Rear disc conversion

What do you guys think? Has any used these before?

Use the forum's search feature & look up littleshopmfg.com or 'rear disc conversion'.
The results are, well...interesting, to say the least.

Oh BOY!!! Seems to be a sore subject for some people here, be prepared for a lecture from the
anti-disc brake crowd.

I have them on my 14 bolt SF, everything works excellent, no problems at all going on 2 years now.

It's your truck, do what YOU want to do

sewlow said:

Use the forum's search feature & look up littleshopmfg.com or 'rear disc conversion'.
The results are, well...interesting, to say the least.

Click to expand...

Being present for that got me a discount and helped me figure out what brakes I wanted

DamHoodlum said:

Oh BOY!!! Seems to be a sore subject for some people here, be prepared for a lecture from the
anti-disc brake crowd.

Click to expand...

Oh, my. I'm in the "anti" crowd. I should be ashamed for talking common sense!

Here's the tl:dr - you won't get any better stopping power, but discs don't require adjustments like drums do.

Drum brakes may be old school, but they work when adjusted properly. They usually aren't, and that's why they have a bad reputation. Disc brake conversions are almost always boy-racer crap. If you want some wow-factor at the car show, buy them. If you want performance, keep your drum brakes adjusted, or spend the cash to upgrade to a full-on Wilwood setup that's designed as a full system, including a new master cylinder. They don't currently list one on their website, but there are GMT400s getting tracked, so they can probably design a setup for you. Expect to pay about 5x what that kit you screenshotted costs.

Drum brakes actually apply a stronger braking force to the axle and their design includes some self-actuation, meaning that when the brake pedal applies pressure to the shoe and it contacts the drum, the shoe gets pulled into the drum a bit by the friction. This is why all-drum brake cars typically didn't need a brake booster. Discs require a much higher pedal effort, and that's why they need a brake booster.

Here's a couple of links to some relevant threads.

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/disc-brake-upgrade.57241/

https://www.gmt400.com/threads/so-y...-kit-heres-my-02-tips-and-tricks-guide.49226/

I think the second one is especially interesting, as even if you put all the engineering/design concerns (which IMO seem valid) aside, discs don't guarantee any better performance.

I'm team drums for most applications.

I also have that kit on my 5 lug 14 bolt. No problems ,so far. I was under the impression they would improve braking performance and definetly guilty of looking for a little wow factor. Purchased mine before reading the threads listed above. Would I do it again ? I'm not sure, they make the conversion easy but I will certainly keep my eye on them and also watch for any failure reports.

I need to clarify that I don't have any beef against anyone who buys and installs one of these kits. If you want the bling, go for it.

I would recommend only buying a kit that retains the parking brake.

DamHoodlum said:

Oh BOY!!! Seems to be a sore subject for some people here, be prepared for a lecture from the
anti-disc brake crowd.

Click to expand...

Some folks like to pretend that I'm "anti-disc-brakes". Makes it easier to poke fun and deride the position.

The truth is that I'm "anti-shi_tty-engineering".

OEM disc brakes work fine. Little Shop of Horrors cheapass flat-bracket conversions--along with numerous other "conversion kits" were "engineered" by folks who had NO RESPECT for how the calipers were intended to accept braking thrust. Just plain lazy, dangerous engineering due to unethical cost-cutting.

As a result, the caliper mounting pins 'n' bushings are grossly over-loaded, forced by piss-poor design to accept stresses they were never intended to handle by the folks who designed 'em.

Good luck. I think they're a liability lawsuit waiting to happen.

Getting rid of the crappy 254mm/10" drums is a great idea. Losing crappy 254mm drums and installing crappy discs isn't really an upgrade.

When it was me, I installed better drums. But installing GOOD discs is a fine option for those who can afford it.

I have that kit. It works great.