Rear disk brake question

[ruger0771]

I'm in the process of trying to get all the parts together to put a new front end with disk brakes on my '66 - I am trying to buy all of the major stuff needed to accomplish this prior to breaking her down so there will be less down time- I figure since I'm putting front disk, I might as well put some on the rear too - are there any rotor/calipers that I could find off of another vehicle that I could make work instead of buying new? I'm trying to save as much money as possible, as my wants/ needs are a lot bigger than my pockets these days..... Any help is appreciated

 

[68rockcrawler]

I have rear disc brakes and I wish I didn't. I'm sure a lot of other people will share their opinions on this subject as it has been heavily discussed on this site. One problem is that it is hard to get a good parking brake when you go to discs. I forget what my rear calipers are (possibly Cadilac) which are supposed to have a parking brake but I am having problems getting to work right. I have heard that the Explorer rear discs are good because they have a parking brake but I don't know anything about this setup. If I hadn't bought my axles with discs already on them I would have kept the rear drums. I have also heard that because most of your braking capacity is in the front you really don't gain much by going to rear discs.

 

[ruger0771]

Yeah I think its 80/20 front and rear fcor stopping power... I'm actually glad you said that because I was thinking of keeping my drums but I didn't know if it would be a mistake that I would regret later.... I've heard they are a whole lot cheaper to install than the front but I'm new to all of this and learning as I go...

 

[68rockcrawler]

Put that rear disc brake money towards a Astro hydroboost setup instead. You won't regret it.

 

[Broncobowsher]

The key is knowing what rear axle you have. Early Bronco 9" doesn't cut it. There are a handful of different configurations for axle bearing retaining bolt pattern and wheel flange offset. If you have the right combonation of parts it can be a fairly easy bolt on. Or it can be custom fab. Or somewhere in between. Then throw in the request for a parking brake and things can get complicated again. On the cheap...

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about rear disks right away. If the stock drums are in halfway decent shape leave them for now.