I'm interested to know how these will work with the later year 3rd Gen's that are equip with the electronic integrated ABS master cylinder? Not sure how easy it is to switch these over to the Ford cylinder that you're using.

Mike

Id be in for set whenever they are available. With the parking break.

Prefect time to get those bearings and seals replaced.


Again, the Ford master cylinder isn’t required, and I don’t believe it would work with the factory ABS if you intend to keep it.


I’ll add you to the list.

Great! Look forward to it!

Kits are starting to come together well. Electroplating is complete and I've received most of the hardware.

There are a few parts that I'm still waiting to arrive for the parking brake kits.

There two areas that I'm looking into at the moment.

1. After final test fitting, I'm not happy with the brake line connections. I'm looking into solutions and trying to keep impact to the kit price as low as possible.

2. Parking brake function for the drifters out there. I changed the design from what is pictured on page 1, and now the parking brake handle is much more manageable. Single hand pull to get the handle to the recommended setting and hold the vehicle in place. What it won't do is lock up the tires while driving. My goal is to be able to get the tires to lock from 30mph. I have a new design that will exert 32% more force at the caliper. It will take me a few days to get it prototyped and tested. If testing goes well, it may take up to 4 weeks for the parts to be fabricated. But it will be worth the wait to make sure everyone has a safe, efficient parking brake that is easy to use. With the overwhelming demand for a parking brake kit, I want to ensure everyone is happy with what they're getting.

Doing my best to provide you with the best, most complete kit possible.

Did you ever try the stock parking brake?

-Charlie

I've never tried to lock the tires while moving with the parking brake. Does it do it easily if well adjusted?

I'm not sure we need to necessarily expect the parking brakes to operate identically. Drums make good parking brakes since they are "self-activating" -- if there's some tension and you try to roll it forward it will cause the mechanism to bite down harder. Disc brakes don't do that so I imagine they'd need a higher actuation force to be equivalent.

That was one of the funnest things of the VW bugs

following

It will be really interesting to get some testing done with this rear disk brake set-up compared to the stock set-up. Do a fairly scientific test comparing stop distances at certain speeds to see if the disk brakes in the rear make a significant difference, a little difference, nothing at all, or maybe they're actually worse. My guess is there will be some improvement, but the question remains how much improvement and whether or not it will be worth the time and money investment to do this modification. Now, there is the cool factor of having rear disk brakes on a 3rd Gen and if that's all you really care about is coolness, well, this might be the mod for you regardless if the braking is actually improved.

Sure, disk brakes are easier to swap pads out on, but rear shoes and rear pads last a very long time since they only do about 25% of the braking. And, anyone who has done the rear shoes on these rigs can attest it's really not that hard of a job if you have the right tools and technique. Improvements for the front braking, like the Tundra Brake Upgrade does for us are a no-brainer and why so many people have performed the TBU on their rigs because the front brakes provide most of the stopping power.

I don't think I'm into modding as much as some guys are, but I tend to be a function over form kind of guy. If these rear disk brakes give a significant improvement in braking, I'd be all for them. If they're just mainly going to be for bragging rights, I'd pass.

Speaking of testing, I'm still looking for a volunteer in the Hampton Rhodes, VA or Eastern NC area for a test vehicle.

Anyone that's willing to meet me at NCCAR for testing and kit install.

Most mods are ok (lift, larger tires, armor, gears, etc.), but must have stock brakes with ABS.

Somebody in this area must want a free kit...

Yes! (and @midcoma has some voodoo that he has shared with me to correct this)

I like that you said that, so that I could bring in my day-job experience here.
4-wheel discs were used in older cars for some time before vacuum-assisted brakes, but master cylinder sizing was crucial there. The cars I work with have drum brake parking brakes in the rear disc setups (even back into the 60s), but since the 90s, a lot of European cars used the mustang-style cam activated parking brake with just some targeted lever geometry; so I'd bet this is solvable as well with the right brain thrown at it.

I'm pretty excited about this kit; Fwiw - easy pad changes, self-cleaning, self-adjusting, and no need to break open the hydraulic system to service the rear axle stuff. Win-win-win-win.

Full disclosure: after following @Rockdawg84 I was going to get around to working on this eventually, but now I don't need to. (win!)

These are the same pros that @midcoma mentions for the argument to do this mod, but like I said in my response above, how often are you really replacing rear shoes or rear pads? Maybe every 75-100k miles? It obviously depends how you drive for sure but rear brakes don't need servicing all that often.

The drum brakes on our rigs are self-adjusting as well if you use your parking brake like you should and not let the weight of the rig rest on the parking pawl of your automatic transmission. Even the guys who have manual transmissions should use their parking brake because it's a safety back-up.

It's true with a disk brake set-up in the rear that you wouldn't have to disconnect brake lines at the wheel cylinders to remove the axles for a rear axle seal job or maybe you're pulling the 3rd member, but again, how often are guys pulling axles on their rigs? And, if you cap off your brake lines when you disconnect them to pull the axles, you lose minimal brake fluid and the bleeding process is beyond easy.

As for self cleaning, I guess people who do a lot of wheeling in muddy conditions or do lots of water crossings might benefit from this functionality.

I'm looking forward to seeing some hard data on the braking performance so myself and others can make an informed decision on whether this mod is worth doing. I would also like to see what the total cost will be for this mod. It will obviously depend on what calipers, rotors and pads you choose, but I'd like to see somebody other that the OP do this mod, report what they spent on parts and how much time they invested in doing the work. These are all things I would like to know before diving into a mod like this.

Im for one when these are actually for sale. Till then, this is just a talk about the possibility. Seen this kind of thing in many forums before. Just being real...

Well damn, I just moved from this area not too long ago and would've loved to be a test dummy. I'll throw this thread in a few local FB groups and hopefully that'll help you find someone.

As a matter of fact, @Twitchstyle13 would probably be in...