge your decision, but rather better understand what you want to accomplish.

What I meant to say was what yoyu surmised. I am considering replacing the axle with a later one, I was told the'57 was the ideal one and then use a disk kit for that axle. I am not concerned about maintaining the curent load rating and have not decided what wheels and tires until I decide on the axle and brakes. My hope is to semi- hot rod this truck so I need brakes that will hold with a more powerful engine. I considered replacing the entire suspension but am trying to determine if upgrading the brakes makes more sense becasue my cash is not unlmited. I do not take your comments as a challenge, it is great to have this forum and am trying to minimize my costly mistakes. Thanks again.

Mark

Do you have the 57 chevy? If not it might be easier to use a later front end, one with disc brakes.

I do not, I would have to find one. Do you have any suggestions on a later year front end that might work? The dilemma is how narrow the chassis is on my '34.

Most guys here seem to use an S10 clip. I'm not knowledgeable on the S10 and your 34. I installed an after market IFS s mustang II. I would not ruin a 57 by pulling the clip. Instead I would probably try to restore it too.

I saw a mid-thirties Chevy at an ATHS show in Oregon two years ago that was sitting on a much later frame. The owner had widened the fenders to make them look right over the wider suspension. It looked like a lot of work.

The Advance Design era trucks ('47 to '54) are a little narrower than the Task Force trucks ('55 to '59) and the front axle from an AD might be easier to fit under the '34. There are disk kits available for the 1/2-ton version of either of those set ups, and the kits are basically the same so it really doesn't matter which you use.

I'm assuming (why did it do that?-- I typed '@ssuming' with an 'a' where I put the '@' in this one) you'll also want to change the rear axle. If you want to continue to run duals you may have a challenge here. I am not aware of a dual wheel setup that would use wheels compatible with any of the 1/2-ton disk kits.

For a hot rod driver you probably don't want to run the original rear. The gears are way too deep, and the available wheels to fit it are limited.

The 1/2-ton disk kits are going to support either 5-lug wheels like most Chevy cars, or 6-lug like many 1/2-ton Chevy/GMC pickups.

You can find dually wheels easily for an 8-lug setup, but then running matching wheels on the front means you are looking for 3/4-ton front hubs (and axle) and dealing with a do-it-yourself disk brake conversion.

My next question is the number of wheels you want to run at the rear. From that decision you can start working out the axle choices at both ends.

Hey 34 Dually (nice name, by the way),

Sounds like you really need to decide what you want to use the truck for, how far you want to take your "hot rodding," and what your budget will allow.

As far as I know, there are no disk brake conversions for a 34 ton-anna-half (or for any year of big trucks, for that matter). So, you're left with a couple of options---You could swap in an IFS (independant front suspension) which always have disk brakes, but these are a lot of work and money. And, you'll also have to put in a new rear axle, because that low-geared axle you have won't work for hot rodding (besides that, it's mechanical linkage and you can't really have hydraulic brakes up front and cables in the rear).

An easier way would be to do what OldSub suggested and install a solid front axle from a 47-54 1/2 ton and then install one of the disk brake conversion kits. You'll still need a new rear end for the reasons described above. Either of these options will de-rate your truck to a 1/2 ton rating.

Then, of course, there's the option of putting your 34 sheet metal on a newer chassis that already has disk brakes. From what I understand, an S-10 chassis is a popular choice, but be sure to take lots of measurements to determine what fits the best. Modern full-sized trucks are much wider than they were in the 30's. This is also a lot of work fabricating and figuring out where to put the body mounts.

If you want to keep it as a ton-anna-half, you could do what I'm doing, which is to steal the axles from a Chevy 3500 HD (early 90's, not the current one) or a P-30 chassis (step vans, motorhomes, etc.). My 89 P-30 step van had a leaf spring solid front axle and disk brakes all around. The rear axle (Dana 70HD or Rockwell) can be used as-is if the gear ratio suits your needs, but the front axle will have to be narrowed about 12". Otherwise, it's a pretty straight forward swap. The other benefit is that you can use 8R19.5 (radial) tires/wheels that use the same 5/10 lug bolt pattern as your 34 and your truck looks almost stock. Here's a guy who did it to a 36 fire truck:

http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/callahan_tom_1936.html

Another Stovebolt member, "Grigg," is also doing this on a 48 truck. Search for some of his posts because he has a lot of good pictures of the process.

Hope this helps. Good luck whatever way you decide.

Bob

Thanks for all of your comments, you guys have given me a lot to consider, just what I was hoping for. Thanks again!


Mark