Hey guys I'm thinking about doing a rear disc brake conversion on my 99XJ with parts from a ZJ that I'm about the scrap out. I have read write ups about this and I have the tools and know how to do this. I have had several XJs and the rear drum brake always seem to be a constant maintenance issue but converting to disc brakes would require a bit of work so I would like to hear from you guys who have done this conversion. How well did it work? and was it worth it?

 

Is this a DD? Any big tires or mods?

 

Its a pretty much a dd running 235/75s with no lift and I plan on keeping it that way.

 

What I'm looking at too.

 

DO IT!!!!

 

Best thing you can do. Makes a bigger difference than you'd think given that the fronts do most of the work. (I hate drum brakes.)

 

A lot of people trot out that "fronts do most of the work" line as if that just settles the matter. Apparently they think "most of the work" is the same as "almost all of the work".

But what does "most of the work" really mean? Well, that "most" sure isn't 90%, or anything close to it. I've seen figures ranging from 60/40 to 70/30 for front/back stopping ratios. That means that "most of the work" comment is actually a pretty stupid thing to say.

If you can get 50% better stopping out of the 30%, you have a very good improvement. Certainly worth doing. What if it's a 100% improvement of 40%? That's a LOT of improvement.

Yeah, it's worth doing. Even a modest improvement in braking may save your life someday. Add to that the much easier maintenance.......



(I also hate drum brakes.)

 

OR you could say the same thing a different way:
Despite the fact that the front brakes do most of the work, it is still very worthwhile to upgrade the rear brakes as their contribution to the overall braking effort is considerable. Given that I hate drum brakes (because they're inferior to disk brakes in every way, especially maintenance) I'd say this is the best upgrade you can do!

Which might keep BlueRidgeMark off your back :P

 

I did it, with KJ stuff. Glad I did. I easily understand how discs work.

Springs and crap hiding inside a drum, too much going on for me.

Also, the cost was only like 60 more to go discs.