D44 Wagoneer rear disc conversion options?

[brock1949]

Well as i'm getting these axles ready for the new jeep i'm having trouble bringing myself to buying new drum brake parts for the rear axle.. I guess i'm wondering what the cheapest option for putting rear disc on the jeep is.

So far i've found a couple but they either want like 600 dollars and include all the parts or they seem flakey and don't even have a phone number..

I have the 6 lug 1991 waggy axles.. for the front i am doing the chevy 3/4 ton caliper swap with Hawk LTS pads and driving that with a PSC power steering pump running Vanco hydroboost from a 1 ton diesel chevy with a 1970's vette master setup for 4 wheel disc with a wilwood prop valve for the rear.. so i would really like to not modify this system for rear drum but if worest comes to worest i'll just run drums till i get the money or parts to do the back later..

thanks again!

[brock1949]

i've found some stuff like this..

http://www.aa-mfg.com/pdshop/shop/item.asp?itemid=10 weld on brackets but i reall want bolt on..

http://www.aa-mfg.com/pdshop/shop/item.asp?itemid=10

[Janster]

I have the TSM Manufacturing disc brake conversion along with the Mercury Marquis MC and ZJ Prop.

http://www.lieblweb.com/TechLinks/YJBrakeUpgrades/BrakeUpgrades.htm

I needed a kit with the emergency brake - my rig is still street legal.
I would've rather had a kit with the internal ebrake setup, but I couldn't find one that would fit. I had a local friend (4WD shop)

**FYI - Do not use the Teraflex disc conversion kit on the waggy axle. Even after you retrofit everything to fit ....the spacing between the axle flange and the tube isn't large enough to fit the ebrake setup. Been there and tried it.

[Jeep Freak]

I have the TSM Manufacturing disc brake conversion along with the Mercury Marquis MC and ZJ Prop.

http://www.lieblweb.com/TechLinks/YJBrakeUpgrades/BrakeUpgrades.htm

I needed a kit with the emergency brake - my rig is still street legal.
I would've rather had a kit with the internal ebrake setup, but I couldn't find one that would fit. I had a local friend (4WD shop)

**FYI - Do not use the Teraflex disc conversion kit on the waggy axle. Even after you retrofit everything to fit ....the spacing between the axle flange and the tube isn't large enough to fit the ebrake setup. Been there and tried it.

i used the same set up and it worked great. for the e-brake cable, i cut the spring off the stock cable for the passenger side and for the driver side i used the cable off an XJ. i've had no problems and it holds up on steep hills off-road. i too would have liked an internal, but this kit looked to be the easiest to deal with.

[brock1949]

Well that kit looks pretty good and i talked to that guy tonight but its a little pricey.. 185 for just the brackets or 265 for the full kit without the freaking 300 dollar caddy calipers.

but i did find,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rear-Disc-Brakes-Jeep-Cherokee-Wagoneer-J10-Dana-44_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42605QQihZ013QQitemZ 230117445260QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

$210 bucks with rotors

also this website..

http://www.steeltechsolutions.com/

His plates are 3/8ths thick and appear to be one peice.. however no phone number, no contact and hasen't responded to email yet (less than 24hrs now though)

or go all cheap and do weld in brackets and all that fun stuff. does the TSM kit use the 88-98 chevy half ton 1" thick rotors? or the 1.25" rotors?

[brock1949]

Also does the TSM kit fit inside 15" rims? I gotta stick with 15" rims i have the rims and i got a killer deal from the local goodyear store on a set of 35"12.50 15 MT/R's i pickup tommorow.

[Janster]

Also does the TSM kit fit inside 15" rims? I gotta stick with 15" rims i have the rims and i got a killer deal from the local goodyear store on a set of 35"12.50 15 MT/R's i pickup tommorow.

Yes.
I'm running 15" rims.

[Janster]

i used the same set up and it worked great. for the e-brake cable, i cut the spring off the stock cable for the passenger side and for the driver side i used the cable off an XJ. i've had no problems and it holds up on steep hills off-road. i too would have liked an internal, but this kit looked to be the easiest to deal with.

I forgot about that...

For my ebrake setup -
Otter (at Whaley Ent.) cut another hole in the bracket that's a lot lower than the original hole.

I actually had to add a small spacer (locking collar) to the driverside cable (at the tensioner) to ensure both pass/drivers side cables had the same tension when pulled.

[butch6924]

Have you checked the compatibility of Isuzu 44 parts? As long as the backing plates/brackets have the same flange pattern as the Waggy Axles, I'd think it'd be a natural fit. Might try searching an FSJ site.

[brock1949]

the fsj sites have been useless to this point.. spent hours reading through trash.. those guys are worried about doing disc conversions on the fronts lol.

I may bite the bullet and go TSM .. but the steel tech solutions setup looks nice.

Whats the deal with the bearings in the end of the axle. the guy from tsm was saying about replacing it and using some kinda retainer or something. Didn't make any sense.

[alswope]

Sounds like you're still on the fence, I stayed with drums on my waggy axle. I used the e350 MC. My brakes work really well, wet, dry doesn't matter, they never fade on me. I think its b/c they're big brakes on a small vehicle. I can easily lock up my 36s. My original plan was to got to discs eventually, but so far I'm really happy with the stock waggy set up.

[Janster]

I may bite the bullet and go TSM .. but the steel tech solutions setup looks nice.

Whats the deal with the bearings in the end of the axle. the guy from tsm was saying about replacing it and using some kinda retainer or something. Didn't make any sense.

TSM has an additional plate that you need in order to set proper bearing preload (or something to that effect).

I got rid of the original waggy retainer plates and Otter made up some "U" shape plates.

In this picture :
http://www.lieblweb.com/TechLinks/YJBrakeUpgrades/AxleFlange.JPG

The white thing at the top is the caliper bracket. Below that (in the picture) is the end of the axle tube (dirty/dark). Below that...is a shiney thin looking ring. That ring is the TSM plate that'll set bearing preload (VERY IMPORTANT).
Below that...(thick metal looking thing) is the "U" retainer plate (or it would be the stock waggy retainer plate).

All of these bolt through the holes in the end of the axle tube.

If you decide to get the TSM kit - you WILL need to trash your bearings and put new bearings on because the stock retainer plate and the TSM preload plate need to be installed on the shaft before the bearing is pressed on (or something to that effect). Hard to explain....

[Janster]

Sounds like you're still on the fence, I stayed with drums on my waggy axle. I used the e350 MC. My brakes work really well, wet, dry doesn't matter, they never fade on me. I think its b/c they're big brakes on a small vehicle. I can easily lock up my 36s. My original plan was to got to discs eventually, but so far I'm really happy with the stock waggy set up.

Honestly...my original waggy disc/drum brakes weren't that bad for normal driving and normal trail riding.

On the trails doing extreme stuff (inclines/decents) or on trails where your LIFE depends on your brakes preventing you from going off a cliff (Tellico)...My foot would be the whole way to the floor and the jeep would still creep. Needless to say - a few times in Tellico - I was praying for more than just better brakes! I was sucking major wind....

Because of that...and the fact that the ebrake never stays in adjustment (even after rebuilding the drums & adjusters) - it was much safer to change everthing.

We had the stock waggy disc/drums for years before changing.