Liberty rear discs

I hate drum brakes so I'm going to install 1st gen liberty rear discs on my 8 1/4, is it as easy as getting new calipers and hubs or am I missing something, seems to easy to do

doug

hmmm, and i searched a bunch too, so backing plates, rotors and calipers, pretty sure my hoses will work.....any reason why people would buy the 600 dollar tereflex kit?

H8PVMT said:

any reason why people would buy the 600 dollar tereflex kit?

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This is what I did on my D44, which I had picked up minus brakes. It wasn't so much that I had six bills burning a hole in my pocket as I just couldn't find anything in the junkyards that I'd want to trust lives to, and by the time I did the math on buying new brake hardware piece-by-piece it just made more sense to spend a little more and have one box containing all the necessary brand-new parts turn up on the doorstep.

As relates to the 8.25, this kit may have made more sense a few years ago when there weren't any KJs in the junkyards to pick from - but I'd still be hesitant to use brake parts I haven't pulled, and more so if they're not coming off of a vehicle that I knew the history behind. I've seen more than one junkyard car with brakes that look great from the outside but that are entirely rotten from within.

i was intending on buying the parts new at the store, not pulling them

The caliper bracket is cast iron, as long as it is not damaged it will last forever. You take the old calipers in for cores on your new clipers and get fresh rotors and hoses at the same time. The only "used" part will be the caliper bracket, and it will be newer than your front axle caliper bracket.

I got complete Libby disk brakes (brackets, caliper, rotors) for $50 from the junkyard.

so all I need are brackets calipers and rotors off a liberty?

Tim_MN said:

The caliper bracket is cast iron, as long as it is not damaged it will last forever. You take the old calipers in for cores on your new clipers and get fresh rotors and hoses at the same time. The only "used" part will be the caliper bracket, and it will be newer than your front axle caliper bracket.

I got complete Libby disk brakes (brackets, caliper, rotors) for $50 from the junkyard.

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X2

H8PVMT said:

so all I need are brackets calipers and rotors off a liberty?

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You will need to cut and or bend your existing hard line depending how you route your new soft lines. You can rent the flange tool for free at kragen or autozone.

Josh

i have a bunch of extra lines...just put all new ones in, buddy has the flange tool to rebend

auto zone shows all parts for less than 200ish bucks, doesn't seem too bad

I also replaced the wheel studs with 2001 front dana 30 studs. Although some will say they are fine the factory wheel stud are to short IMO.

I replaced the backing plate studs with the liberty ones as well, they are much longer

http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1027872&highlight=wheel+studs

Easy. I hate drum brakes too... in fact I just did this last night. Want my old drum brake hardware? :spin1: It is almost brand new, I just didn't want to reassemble it.

I didn't do the Liberty ones, I did the ZJ ones, so I had to widen the hole out a bit, but still, easy. Buy all the rear brake hardware, including the splined stud bolts that go in the brake mounting flange (knock em out carefully with a BFH and a punch so you don't booger up the threads), install on axle. It took me about 30 minutes with my dremel and the largest wide-body abrasive stone Lowe's had ($6.50 for 2, I ended up using both) to widen the holes out till they were approx. 2.90", the ends of the tubes on the 8.25 were 2.875" or so but rusty so I added a little wiggle room. Went right on.

I haven't checked wheel stud length but it is likely I will have to change the studs to keep running my alloy rims on the MJ with this axle. Steel rims you could almost certainly get away with the stock studs.

Costs -
$53 inc. tax - calipers, soft lines, rotors, backing plates, mounting bolts from a ZJ with rear discs (I happened to pull mine from one with a d44a, but they should be the same on the d35 iirc.) Picked this all up at Sam's in Worcester.
$6 + tax - new axle tube seals at AutoZone. Figured I might as well swap em out while I was in there.
$6.50 inc. tax - 2 of the largest thickest dremel abrasive stones I could find at Lowe's

I still have to figure out how to set up the e-brake cables, shouldn't be hard though. If all else fails I will drop another 20 bucks on a set of e-brake cables from a ZJ and find a way to connect it to the splitter assembly on the MJ.

I am being :gee: and running the junkyard ZJ rotors and pads as they looked like they were in decent shape (aside from the mud stuck to them) but if they give me any problems, I'll end up tossing a bit more cash to get new ones from rockauto.

I thought about doing this but I just bought an 8.8..... Its a worthwhile swap whether you buy a kit, axle, or junkyard parts. Drums are STUPID!!!!!

I put KJ discs on my 44 a bunch of years ago. Worked like crap with the stock XJ master and booster. Worked so-so with a WJ master and booster. Works perfect with a '95 E350 Super Duty master and booster. Just and fyi of course.

Do it, just get a big master and booster.

--Matt

I just did a KJ disco swap on my 8.25 this summer. I scored a whole rear axle from a 06 KJ for free. the axle tubes are the same at the end between an XJ and a KJ 8.25

You will need longer Caliper bracket bolts. I got G8 bolts with fine thread and flattened one side just like the stock bolts used some blue locktite and they went on just fine.

All brake parts including the internal E Brake were all good. I also changed my shock mounts so I ran all new steel lines and ordered a set of 9" steel braided brakelines from Russel Performance. Had to crash course myself in brakeline threads and the different coupling styles. Just get new wheel studs for your D30. plenty of thread there.

End result, it does stop easier. much less pedal. but I think a better booster may help. All I have into my swap are the flex lines. I was planning on all new steel lines and bearing anyways so that really dont
count in the disc swap.

I dont know why poeple say you cant use the KJ e brake cables. I have about a 4.5" lift and the KJ cables will be perfect. so if you can get those too.

I have more pics laying around, feel free to PM me too if you have any questions.

thanks for the info guys, ramjet I'll probable get in touch with you when/if i do the swap, thanks

and kastein, you can always throw some discs on my 96, you know, while your there and all :clap:

What are the pros and cons of doing KJ vs ZJ no so much the level of the work to install, but the performance or details of one over the other.

I wouldn't think there would be much performance difference just more a ZJ is easier to find but a KJ is direct bolt up. 6 1 half dozen of the other I think.

Anyone with this mod tried using the ford explorer e brake cables?

They should work also.

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