D35 disc brake conversion question

Why would you want to mess with the 35?

Ditch it, get a 8.8 with disks for prob. what you would pay for all the disk set up stuff.

pabloconrad said:

Yodels All

Is it possible to do a rear disc brake conversion on a Dana 35? If so, are there write-ups and links I can get? I've searched to no avail.

Thanks.

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You did not get my PM ?

pabloconrad said:

Yodels All

Is it possible to do a rear disc brake conversion on a Dana 35? If so, are there write-ups and links I can get? I've searched to no avail.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Plenty of write ups. Lotsa information, many members have done it.
With or without ABS.

its easy, no need for a writeup, get the brackets, dust sheilds, rotors and calipers off a grand cherokee with discs, clean them up, replace the brake parts with new (never run used brake parts imo) take apart your 35, take off the drum dust sheilds/brackets, use NEW GRADE 8 BOLTS with STOVER nuts for safety to mount the disc brake assemblies, find a way to mount the banjo hoses (i used a giant hose clamp while I got a welder to weld some brackets onto the axle) then bleed the system. You can also get the cables from the grand cherokee to the park brake. some writeups show how to modify the disk brake assembiles to take the xj cables but I did that and it doesn't work too well so I say use grand cherokees. Thats about it. I recommend replacing the seals at the end of the tubes while you are at it.

But by the time it was all said and done I would have saved swaping in a ford 8.8. and now that I am a wheeler (this was pre wheeling so i saw no reason to see a swap) i have just finished my gear swap and ARB in a 98 ford 8.8 to swap in, so perhaps if you wait for awhile you may see an ad for some slightly used Grand cherokee brakes ready for use in a cherokee for sale on ebay....

Bottom line its worth it to have disc brakes. if you are wheeler scarp the 35, and spend it on the 8.8 and get discs in the process (btw they are almost identical, I still think Jeep used the same disc brakes ford uses) or if just a street guy keep the 35 and put the brakes on, either way its worth it.

i have this one

http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoRearDiscs1.htm

Of course it would be helpful to mention what year D35 you're talking about. Non-clip has a different backing plate bolt pattern and you have to worry about the bearing retainer. Crown Vic rear disks are a somewhat straight forward swap requiring only mild enlargening of the rotor holes, custom bearing retainer spacer since the backing plate is thicker (no the TJ D44 retainer doesn't work), and redoing the hard line end to metric to accept a pair of passenger side soft lines.

lawsoncl said:

Of course it would be helpful to mention what year D35 you're talking about. Non-clip has a different backing plate bolt pattern and you have to worry about the bearing retainer. Crown Vic rear disks are a somewhat straight forward swap requiring only mild enlargening of the rotor holes, custom bearing retainer spacer since the backing plate is thicker (no the TJ D44 retainer doesn't work), and redoing the hard line end to metric to accept a pair of passenger side soft lines.

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It's a non C-clip D35. I'd rather go the route of getting a D44 w/disc brake set-up. Would a Grand Cherokee's work?

lawsoncl said:

Of course it would be helpful to mention what year D35 you're talking about. Non-clip has a different backing plate bolt pattern and you have to worry about the bearing retainer. Crown Vic rear disks are a somewhat straight forward swap requiring only mild enlargening of the rotor holes, custom bearing retainer spacer since the backing plate is thicker (no the TJ D44 retainer doesn't work), and redoing the hard line end to metric to accept a pair of passenger side soft lines.

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Actually, the TJ D44 bearing retainer woked well for mine. I used disc brakes from a '94 Lincoln Towncar and, while there was some minor fab to be done (size of calipers inside of a 4.50 backspaced wheel), it turned out really well.

pabloconrad said:

It's a non C-clip D35. I'd rather go the route of getting a D44 w/disc brake set-up. Would a Grand Cherokee's work?

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The ZJ D44 is aluminum and by most accounts not worth having.

John90XJ said:

Actually, the TJ D44 bearing retainer woked well for mine. I used disc brakes from a '94 Lincoln Towncar and, while there was some minor fab to be done (size of calipers inside of a 4.50 backspaced wheel), it turned out really well.

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What part number did you use? I ordered a pair of TJ Rubi retainer plates, Mopar number 5083678AA, which everyone on swore would work by just redrilling the two holes. Here were their measurements of what I received.

part number 5083678AA
Thickness 0.15"
Lip Height 0.225"
Hole ID 2.52"
Hole OD 2.75"

The OD of the D35 non-clip outer seal and bearing is 2.556", which leaves a very slim 18 thousands contact around the outside edge of the seal, assuming you got it perfectly centered on the seal. Given the slop in the holes, I couldn't guarantee that. Plus the lip height was a lot taller than the .135" I figured I needed. I was figuring all the guys who said the retainer plate should work must have been talking about XJ D44s which do have bigger bearings.

Ultimately I used a makeshift lathe (think drill press and a hand grinder) to cutout the old retainer plates down into suitable spacers.

I used 95 Crown Vic brakes and had to do some of the same minor mods. Shave a little off the bottom of the axle tube flange so the backing plate sat right, and enlargen the center hole and bolth holes a tad with a die grinder. Then just redoing the rear hard lines to a metric end to match the ford oem soft lines. I didn't have any of the other clearance or spacing issues you ran into. Your write up was one of the ones I referenced before tackling my upgrade.

lawsoncl said:

What part number did you use? I ordered a pair of TJ Rubi retainer plates, Mopar number 5083678AA, which everyone on swore would work by just redrilling the two holes. Here were their measurements of what I received.

part number 5083678AA
Thickness 0.15"
Lip Height 0.225"
Hole ID 2.52"
Hole OD 2.75"

The OD of the D35 non-clip outer seal and bearing is 2.556", which leaves a very slim 18 thousands contact around the outside edge of the seal, assuming you got it perfectly centered on the seal. Given the slop in the holes, I couldn't guarantee that. Plus the lip height was a lot taller than the .135" I figured I needed. I was figuring all the guys who said the retainer plate should work must have been talking about XJ D44s which do have bigger bearings.

Ultimately I used a makeshift lathe (think drill press and a hand grinder) to cutout the old retainer plates down into suitable spacers.

I used 95 Crown Vic brakes and had to do some of the same minor mods. Shave a little off the bottom of the axle tube flange so the backing plate sat right, and enlargen the center hole and bolth holes a tad with a die grinder. Then just redoing the rear hard lines to a metric end to match the ford oem soft lines. I didn't have any of the other clearance or spacing issues you ran into. Your write up was one of the ones I referenced before tackling my upgrade.

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I did use both the stock AND the TJ RUbi spacers/retainers when I did mine. Could that be the difference? IIRC, they fit perfectly, one within the other, and then it was simply making sure the holes lined up. I've been running it for some time and when the AirLocker went in the guys at ARB didn't have any trouble taking it apart or putting it back together. I had asked them to look at the seals to see if any undue pressure or distortion was being caused and everything checked out OK.

As for the clearance issues, are you running wheels with less backspacing? That was a new one on me after having read all the other accounts that problem hadn't come up before.

lawsoncl said:

The ZJ D44 is aluminum and by most accounts not worth having.

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The D44A may not be the real thing but Chrysler uses it on Grands with tow or similar options that require something better than a D35.
If you found one cheap, it might be worth getting it.

from my understanding the 44a has noise problems associated with it and i was told to stay away from it when i ask on grand cherokee fourms,

i put discs on my 35 yes i know its a pos but hey i have it locked and i wanted some securty of making it home if a shaft breaks,

the dana 44 and 35 use the same whole pattern on the grand cherokees so when i upgrade to a 44 i will be using the disc brakes there as well,

i tried keeping my abs on the 35 but it didnt work, when i build my 44 im gonna buy some zj shafts and make it work with the abs, mainly because my parents want me to keep the abs, and the few times it has kicked on it worked great

I used the TSM kit...yes it's more expensive than boneyard parts, but it works well, they offer good tech support and replacement parts are as close as your local parts store....STOCK 83+ Lincoln rotors and 78-83 Monte Carlo calipers (for no parking brake option) or 79-85 El Dorado, Riviera or Toronado calipers (if you need a parking brake) Another reason I went with them is you don't have to deal with those weenie little parking brake shoes that get packed full of mud. Which is the reason i tossed the stock drums.

John90XJ said:

I did use both the stock AND the TJ RUbi spacers/retainers when I did mine. Could that be the difference? IIRC, they fit perfectly, one within the other, and then it was simply making sure the holes lined up. I've been running it for some time and when the AirLocker went in the guys at ARB didn't have any trouble taking it apart or putting it back together. I had asked them to look at the seals to see if any undue pressure or distortion was being caused and everything checked out OK.

As for the clearance issues, are you running wheels with less backspacing? That was a new one on me after having read all the other accounts that problem hadn't come up before.

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The retainers I got had a bigger hole than the original retainers, so they wouldn't have stacked like that. The OD on the lip did seem right for the TJ D44 bearings as I recall. They fit nicely in the ford backing plates too. I just did some googling and found a different part number of 1-05010811AA for TJ D44 with drum brakes. I suspect the difference is in the lip height due to a different baking plate, but now I wonder if the center hole is different?

I'm running AR-767 15x8 steel wheels with 4.75" backspacing and had no clearance problems between the rotor and the wheel. I think I would have had problems with the stock cast wheels though.

lawsoncl said:

I'm running AR-767 15x8 steel wheels with 4.75" backspacing and had no clearance problems between the rotor and the wheel. I think I would have had problems with the stock cast wheels though.

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Mine, like I mentioned, are 4.50" BS and they just touched the edge and some material had to be taken off to clearance. I took some more off to make them aesthetically pleasing and to leave a fair amount of clearance all the way around.

My wheels are RockCrawlers from 4 Wheel Parts. Not sure how much difference that would make but apparently it did.