Rear disc and axle upgrades for our trucks?

[GOOSE]

Well, my rear axle needs a yoke and the brakes are shot. I thought about swapping for a '93 up 10.25 to get the upgraded yoke but now I would like to see what my options are for getting rear discs. Would a '99 up E350 van rear get me where I need to be? I want to keep 8 on 6.5" pattern all the way around. How about any GM rears, anything that would get me rear discs, stronger yoke and more carrying capacity would be great. Thanks in advance and merry Christmas.

 

[86SCLB]

The rear end from a 99+ e350 are still drums i believe ( quite possible i am wrong though) and a little diffrent track width.
There are kits to put disks on a 10.25 but I think your best choice would be to throw in a 14 bolt, they are drum brake as well but the aftermarket for them is like the aftermarket for a jeep, parts are literally everywhere.

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

99 + e van is rear disc, its a dana 70 axle, 8 on 6.5, track width is comparable to a stock 10.25 the spring perches are in the wrong place, as are the shock mounts.
I happen to have one in the shed.
had it figured out a few years back and was gonna put under my 95 or 96

 

[GOOSE]

Do the spring mounts need to be moved out or in? I would tend to believe that moving the mounts in would detract from the weight carrying capacity. I wouldnt mind a bit wider of a track width.

 

[The Warden]

FWIW I looked into this at one point...and, it seems to me that any aftermarket conversion kits either end up with you losing your parking brake, or ending up with a caliper and pad that IMHO is too small to do the job if you're hauling heavy. I like disc brakes and am a bit apprehensive about tackling a drum brake set (I'm sure I can do it, but I haven't done it yet), and I ended up giving up on the idea. I need a parking brake and I need all the braking power I can get.

I don't know how readily the '99+ E-series axle will swap (also, does a DRW axle exist that will work with a pickup?), but IMHO that would be the better bet...or swap both axles to SuperDuty axles and go to the metric bolt pattern all around.

JMHO...

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Idk about SRW van axle, but the DRW one with the disc brakes has the spring perches spread wider than the pickups, so the van perches would have to be moved in to match the truck springs. IIRC it's something like 46" spring pin width for trucks and 49" for vans... Or was it 3" difference per side... Either way the DRW cutaway van frame is not the same width as a cab-chassis truck frame, actually it's even wider than pickup truck frame so a van axle will have no problems clearing pickup truck springs. Vans also use 3" wide springs btw, not 2.5" like cab-chassis trucks. This applies to both E350 and E450 vans btw, and again DRW only, SRW may or may not be different.

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

I forget what the difference was off hand

 

[jaluhn83]

There's a guy that installed the entire SD disc brake assembly onto an earlier axle - took so decent welding a fab work but didn't seem impossible - cut the existing brake flanges off and well new ones on, then use the later E series setup. Hard part to me is finding a E series rear for parts - all you really need is the e-brake assemblies and caliber mount brackets, everything else would be replaced with new.

Also, I think it was only a few years of SD E series - 97-99?

 

[GOOSE]

I found an E350 srw disc brake axle for $750, haven't called and asked what ratio yet. It would be pointless to buy for the sole purpose of robbing the brakes when I need work done to the rear in my truck. The F-Superduty uses rear discs, I wonder how hard it would be to fab them up on a srw Dana 80? I'm not interested in going metric, I feel that would be downgrading from my D60 with king pins and serviceable bearings. If needed I will put a line lock for an e-brake. With hydroboost and an adjustable rear proportioning valve, rear discs would easily outperform drums. The poor slack adjusters is one of the major things I'm looking to get away from.

 

[thx997303]

The small calipers on the rear are a huge upgrade over drums. I did a disc conversion on the rear of my old Chevy, and I was worried about the small calipers. The first panic stop, the truck stopped on a dime and nearly threw me out of the windshield. Huge improvement.

 

[jaluhn83]

Do they make a SRW D80? I think the biggest issue would be having to find 10 lug single rims to fit.....

I would not ever want to use a line lock for a parking brake - reason is that eventually it will leak down, at which point the brakes release and the truck winds up who knows where. Part of the rational for the e-brake also is to have a separate emergency stopping ability in the event of something disabling the service brakes. (even with a dual master you could still theoretically have a broken pushrod, petal, etc that could make the system unusable....)

I found an E350 srw disc brake axle for $750, haven't called and asked what ratio yet. It would be pointless to buy for the sole purpose of robbing the brakes when I need work done to the rear in my truck. The F-Superduty uses rear discs, I wonder how hard it would be to fab them up on a srw Dana 80? I'm not interested in going metric, I feel that would be downgrading from my D60 with king pins and serviceable bearings. If needed I will put a line lock for an e-brake. With hydroboost and an adjustable rear proportioning valve, rear discs would easily outperform drums. The poor slack adjusters is one of the major things I'm looking to get away from.

 

[GOOSE]

Dodge uses srw D80's with an 8 on 6.5 bolt pattern. I may go measure my buddy's and get a feel for fitment. I'm sure the F-Superduty brakes would be a custom fab. I ha e a feeling they would be way overkill for a 3/4 or 1 ton truck but an adjustable proportioning valve would make up for that.

I haven't used my e-brake in over 3 years. The line lock would be perfect for getting out to open gates, hooking up trailers and other short time span procedures. South Jersey is flat, leaving it in gear is plenty enough to keep 'er put. Yes, a theoretical 3rd means of stopping is something that carries weight, I can't argue that. That is why the early 2000 series E350 was my first option.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk

 

[KyleQ]

Your best bet is to just unbolt the backing plates and either weld or use a bolt on caliper bracket. Most kits use 76' K20 front calipers and rotors - no e-brake and its a 3/4 front caliper, but still doesn't have as much gripping surface as our massive drum brakes.

In the end - its going to be a whole lot easier replacing the shoes and springs...

Sure does look pretty though-

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[eastsideauto]

Dodge uses srw D80's with an 8 on 6.5 bolt pattern. I may go measure my buddy's and get a feel for fitment. I'm sure the F-Superduty brakes would be a custom fab. I ha e a feeling they would be way overkill for a 3/4 or 1 ton truck but an adjustable proportioning valve would make up for that.

I haven't used my e-brake in over 3 years. The line lock would be perfect for getting out to open gates, hooking up trailers and other short time span procedures. South Jersey is flat, leaving it in gear is plenty enough to keep 'er put. Yes, a theoretical 3rd means of stopping is something that carries weight, I can't argue that. That is why the early 2000 series E350 was my first option.

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I have checked into the Dodge D80 SRW route. It is a very viable option. The axle measures ~3 to 4" wider than a 10.25. 2002 and later has disc brakes with the proper e-brake. The spring spacing is 1" off, so .5" per side. They will fit without changing them. They came in 3.54 or 4.10 gear ratios. My only reason for not having one yet is the price of one in the j/y. The D80 was found behind any V-10 or Cummins 2500(srw) or 3500(drw) with a manual trans. It was also an option on any other 2500/3500 engine/trans combo. They were available with a factory limited slip option, as well.The Dodge D80 is not a "true" D80 as it uses a D80 gear set and D80 sized axle tubes at the carrier but the axle tubes neck down to D70 size at the wheel flanges but it is still just as strong or stronger than a 10.25. Around here j/y wants $900-1100 for one.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

So basically one has the choice of either running a 2002-up Dodge rear axle, or 2000-up Econoline axle. The Dodge seems like the better idea, as what's under the Econoline is no D80 but a D70 (at least the SRW axle). So a D80 center with D70 hubs (Dodge) should be stronger than D70 parts all around (Econoline). What does one do for the pilot openings difference? Option A is to turn the lip of the front hubs down and run Dodge wheels all around, option B is leave front alone and make a sleeve for the rear hubs to bring their pilot diameter up to Ford size... Considering we're talking about .11" difference in diameter, option A sounds safer to me.