Brake Upgrade for CJ3A

[Gunslinger]

I spoke with Herm, he has a bolt in 11 drum brake conversion that is pretty reasonably priced, however he cautions that some 15 and 16 inch OE wheels will not work.  I sent him a picture of mine, the reason for the caution is that the wheel has to be flat across the entire inside face, if it has the raised re-enforcing ring the 11 drums will not sit flat on the drum. 

I really did not want to have to buy all new wheels for this project in addition to the brakes.

Hmm, more pondering.

[Gunslinger]

Suzuki GEO Tracker Disc Brakes Easy disc brakes. Bolt on, no cutting or grinding. All the parts are at any auto parts store. Get the mounting brackets here:

https://www.facebook.com/brennan.metcalf.37/posts/762109110580994

Mtnman.
Will standard 16 inch OE wheels fit on this conversion?

[mtnman37879]

From what I understand Combat wheels will not fit. For 16" civilian wheels some say you'll need a 1/4" wheel spacer but not always? Go to that link and ask Brennan Metcalf the maker of the mounts. When I found these it was too late for me. I had already assembled all the parts for 11" all around with all new parts. My next build will have these disc on all four.

[MGYs]

R & P 4WD Parts, Inc. does a good disc conversion kit for all 4 using GM products. R & P is out of Oregon City, OR.

Horsepower Sales LLC does the front axle, but I'm not sure about the rear axle. Here's some pics on my conversion.  You can find both companies on eBay.

[MGYs]

And the rear...

[Gunslinger]

Hi Guys,
I did finally complete that disc brake conversion, I used the Geo Tracker package that MTMan suggested.  I gotta say that was slick.  I worked with Brennan Metcalf out of Durango, I bought the backing plates from him and he gave me the list of donor vehicles and a lot of good install information, good guy to work with.  I used the Geo Tracker disc, caliper and shoes, and the lines are from a GMC pickup.  I'll semd Brennan a note and ask him for permission to share the details with everyone on the forum.  I have pics of the step by step, part numbers from NAPA and Fastenal, and Brennans directions.  Nice thing was it was only about $250.00 for all the parts for the front axle.
Keep you posted/
Gun

[Dutch_Jeeper]

They mention only 15" wheels.� Do you think they are saying it won't work with 16" wheels?� Why would that be???

That seems to be a consistent message on these brake conversions, I looked at Herms site yesterday and was pretty excited about his options.� He offers an 11 inch drum brake kit for all 4 wheels that includes a dual reservoir master cylinder for about 800 bucks.� But there is a warning that "some original 15 and 16 inch wheels may not fit on the drums".� I think I'm going to call them and get more info before I dive in.� I would hate to be surprised by needing a wheel purchase.

Well, i had a bit of a set back in plans, i now need to first rebuild the T90 before i do the discbrake conversion. I picked up all the Geotracker parts and only need the brakeline hoses made and the brackets, i even picked up an extra front axle to testfit everything.

I have the 16 inch rims and hope to know the answer by the end of may/june.

[Gunslinger]

I have 16 inch wheels on mine and I believe them to be the original OE wheels, they fit up with no problems on the Tracker conversion.

[terryb]

with the disc brake conversion, what about the master cyl. can you still use the original or do you need an updated one,
thanks

[Gunslinger]

I used the same one that I had, have not had an issue with it.  I do think its a wise upgrade to use a dual cylinder master, but I've not done that yet and have had no problems.

[DaveW]

I'm in the same boat as many of you. I want to upgrade my brakes, because I find the original 9" drums just aren't cutting it in the city combined with blowing out one of my wheel cylinders this weekend. The 11" drum conversion seems pretty straightforward but the parts seem to be a bit pricier than going the Geo disk route.

Unfortunately I have 15" steel wheels for now which only complicates things since I didn't want to switch to new wheels and tires just yet.

Does anyone know if the Geo disk conversion will fit under later style 15" CJ wheels?

[Gunslinger]

You might ask Brennan Metcalf, he has the most experience with these, you can find his store on fBook.

[mtnman37879]

The GEO Tracker has 15" wheels.

[Gunslinger]

Well there you go !!  I did not know that!

[mtnman37879]

I've had a bunch of trackers. Good little 4x4, third world tough.