Brake swap help

[dleeadams]

Swapping (or trying to) drums to disc on a S10 4WD rear for a 51 swap. Anyone know of a way to use parts from the local pull apart or Oreillys? Really could use the advice.
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[hugger6933]

You just have not found a late enough s-10 rear end as they were availe with disc brakes. I don't know how much studying you have done on the s10 stuff but the best one to look for would be the ones with the larger rear center section same sized as the full size truck the 8.5 inch ring gear it is out there but kinda hard to findthe ZR2 rear is a 4x4 rear of course and is the 8.5 with disc brakes and all of them had posi tracs to boot. But keep in mind the 4x4 rears are wider than the standard 2wd. Good luck. Jim

[BarryB]

Yeap like hugger said, Alot of the newer blazers and jimmys had rear disc factory. now I do not know what years they were installed. I would look late 90's early 00's for them.

[dleeadams]

Thanks for the info.

The one I have came from a first year ZR2, pre disc. My understanding is 98 was the first year for discs. Everything prior to, rear discs were optional.

[andrewmp6]

The 98 4x4 s10/sonoma had rear disc but you will need the disc/disc mater cylinder and proportioning valve.

[hugger6933]

The S and T both underwentdrastic changes in the model year starting 1998. Belive me when I say it was a lot more than a grille and door panels and dash bezel. On the blazer right about that time is when the spindle was changed from the traditional type to the bolt on bearing with a dual piston front caliper at thesame time is when you could find the disc brakes on the rear ends. The trucks did not use the same setup on the front brakes [or rear for that matter for a long time] but it is a bolt on type conversion, and with todays advent of over the counter better pads and vented and slotted rotors someones truck/blazer could be made pretty respectable in the braking department without a large cash outlay. Also along those same model years you can be aware of the Exterme sway bars they are huge for the trucks and make a huge difference as well and in 96 and up the s truck with the HO 4.3 had a 3rd shock that was mounted on top of the rear axle and stright to the frame on the right hand side like a third link. I robbed some off of some truck I junked and put one on a v8 s truck I built and it help traction quite a bit. Also the Extremes frome the 98 and up had a rear sway bar as well they were not very big but did not have to be to really work well. Hope that may clear up some stuff and help you out. I build wrecks for those that don't know me, I have'nt hung out much in here before but I use to build a BUNCH of s-10 trucks probably close to 5 or 600, and junked out maybe 200 more.

[dleeadams]

THX Andrew and Hugger. This will help.

[98layinframe]

Does the rearend you have now have the 4 bolt around the axle pattern? If so simply swap out the backing plates for 98+ disk brake mounts and your good.

Only thing is the mounting flange is in a slightly different spot for the drum verse disk rearends, so ya might have to put a washer between each corner of the flange and the disk abutment bracket.
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[dleeadams]

Originally Posted by 98layinframe

Does the rearend you have now have the 4 bolt around the axle pattern? If so simply swap out the backing plates for 98+ disk brake mounts and your good.

Only thing is the mounting flange is in a slightly different spot for the drum verse disk rearends, so ya might have to put a washer between each corner of the flange and the disk abutment bracket.
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It is the 4 bolt pattern. Found a backing plate and set of calipers. They are aluminum and was told they are from a 98 s10. Have to check them with pads and discs to check the fit.

I've noticed the spacing is going to be a little different. Must be why someone is selling spacers on ebay.

[hugger6933]

The rear backing plate bolt mounting locations are not year model limited. I bolted a set of blazer rear disc brakes on my 68 LeMans convert that I put in a 6.0 ls1 motor. I used the Pontiac axles [of course] in the rear and every thing on the outboard side is blazer disc brake.

[98layinframe]

In the world of s10's yes they are semi year dependent. The older rearends 82 - about 93ish had a completely different flange and brake cylinder mounting setup. If he had that year range rearend the flange top would need cut off and holes drilled to line up with the newer 98+ disk brake mounts.

If the rearend is a 94+ unit, no problems everything should bolt right up. Gm finally wised up and converted over to a more standard style of housing flange

I had to narrow my 2wd blazer disk brake rearend 6" in order to fit my custom backspace wheels inside the sheet metal. Unfortunately the shop that did the work didnt know the drum and disk setups were different... so he set everything to fit the drum spacing.. doh. Not a major deal though, my disk setup still fits on just fine, only difference is the abutment bracket is slightly off center of the rotor. I figured out the I can simply cut up my old drum backing plates and using only the very center section of the plate it works out perfect as the spacer I need.

Also the brackets you have. What clocking position do they hold the caliper? If you were standing looking at the driverside rear wheel, a 4x4 blazer bracket will hold the caliper at a 9-10 o clock position towards the front of the truck. The 2wd mounts will hold the caliper at a 2 - 3 o clock postion towards the rear of the truck. I have a set of both and personally prefer the 2wd mounts since make the calipers match the fronts position on the wheels.

The abutment brackets are interchangeable and you can run either style on either rearend (2wd or 4x4). The rotors are not. Due to the 4x4 being wider, a 4x4 rotor has a much larger hat depth to it.

[dleeadams]

Originally Posted by 98layinframe

In the world of s10's yes they are semi year dependent. The older rearends 82 - about 93ish had a completely different flange and brake cylinder mounting setup. If he had that year range rearend the flange top would need cut off and holes drilled to line up with the newer 98+ disk brake mounts.

If the rearend is a 94+ unit, no problems everything should bolt right up. Gm finally wised up and converted over to a more standard style of housing flange

I had to narrow my 2wd blazer disk brake rearend 6" in order to fit my custom backspace wheels inside the sheet metal. Unfortunately the shop that did the work didnt know the drum and disk setups were different... so he set everything to fit the drum spacing.. doh. Not a major deal though, my disk setup still fits on just fine, only difference is the abutment bracket is slightly off center of the rotor. I figured out the I can simply cut up my old drum backing plates and using only the very center section of the plate it works out perfect as the spacer I need.

Also the brackets you have. What clocking position do they hold the caliper? If you were standing looking at the driverside rear wheel, a 4x4 blazer bracket will hold the caliper at a 9-10 o clock position towards the front of the truck. The 2wd mounts will hold the caliper at a 2 - 3 o clock postion towards the rear of the truck. I have a set of both and personally prefer the 2wd mounts since make the calipers match the fronts position on the wheels.

The abutment brackets are interchangeable and you can run either style on either rearend (2wd or 4x4). The rotors are not. Due to the 4x4 being wider, a 4x4 rotor has a much larger hat depth to it.

Thx. I can and will use this info.