69 charger front drum to disc

[B-Body 70]

Hi friends, can you tell me the best disc conversion kit to install on my charger I’m doing the front end and motor at this time. It is non power brakes. I read a lot of different manufacturers but would much rather hear it from the experts here.
Thanks!!
Tony

 

[icetech]

Some here won't agree but i wish i had stayed with drums on my car... If you have to go disc get a kit from DrDiff...

 

[B-Body 70]

Some here won't agree but i wish i had stayed with drums on my car... If you have to go disc get a kit from DrDiff...

Yeah, I’m afraid that if I don’t do this I might regret it. I could save a ton of money if I just rebuild my drum set up. Not a commuter car just having alittle fun once awhile. Why do you think might of wanted to stay with drums?

 

[Don Frelier]

Somewhat depends on your wheel diameter choice.
I have SSBC on my charger with a stock manual discs brake master. I've run it for over 10 years now and it's way better than the original 10" drum brakes. But you should put a regulator on the rear drum lines as they used to lock up on mine when on a hard stop at highway speed.

But since you have everything apart you wouldn't necessarily need to use a kit to adapt from stock spindles.

 

[B-Body 70]

Somewhat depends on your wheel diameter choice.
I have SSBC on my charger with a stock manual discs brake master. I've run it for over 10 years now and it's way better than the original 10" drum brakes. But you should put a regulator on the rear drum lines as they used to lock up on mine when on a hard stop at highway speed.

But since you have everything apart you wouldn't necessarily need to use a kit to adapt from stock spindles.

Don, really? Yeah probably the same size you have. So I can use my spindles and just piece it? Proportional valve adjustment for rears
Thanks!!

 

[pnora]

I have the Wilwood kit on my 69 and it fit real well. I do have a DrDiff disc kit on the rear. In your case I would talk to DrDiff and discuss what you need. He will fix you up and explain why and what you need.

 

[B-Body 70]

I have the Wilwood kit on my 69 and it fit real well. I do have a DrDiff disc kit on the rear. In your case I would talk to DrDiff and discuss what you need. He will fix you up and explain why and what you need.

Yeah I was just looking at that. Not bad prices. Thanks for your input!!
Tony

 

[davek]

Tony,I had manual drums on my 69 charger RT 440 4 spd charger and never had a problem stopping for 20 years . Reason for up grade?

 

[Don Frelier]

I have always had drums.. And even manual stop better than my manual disc setup.. I have replaced most parts in the setup now which were brand new just hoping it was something bad. The problem is Disc takes a crazy amount of pressure to get the same stopping power as drum.. drums also self energize so they actually will actually apply their own stopping force helping with the line pressure from the master cyl..

Some people think drums pull and stuff like that, only if they are not adjusted/setup properly.

I have over 1k into basically a stock manual brake setup at this point with zero trust in them compared to drums.

One thing guys will talk about with drums is brake fade.. in normal driving unless you are doing very stupid stuff it's just not an issue. (stupid would be back to back high speed stops like road racing)

This guy actually explains it very well... if you get a few minutes give this a watch..

P.S. this post will get some bad response.. That's fine.. i can only speak to my experience doing a swap using factory parts, not wilwood/race brakes

P.P.S. if you were going to go power disc, then yes please

I don't recall anyone who has anything good to say about "Ram Man"
Do a search here.

Ever met him?
He treated his female assistant very poorly.
I was tempted to chastize him but I quickly decided he wasn't going to learn anything from me.
I felt sorry for her.

 

[icetech]

I don't recall anyone who has anything good to say about "Ram Man"
Do a search here.

Ever met him?
He treated his female assistant very poorly.
I was tempted to chastize him but I quickly decided he wasn't going to learn anything from me.
I felt sorry for her.

Cool.... the video is just posted for the information in it.. No idea about him as a human or any of that.......

 

[B-Body 70]

I have always had drums.. And even manual stop better than my manual disc setup.. I have replaced most parts in the setup now which were brand new just hoping it was something bad. The problem is Disc takes a crazy amount of pressure to get the same stopping power as drum.. drums also self energize so they actually will actually apply their own stopping force helping with the line pressure from the master cyl..

Some people think drums pull and stuff like that, only if they are not adjusted/setup properly.

I have over 1k into basically a stock manual brake setup at this point with zero trust in them compared to drums.

One thing guys will talk about with drums is brake fade.. in normal driving unless you are doing very stupid stuff it's just not an issue. (stupid would be back to back high speed stops like road racing)

This guy actually explains it very well... if you get a few minutes give this a watch..

P.S. this post will get some bad response.. That's fine.. i can only speak to my experience doing a swap using factory parts, not wilwood/race brakes

P.P.S. if you were going to go power disc, then yes please

Thank you. I have two people telling me what I want to hear. I’m rebuilding my stock set up just over thinking this.
Thanks everyone!!!
Tony

I don't recall anyone who has anything good to say about "Ram Man"
Do a search here.

Ever met him?
He treated his female assistant very poorly.
I was tempted to chastize him but I quickly decided he wasn't going to learn anything from me.
I felt sorry for her.

well, those are the facts. I think this guy is a little off but is probably correct. I think I’ll stay with the manual drums Set up. You guys are great help for me whenever I need advise and I really respect and appreciate all the info here.
Thanks,
Tony

 

[pnora]

I have always had drums.. And even manual stop better than my manual disc setup.. I have replaced most parts in the setup now which were brand new just hoping it was something bad. The problem is Disc takes a crazy amount of pressure to get the same stopping power as drum.. drums also self energize so they actually will actually apply their own stopping force helping with the line pressure from the master cyl..

Some people think drums pull and stuff like that, only if they are not adjusted/setup properly.

I have over 1k into basically a stock manual brake setup at this point with zero trust in them compared to drums.

One thing guys will talk about with drums is brake fade.. in normal driving unless you are doing very stupid stuff it's just not an issue. (stupid would be back to back high speed stops like road racing)

This guy actually explains it very well... if you get a few minutes give this a watch..

P.S. this post will get some bad response.. That's fine.. i can only speak to my experience doing a swap using factory parts, not wilwood/race brakes

P.P.S. if you were going to go power disc, then yes please

That guy is a real idiot. Plus a known crook and scam artist.

 

[ckessel]

Since you're in the Valley, you may be able to source the pieces you need by reading the well done tech article done in Mopar Action many years ago. Title is Disc o tech. Easy to find it on the web. If you buy the package from Dr Diff, thats what you'll be getting. Years ago the Disc o tech is how I did the conversion on my 70 Challenger. On my 67 Coronet wagon, the PO bought the conversion package from the Doc. Works well and is oe based stuff, so replacement parts are easy to get. If you do go with the Doc's package, don't use the pads that are supplied. They are cheap junk that make lots of noise and don't grab. My wagon had these. The companies use the cheapest stuff there so they can meet a price point for sales. Round up a set of D84[ industry model number] semi metallic pads. 73 on a-bodies and some other models use this pad.

 

[icetech]

That guy is a real idiot. Plus a known crook and scam artist.

I believe you.. but that doesn't invalidate the information in the video.. i will remove it though since he seems to upset people just by seeing that he exists...

 

[pnora]

I believe you.. but that doesn't invalidate the information in the video.. i will remove it though since he seems to upset people just by seeing that he exists...

I only watched the first couple minutes. If you choose to believe him that's fine. If drums were so better why do jets, race cars, and the list go on use disc brakes. My own experiences comparing the performance of drum to disc have found the disc to out perform drums greatly. I am not saying to go out and convert to disc just because you have drum. Just google this[[[[[are disc brakes less efficient than drum brakes]]]]]

 

[icetech]

I only watched the first couple minutes. If you choose to believe him that's fine. If drums were so better why do jets, race cars, and the list go on use disc brakes. My own experiences comparing the performance of drum to disc have found the disc to out perform drums greatly. I am not saying to go out and convert to disc just because you have drum. Just google this[[[[[are disc brakes less efficient than drum brakes]]]]]

disc brakes are more efficient, 100% true... they also take 1000+ psi as opposed to a few hundred. For manual i would go drum, for power.. disc.. that was the point of that video. also, race cars have long runoffs to slow down (drag racing at least) or specialty brakes that cost mega bucks for other forms of racing that use discs. And i highly doubt jets use manual disc brakes.

 

[icetech]

Just went and read up a little.. smaller planes will use a little boost from a planes hydraulic system, larger planes like jets/commercial aircraft use full power boost from the planes hydraulics... no manual discs as expected... (at least from 5 mins of research)

 

[pnora]

disc brakes are more efficient, 100% true... they also take 1000+ psi as opposed to a few hundred. For manual i would go drum, for power.. disc.. that was the point of that video. also, race cars have long runoffs to slow down (drag racing at least) or specialty brakes that cost mega bucks for other forms of racing that use discs. And i highly doubt jets use manual disc brakes.

No doubt all systems have some assist. Air over hydraulic is common as well as other means. For what its worth my 4 wheel discs are manual and it stops with very little pedal effort.