Disc brakes replaced drum brakes on the front axle of all cars and trucks decades ago and they’re used front and rear on many new vehicles. Compared to drums, disc brakes run cooler and are more resistant to fade, self-adjusting without needing any complex mechanism, less prone to pulling and grabbing, and much easier to inspect to see if service is required. If you have an older car with drums at all 4-wheels or a late model vehicle with rear drums and want the reliable, predictable and fade-free stopping power of disc brakes, we have the disc brake conversion kits to make it happen.
For all their ferocity under the hood, the drums that were at all 4 wheels on most classic muscle cars made them weaklings in the brake department. Their neck snapping acceleration is legendary, but getting them hauled down from speed in enough time could be just as hair raising. Unequal shoe-to-drum clearance caused by dodgy self-adjusters could result in pull and an unexpected lane change in a panic stop. And repeated stops from high speed, or heavy use such as would be experienced driving on curvy roads and mountainous terrain, would result in brake fade and even worse performance.
Although disc brakes at the front are a vast improvement over 4-wheel drum brakes, you can do better. Front discs and rear drums were original equipment on millions of cars and trucks, and many vehicles are still produced with this brake arrangement today. But rear drums can suffer the same fading from aggressive driving or hauling heavy loads or towing, resulting in extended stopping distances. Rear drum brake self-adjusters are just as problematic, and you can end up with a low pedal when they fail or don’t work properly. And drum brakes are much more time consuming and labor intensive to service. The drums must be removed for brake inspection and in addition to brake shoes, they often require brake hardware replacement due to the extreme heat buildup that occurs inside the brake drum.
Our disc brake conversion kits are the remedy for ineffective and troublesome drum brakes. Disc brakes naturally run cooler because their friction surface is exposed to the air, unlike the enclosed friction surface on drum brakes. Cooling is further improved on vented rotors that have cooling fins cast in between the friction surfaces. This ability to dissipate heat virtually eliminates the high brake temperatures that can cause brake fade. Disc brakes are also inherently self-adjusting and because the clearance between brake pads and rotors is consistent, you get better pedal feel and predictable braking, with straight stops and no pull. With its exposed components, a disc brake system is also much easier to inspect and service than a drum brake system.
We offer kits to replace the front drum brakes on most popular classic and muscle cars as well as 4-wheel conversion kits, and kits that convert the rear drum brakes to discs on many late model cars, trucks and SUVs. Each kit is designed for the specific application and a bolt-on installation, without the need for any fabrication. Rear conversions retain parking brake functionality via caliper activated or internal expanding shoe parking brakes. And if your budget only allows a front disc brake conversion right now, we offer rear only conversion kits for 4-wheel drum set ups, so you can complete the conversion to 4-wheel disc brakes in the future. But with our selection of kits, you can do more than just convert to disc brakes, you can also upgrade your brake system to beyond OE level performance.
Choose from basic kits that include spindles, backing plates and caliper brackets, allowing you to build your own conversion kit, to wheel kits that, in addition to the above, include rotors, calipers, hoses and bearings, to complete kits that add a master cylinder and booster. These components will be a marked improvement over drum brakes, but if you want more we have kits that feature performance compound brake pads, multi-piston calipers for increased clamping power, drilled and/or slotted rotors for even better cooling, and braided stainless steel brake lines, with rotor sizes that will fit inside standard wheels as well as big brake kits with larger diameter rotors that require increased diameter custom wheels.
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