Rear discs on the cheap...

All the stuff under the car, Transmission, Brakes, Suspension & Steering
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BJB
Posts: 894
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:49 pm
Location: Terra Australis (Down under to the Yanks)

Rear discs on the cheap...

Post by BJB »

Our commercial range of early Falcons ( utility and sedan delivery) had 5 stud axles with 10" brakes all round. Wheels were 13". I have utilised a commercial diff in my Falcon sedan a couple of times now in order to convert from 4 stud to 5 stud. It is identical in dimensions to the sedan and wagon diffs but the axle flange ( 4 bolt spaces are different to the standard diff housing which have 9" brakes.) The other differences were that the ratio was a very low 4.00 to 1, but the axle bearings were larger and wider. Apart from that all the 7.25" centres would fit the 24 spline axles.

My project was converting a spare utility housing to rear discs.

The later model Falcons when fitted with 10" rear drums shared the same backing plate bolt spacing, and when they introduced rear disc brakes the same bolt spacing continued until the '98
Falcon . So with a spare '93 Falcon diff, I removed the backing plates which contained a drum type e- brake shoe, that fits inside the disc rotor . Basically a drum brake within a rotor. The backing plate bolted up to the '66 diff housing but I had to enlarge the centre hole as the early Falcon bearing was too big. Fitted the axle and then bolted up the rotor and caliper. All fits. I know someone that makes Falcon replacement sheet metal and he gave me a couple of brake cable brackets which I will weld to the axle housing. I had the standard Falcon hand brake cable modified to suit the new hand brake ( e- brake). Just had to replace the cable end with an eyelet. Only disadvantage is that I have to use 15" rims on the rear. I managed to locate some Kelsey 15" x 6" rims that are made in Canada and were fitted to the '72 to '75 Fairlane LTDs made here.

Overall it was very simple and hope to fit the system to my Falcon down the track. Will use the housing to fit brake lines as that will be a bit of old school and new school fittings. The brake calipers and rotors are fairly used but using better second hand brake components I think I can keep the costs down to under $200.

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"I love a sunburnt country,
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Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains,..enough with the floods already..."

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