Dana 44 rear disk brakes ???

[dirteexj94]

Was courious if any of you have done this drum to disk swap on a XJ Dana 44 and if so how much did it run you??

 

[Led]

check tsm in castle rock nice kits with easy to find / replace parts

 

[Frank Z]

Grab some ZJ D35 or d44a disc brakes parts from the JY.

 

[xj-grin]

check tsm in castle rock nice kits with easy to find / replace parts

I HATE TSM -- incredibly craptacular customer service, and the late model eldorado calipers they use in smaller applications are total pieces of shit... they don't self adjust at all, and the ebrake is almost completely non-functional. Not at all worth the price of admission, IMHO.:shhh:

 

[YELLAHEEP]

My personal experience of rear disc kits for D44 Cherokee applications are that nothing works as well as OEM drums. None of the kits I've had have an e-brake that works even remotely well. Not one of them would hold the Jeep in neutral on my driveway much less on a steep section of a trail.

I've had TSM, a home-brew kit, and the expensive TeraFlex kit. All garbage. Not a one of those improved stopping ability.

Rear drums have the stopping power and surface area to hold with a properly adjusted e-brake.

The bigger improvement is to keep the OEM brakes and simply swap in a dual diaphragm booster/master set up.

 

[dirteexj94]

Yeah Ive heard a lot of mixed opinions on this swap. Some people think its worth it and others dont. I am still on the fence about it.

 

[jimgrms]

stock drum brakes work fine with a xj,

 

[xj-grin]

I don't know, Yella, the discs on my Isuzu 44 stopped far better than the 8.25 drums on my 99 XJ, as do the discs on the WJ on my JK44 rear... TSM discs that I ran on a scout 44 in the 91 XJ, not so much.

 

[Frank Z]

My disc brakes outperform the old drum brakes by a long shot.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Those of you that found better performance from rear disc swaps....... did you also swap in a different proportioning valve? Swap in a larger booster or dual diaphragm?

I was simply answering the question that a D44 rear disc swap netted ZERO performance improvement. None of my rigs had improved proportioning valves or boosters. And the e-brake function/performance was much worse.

 

[xj-grin]

No, no change to prop valve in either the 91 or the 99. That said, in the 91 I did swap in a larger late-model dual diaphram booster -- that didn't make much of a difference with the TSM kit, though the pedal was stiff as hell. In the 99, it already had the larger booster, and I briefly ran the TSM-equipped scout D44 in that rig until it grenaded on the trail sending spider gears in multiple directions. Then the swapped in Isuzu disc-equipped D44 was a VAST improvement in braking. Again though -- stock proportioning valve.

 

[Gotlift01]

My drum brakes sucked and were down right scary...even after being replaced and adjusted properly, I still couldn't hold the Jeep on a steep hill...it would just roll through the brakes. I swapped to discs, and it'll hold on whatever I want it to. I took the guts out of a ZJ proportioning valve and slapped it in mine...works like a charm!

Although I do not currently have an ebrake. I never used mine before since I have an automatic, so it wasn't something I cared about hooking up.

 

[Frank Z]

Yes, but truth be told I have also done a WJ knuckle swap as well.

 

[xj-grin]

I'll echo Frank there - my happiness with the Isuzu rear D44 discs could be in part due to the 1/2-ton chevy discs on the Waggy D44 front that I ran on the 99 XJ ... same, same my WJ with improved front units.

 

[eflores]

60anny and i did a 44 with ABS and disc's a few years ago... used ZJ discs of a 35 welded and redrilled the backing plate, they work well and he has an e brake

 

[XJEEPER]

On my 2000, I'm running TJ discs on my D44 and a ZJ prop valve guts......better than stock drums, but the most bang for the braking buck is the WJ knuckle/brake swap. Brake bias on the XJ is 70%front/30% rear, so naturally putting larger rotors and larger dual piston calipers on the front will make the biggest improvement.

 

[Hypoid]

What is the brake bias for the WJ?

 

[Fred]

Just to throw this out. On the 90, I had swapped in an old D35 with the 10" brakes. After being massaged by a professional brake place, they would lock up 31's every time. Then I swapped in the 44, with all new brake stuff. You could lock them, but only with much effort. I don't remember all that I did to the system, but it was considerable, including a reverse professional bleed, and it got minimally better. I really expected the 44 to improve braking, it has a larger braking surface area than the d35 it replaced. That hasn't been my experience. To this day, when I get in the 90 after driving any of the other beasts, including the 97 XJ with 9" drums, I have to remind myself to allow greater braking distance.

It's a mystery to me. By all considerations, the drums on a 44 should make a marked improvement.

 

[DaJudge]

Not sure mine made any difference, but Yella is definitely right about the E-Brake. It sucks. If I adjust them constantly they are OK, but nothing like the factory Drum.

 

[billroy]

I bought the Teraflex disc brake conversion kit for my 44 a few years ago. It's exspensive but i've never had any issues and the E-Brake works great.

Shawn