I am thinking of doing the rear disc brake conversion and have a few questions:

 

1) Are disc brakes better on off-road vehicles? Will dirt clog it up?

 

2) can I use the hubs off of an ea81 in conjunction with the conversion?

 

I ask #2 because I have the 6 lug conversion and I don't want to pay again to have the rear hubs drilled again.

 

3) Kinda like above, will rear discs work with the 6 lug conversion?

 

Thanks.

#1 = Yes. The dirt and water won't be held in the drum.

 

#2 = No. The whole drum brake assembly gets removed.

 

#3 = Yes.

Oh Crap DUH!! yeah i forgot that the drum was drilled. Me =

another question I had about the disk swap...

 

Does it require a new master cylinder?

 

I haven't seen anything that said explicitly you do or don't need one, but I recall one person saying a new one made the brakes feel a lot better.

another question I had about the disk swap...

 

Does it require a new master cylinder?

 

I haven't seen anything that said explicitly you do or don't need one, but I recall one person saying a new one made the brakes feel a lot better.

 

No

I new master cyclinder should always make your brakes feel better, regardless if you swap or not. But its not required to complete the swap.

 

 

-Brian

I wouldn't worry about the MC if the existing one is good. You'll have excellent stopping power with the stock setup.

I would recommend investing a little in turning your rotors, new pads and a hardware kit if you want that nice solid "newer car" feel.

good luck, John

as far as off road you will have better control when reversing down a hill, better stopping power backwards and such, way way better, helps aginst the front wheels locking up on an inclune so you help out with your steering control

What about a proportioning valve??

 

I was telling my dad how easy it would be to swap the rear discs off my dead 87' GL and he said to ask all you subu guru's about it.

 

Wondering if anything needs to be done or if it is a straight swap......does having discs in the back where drums were mean they are going to grab a lot harder????

What about a proportioning valve??

 

I was telling my dad how easy it would be to swap the rear discs off my dead 87' GL and he said to ask all you subu guru's about it.

 

Wondering if anything needs to be done or if it is a straight swap......does having discs in the back where drums were mean they are going to grab a lot harder????

 

This has been asked many times. There is no need for a proportioning valve as teh braking systems are the same.

This has been asked many times. There is no need for a proportioning valve as teh braking systems are the same.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Sorry if it's been asked a bunch, I can only promise I won't ask again.

I would keep the "recieving" car stock if it were me - even if it means no proportioning valve.

It's pretty straightforward. The only thing that might make it tricky is if you bust a brake line. I would transfer the hard lines from the "donor" car if at all possible. They are shaped perfectly. The lines going to the stock drums will have to be bent pretty drastically to reach the caliper, and this always makes me nervous.

The biggest difference I noticed is straight, strong, stopping with no lockup. Again, consider turning the rotors and new pads if you are picky about your brakes. Also, do a thorough job of bleeding (replacing) your old brake fluid.

 

good luck, John

The rear porportioning valve on my EA82 was complete garbage so I sent it where it belongs. Ran new lines directly from the cabin down to the calipers. I've made some pretty hard stops since then and havent had any problems that everyone warned me about. Might be due to the large tires; its really hard to lock them up!

 

If it's on there and in good shape; use it. If you are in the same boat I was and its rotted away to nothing forcing you to run new lines anyway; dont feel bad about skipping the $125 part and plumbing your own lines.