Disc Brake Conversion??

I have no idea what it costs to convert but, I can say I love my disc brakes. We have 2 trucks at my store, 1 with and 1 without. Weirdly, my 2013 has disks and the 2014 has drums. I don't drive the new truck unless mine is stuck in the shop because I hate it's lack of stopping power. If it's possible and cost effective to convert, I'd like to know since I'm getting ready to buy my own truck.

 

Search the garage section. Someone was asking about this a year or so ago and it was a very expensive conversion and they chose not to. Things might have changed though or at least will as the years go by and discs become more common.

 

If you have Eaton axles no disc conversion available. If you have meritor axles you will need backing plates, calipers, discs, hubs, air lines, bearings and possibly axles depending on length required. Just about everything that mounts to the wheel end and out. Also if you have ABS you need to make sure the tone wheel is the same. As for the steer axle you will have to replace the front axle to get the right one for the spindles then backing plates, calipers, discs, air lines, hubs with bearing seals etc. Bad thing about the disc breaks is if you don't know how to adjust them OE have someone that doesn't you will go thru a bunch of shear pins until you learn. Best thing about them is you can change pads in about 2 minutes with the wheels off. Cost for conversion with new parts is ballpark around $8400. Labor is on top. The rear backing plates may require modification where they mount to axle. Depends on what axle you have. Labor is how fast you can spin your wrench or about 17-20 hours at a dealership. You will also need alignment since the front axle is replaced. You can bet 10 grand or so might get you close but no promises.

 

Well there goes that idea lol.

 

If you know about the first time disc brakes were introduced on class 8 trucks then you know it was a failure. Disc brakes have been in Europe for about 10 years now. But up until 2012 had failed to meet DOT and FMCSA guidelines on trick stopping distances. In 2014 the guidelines were again modified to a shorter distance and they again had to be redesigned. They meet the criteria but barely. The drum brakes now use shoes with a harder lining to achieve shorter stopping distances and actually out perform disc brakes by 12-13%. The harder linings are the reason you hear a lot of the newer trucks brakes squealing. Nothing Wong with them just harder linings

 

Also the current production disc brakes have already had 2 safety recalls. One for spider plater mounting bolts the other for caliper guide pins breakage

 

that dont sound like its too bad, 10 for the whole kit and caboodle,.might be worth it in a few years

 

Something to ponder:

If disc brakes were indeed the best for stopping heavy vehicles, why then would school buses still be equipped with brake drums? I'm sure there have been millions spent on researching which is better and drum brakes are still the norm.