Need help & direction - gears and disk brakes??

[Kansas Corey]

Currently have:​

D30 with 3.50 gears, drum brakes, and no locker
Small Bearing 9" with 3.50 gears, drum brakes, and factory limited slip​

I know that the ideal upgrade with be D44 and BB 9", but work with me here.....

What I would like to end up with is 4.10/4.11 gears and disk brakes front & rear with parking brake. The Bronco is used mainly 90+ percent for on the road, but is not my daily driver - probably about 5,000 miles per year.

The D30 and small bearing don't bother me - don't get me wrong, for even money I would upgrade, but that is not the main goal here.

What do you all think is the cheapest way to move forward from here? Is there some sort of book that details changing the gears (assuming I keep the D30 and SB 9") myself - a novice at this, but hell, I will try anything at least once. Trying do the gear change and disk brake conversion as cheap as possible. I know I can do the front & rear disk brake upgrades with a mix of junk yard and new parts.

There are so many possible routes at this point I am having a hard time deciding how to move forward - used axles with correct gearing and maybe already with front disks, change the gears myself, etc. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

If it makes any difference, I am located in Northern California and have only my 2 car garage to work in. Have I mentioned that I am trying to do this as cheap as possible ?? ;D Thanks, Corey

 

[TOFIC]

Well here I go my 2 cents worth
You want 4.10 gears?? Get the gear set out of a 6 cylinder Bronco. These were what you want and you should be able to get these set ups cheap. Get the complete center section from the 9 inch and the gears from the 30.
AS to the brakes, here is my take on this.
One the chevy disc brake conversion on the front. Lots of write ups about it check the tech articles and do it yourself
There was a rear disc brake system made for the small bolt pattern 9 inch. I call it the Bird conversion because I found it on a Thunderbird. Read my disc brake article for information on this one.
You can put the Lincoln disc brake system on, I am doing it now. I did it by makeing my own axle mounting plate and mounting it that way. By the way, You have to move your shock mount if you go to the big rear discs. Photo of the Lincoln disc bracket mounted on my modified small bearing axle.
And the number one mod you can make with the most punch for the money is hydroboost. Enough said on that issue.
TOFIC

 

[76Broncofromhell]

Full width axles and the search button for the brakes as cheap discs have been covered about a million times on the board.

Look on Pirate4x4.com or Craigslist in the classified sections as full width 73-79 F-150 axles are in there constantly.

 

[Kansas Corey]

Thanks guys.

TOFIC - already have the hydroboost thanks to a lot of help from you and Madgyver.

The gears from a 6 cylinder may be just the trick - gives me the gearing I want without a lot of $$. I figured the front chebby disk brakes were the most affordable route.

76Broncofromhell - gonna have to do a little research I guess - you are saying that full width 73-79 F-150 axles will help me do a cheap disk brake conversion or is this to help me change the gearing for the front and rear?

 

[SaddleUp]

Thanks guys.

TOFIC - already have the hydroboost thanks to a lot of help from you and Madgyver.

The gears from a 6 cylinder may be just the trick - gives me the gearing I want without a lot of $$. I figured the front chebby disk brakes were the most affordable route.

76Broncofromhell - gonna have to do a little research I guess - you are saying that full width 73-79 F-150 axles will help me do a cheap disk brake conversion or is this to help me change the gearing for the front and rear?

I have a complete Dana 30 here that has 410 gears in it already that I am selling for $100. With it you wouldn't even need to set up any gears if you got a 9" 4.10 third member. You would still need to do the Chevy Disk Conversion. (I could do it for you as well but I would need to charge something for the labor plus the cost of the parts) To keep it cheap we would need to find someone going down I5 already to get it to you.

 

[Kansas Corey]

SaddleUp - the D30 sounds great - I will drop you a PM tomorrow about the disk brakes. Since I am not in a hurry, I will ask around to see if I can find anyone heading this direction.

So, what would I do with my current D30 - is it of any use to the Jeep guys?

Still going to have to come up with that 4.11 gearing for the 9" from somewhere.

 

[SaddleUp]

SaddleUp - the D30 sounds great - I will drop you a PM tomorrow about the disk brakes. Since I am not in a hurry, I will ask around to see if I can find anyone heading this direction.

So, what would I do with my current D30 - is it of any use to the Jeep guys?

Still going to have to come up with that 4.11 gearing for the 9" from somewhere.

I don't know where in Northern Cali. you are but Scott (Good Times) here knows someone that makes regular runs down to Vegas. Not sure if that would help or not though. Later this year there is a chance I may go that way for one of the events down there but that is at least a few months away. If it was close to SOB then I know we could find someone but that isn't until August.

Nevermind, I see that your on the coast side.