EA82 rear drums, as rear disc hubs?

[El Presidente]

I've searched and found a little discussion about it, but nothing to say if its been tried or done. I want rear disc brakes, but don't want to use the harder to find turbo rear disc setup. I'm thinking cheap, from widely available parts, and how common are front EA82 disc's!.

 

I'm thinking I could put my rig on all stands, start it, put it in gear and in 4WD-hi(with a helper inside for safety), and use an angle grinder to evenly cut the friction surface of the drum(where the shoes make contact) off and mark the 90mm circle(I think the bolt circle is 90mm) on the face for the front disc mounting holes. I do see the use of a spacer to go between the inside surface of the "drum hub" to the outside surface of the rotor to center the rotor, strengthen the new "hub", and allow room for the rotor bolts. A potential fubar situation is if the 90mm bolt cirlce is off center and the rotor isn't balanced anymore.

 

With a cheap custom mounting bracket, you could run front calipers on the rear too, to take advantage of the e-brake lever.

 

Has anyone tried cutting down the rear drums and mounting front EA82 discs to them? Has anyone attempted or actually put front brakes on the rear?

[Numbchux]

It would be a project, but it might be possible. The bolt heads would have to be countersunk into the hub surface so they wouldn't interfere with the wheel.

 

 

 

I have to be honest, though. the idea of cutting the drum while on the car sounds like an excellent way to break something (either on the car, or you). I wouldn't do it unless properly machined, and honestly, 4-lug rear disc setups are not NEARLY rare enough to justify either method.

[GeneralDisorder]

Ghetto. Don't try that.

 

GD

[El Presidente]

I have to be honest, though. the idea of cutting the drum while on the car sounds like an excellent way to break something (either on the car, or you). I wouldn't do it unless properly machined, and honestly, 4-lug rear disc setups are not NEARLY rare enough to justify either method.

 

I've cut output shafts on an NP242 tranfercase before while its in gear and it works great to ensure an even cut. Lots of guys running a NP242 in a Cherokee have done it for an SYE. I've also worked around large lathes, endmills, and various large machinery and as long as your safe and respect the forces involved, your fine. A lot of shops now turn rotors while they are still on vehicle, to reduce teardown/install time, and it works fine.

 

Ghetto. Don't try that.

 

GD

 

Lol...I know where your coming from, but what I'm talking about isn't really too much far from redrilling a drum to a 6X5.5" lug. When I first saw a redrilled 6 lug hub, I thought "Ghetto", but after seeing them on the road, I've come around.

 

I know rear disc turbo brakes aren't impossible to find, but lets face it, they're not getting easier to find and not getting cheaper. I see ea82 front disc setups all the time at the JY. I think its a idea that at least is worth consideration

[Numbchux]

I've cut output shafts on an NP242 tranfercase before while its in gear and it works great to ensure an even cut. Lots of guys running a NP242 in a Cherokee have done it for an SYE. I've also worked around large lathes, endmills, and various large machinery and as long as your safe and respect the forces involved, your fine. A lot of shops now turn rotors while they are still on vehicle, to reduce teardown/install time, and it works fine.

 

 

 

Lol...I know where your coming from, but what I'm talking about isn't really too much far from redrilling a drum to a 6X5.5" lug. When I first saw a redrilled 6 lug hub, I thought "Ghetto", but after seeing them on the road, I've come around.

 

I know rear disc turbo brakes aren't impossible to find, but lets face it, they're not getting easier to find and not getting cheaper. I see ea82 front disc setups all the time at the JY. I think its a idea that at least is worth consideration

 

I've done the Jeep SYE mod with it in gear. that's with just the output shaft spinning. You're talking about the entire drivetrain spinning (actually, you'll probably have to leave one rear wheel on the ground, otherwise the rear diff wouldn't let the one you're working on spin). It could be done, but it is quite ghetto, and still a fairly bad idea.

 

 

Also, drilling 4 holes and putting lug studs in them is not even slightly comparable in ghetto-ness than what you're proposing. Drilling 4 holes, somehow putting studs/bolts in them without having anything protrude into the WMS, and cutting the whole thing down. All of this could properly be done with a good machine shop, but you're not talking about doing it right.

[El Presidente]

Yeah your right, Not the right way to do it, and probably not a good idea in general. Thanks for the input guys