The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1953 GMC 1/2 ton - disc brake conversion?

Has anyone done the Classic Performance Products disc brake conversion? Mine is a 1952 GMC 1/2 ton. I started on the passenger side and was ready for assembly as per the mickey mouse sheet they gave me. ANYHOW, I used my old bearings cause they looked good,and I am basically cheap. I put the big nothched washer on and started to tighten the main nut. I have about 3/4" thread sticking out so far and the assembly is still wobbly. Seems like I'm missing something but I haven't a clue what...Tech line is useless. Any help?

I have never attempted the disc brake conversion,not yet.I believe you are suppose to use the new type roller bearings with this conversion.Someone will chime in soon,I'll be following this thread.

Doesn't that kit come with new bearings? Post some pictures of what you have and I'll bet you'll get your answer.

im sure all the vendors get their its mostly from the same supplier. i have a performanceonline kit and there is no way you can use the original ball bearings on the rotors, just cant do it. if they didnt supply you with tapered style roller bearings you can get them at your local auto supply store. the kit i have uses rotors, bearings and calipers for 1970-1978 camaro.
oh yea, and you're gonna need the bearing adapter that slides onto your original spindle.
hope this helps.

leonard

The roller bearing part numbers are:
Inner: 909052R
Outer: 909067R
Seal: National 6064

Another thing they like to say is "Some wheels may rub the calipers" which should read: "These calipers will not work with stock 15-inch wheels". So if you have 15-inch wheels you better start looking for wheels that will work. Wheelsmith will sell you 15-inch smoothies that will work, but at a price.

There are conflicting reports about whether or not stock 16-inch wheels work. Some people say they do, others say they don't.

I have installed both the CPP and the Performance Online kits. They are not the same. Neither are bolt on without modification kits. Some of the problems I ran into with the CPP kit Here.

According to the CPP catalogue they recommend replacing the bearings but it should work with the early bearings as well. Since this kit uses your existing hubs there shouldn't be any reason they won't mount in the same manner as the stock hub/drum on your spindle. You are correct that their instructions are lacking in detail. Go back and check your inner bearing race as it also acts as a spacer.
Fred

Thanks you guys.....Terry

I installed the CPP 5 lug disk brake kit number 4959DBK-5 yesterday with no problems. I installed this on a 1958 1/2 ton. The instructions are poor and the drawing is not very clear. The following are the important items:
- the camero rotors may come with inner bearing cones for camero bearings that will not be compatible with the inner bearings that are required for the truck spindles. If the kit was ordered directly from CPP, then they may have already replaced the inner bearing races with the correct ones. I had the replace the inner bearing cones with the new cones that came in the kit. To verify the correct cones, insert the supplied inner bearing (L68149)and no part of the rollers should be visible.
- After replacing the cone and inserting the bearing, you have to install the seal.
- Now you can install the rotor, outer bearing, spacer, keyed washer and castle nut.
- If you can tighten the castle nut beyong the holes for the cotter pin, then you probably forgot the spacer.

At the completion of the installation, I had 2 parts leftover. These were the old inner bearing races (LM67010) that I removed from the rotors.

What does the bearing adapter look like? Can it be purchased at a loca NAPA store?

I don't think you can buy the adapter at an auto parts store. The adapter is basically a two(2) stepped sleeve that slides on the spindle with the larger diameter toward the inside of the vehicle. The rear seal of the rotor fits over the wider part of the adapter to stop dust from entering. I don't remember for sure but I think the inner rotor bearing stops a the start of the wide diameter of the adapter, thus adjusting the proper relationship the the caliper mounting bracket.

We bought the conversion kit from Speedway Motors in Lincoln, NE. it was one of the cheapest. Seems to work well.
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Dudley1030
53 3100