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#36114 03/30/2004 10:29 PM
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someone posted a link to a web site where someone fabbed up his own disc brake setup for 8-lug hubs. i checked the page, but it is down now. does anybody know this guy, does he post here? does anybody know what year make and model truck he got the rotors off of?

btw the url was:
http://www.strato.net/~jrdorsey/truck.htm


'59 Chevy 1-ton
'03 **** Lightning
'96 Kawasaki 1100 zxi
#36115 03/30/2004 11:24 PM
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'Bolter
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He has posted here, I think. I found him on the Old Chevy Truck bulletin board. Good luck.


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#36116 03/31/2004 4:26 AM
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Yeah, I had that page b'marked too. Hope we can find it
Dean

#36117 03/31/2004 7:43 PM
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'Bolter
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I have been looking for this info as well.
The guy's name is John Dorsey and it is a 50 chev
1 ton. I did a google search and the website is not up anymore, but did get this info from the
google description. He used 90's chev 1 ton 4x4
rotors attached to the back of the hubs.
I am going to try this conversion and will let
you guys know how I make out.


Steve

'49 3800
'52 3600
'57 3100

#36118 03/31/2004 8:57 PM
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what calipers will you be using? how do you plan to make the brackets? i want to do this as well, as a m2 ifs and new rearend don't fit the budget anytime soon, but i have to be able to stop this thing!


'59 Chevy 1-ton
'03 **** Lightning
'96 Kawasaki 1100 zxi
#36119 03/31/2004 9:53 PM
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I am currently in the precess of doing a 53 chevy 1/2 ton now. The rotors I am using are from a 74 chev. 4 wheel drive. You use your hubs. Just drill the rivits out of the hubs that hold the drums on, remove the studs and use the studs from the 74 chev. I also used the calipers from the same truck. It is nessary to use roller bearings in place of the ball bearings so they dissapte the heat better.
The only thing that is being fabricated is the mounting plate for the calipers. I am having these made by Paul Neese. You can find him at [email protected]. I plan to change out the master cylinder also. Havent decided on which one yet. Hope this helps.

#36120 03/31/2004 11:06 PM
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my real problem is figuring the actual dimensions of the caliper brackets. what material should i use?


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'03 **** Lightning
'96 Kawasaki 1100 zxi
#36121 04/01/2004 1:44 AM
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Call the Buffalo! He can sell you the brackets he makes in his one man shop. He has a link on the inliners website. grin

#36122 04/01/2004 8:41 AM
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Here's Buffalo's site. http://inliners.org/buffalo/
I know nothing about him, just searched and found it.

A DISCLAIMER: Dorsey used cold rolled steel plate for his brackets, which I have serious problems with from an engineering and safety standpoint. The caliper brackets need to be machined from a medium strength steel with known properties.

The text from Dorsey's conversion:

Below is a description of how I put disk brakes on this truck. Kits are commercially available for 1/2 ton trucks but none for 3/4 and 1 tons.

In the next few months I hope to find a machine shop that can make the brackets out of a harder steel, mine are cut from mild steel like the 1/2 ton kits, but I'm just not happy with that on a 1 ton truck.

A few basics about what I did: I used hubless rotors from a '90s chevy one ton 4x4 attached to the back of the '50 hubs. The hubs had to have the stud holes drilled out to take the 4x4 studs which held the rotors in place. I used calipers off a '79 one ton chevy 2x4. Some 3/4 tons used the same caliper from about 1979-1983 thats what the brake hoses came from. That style caliper has the same type mounting as the older chevys but uses a bigger cailper piston. I stayed with manual brakes and used a dual master cylinder from a '68 chevy one ton (with the check valve removed from the front brakes side). I found that I did not need power brakes it stops very well like it is, much better than the old "huck" drums.

While I was doing this conversion I found that it could be done using the common 2 wheel drive rotors IF you were going to use late model Chevy wheels. The bolt surface on the 2wd rotors is about 2" farther out than the old drum brakes and the original 17" tires would rub the fenders, but the late model 16" and 16.5" chevy rims have a deeper offset that would put the tires back in the right place. You could solve 2 problems at once! Change to disc brakes and be able to use 16" rims at the same time.

If you are going to try this either way the critical thing is to get the caliper bracket the right distance in from the rotor. Before you have the spacer plate made bolt the bracket plate and reinforcement plate to the spindle with the rotor in place and check to see if the caliper will fit on with brake pads IN PLACE. Use washers to space the plates in or out until the caliper fits. It is a very tight tolerance. Once you know how much spacing you need, have the spacer cut from steel that thickness.


Fred
52 3600
69 C-10

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