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Double Disc Brake Conversion

H

Harvo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Chattanooga
I have disc brakes on my rear 8.25 in my 93 from a grand cherokee. The caliper brakets were made to bolt on. Now I'm putting on a recently aquired stock XJ D44. Does anyone know if the caliper brackets will bolt on to the D44 the same way? (Are all the bolts and mounting points the same on both axles?) I don't have the 44 in my possession just yet, so I can't do a side by side.

Thanks
 
Nope,youll have to weld and re-drill either the brackets or the flange!
 
So it's as easy as filling in the holes and redrilling the bracket with new ones? Not too bad. Does the position of the caliper have to be different or will it be nearly the same?
 
I'm to the point now where I need the spacer. The stupid dealership is playing dumb about the Rubicon Bearing Retainer. They say they need the last 6 of the VIN number to get the right rear end and the right part.

Does anyone have a part number for the Rubi bearing retainer plate?

Thanks!!
 
So after some looking, the Rubicon 44 plate looks like it has different bolt holes. I could just sandwich it between the stock plate and the rest of the assembly iguess. I would be cutting it in half anyway. The spacer part would keep it from sliding around once it was all bolted up and it should do the job. You think?
 
thats what i am doing
 
The Rubi plates need to be outside of the bearing. That means either pressing the bearings off and back on with the Rubi plates in place of the factory reatiners or cut them in half like I mentioned above. This is true for the D44 rear, I'm not sure hows this works with a C-clip axle like the 8 1/4 though.
 
I filled and re-drilled the XJ D44 pattern on my 8.8 Ford caliper brackets (almost identicle to the GC brakes) and it was real PITA. Are you just swapping your brakes from one axle to the other? Looking through my Teraflex catalog, it seems it's possible to obtain just the caliper brackets/backing plates from their D44 disc brake kit (part#s 004086311 and 004086312 for LH and RH respectively) which would have the correct pattern on them already. I don't have any idea how much it would cost (and I can't find them on their website) but, it would be worth looking into and would save alot of work.....especialy if you had planned to obtain another set of backing plates to modify anyway. If you do look into, post up your findings. BTW, for the spacers, I found that 2 1/2" or 3" (can't remember which) schedule 40 pipe had the exact ID and OD needed so, I had the machinist at work cut two pieces @ .230" , I then cut them in half and welded them back together on the axle (protecting the seal/surface and bearing, of course) --------Hans
 
I used the Grand Cherokee Caliper Plate, and had it filled and redrilled to the D44 pattern. That's all done and it didn't cost much at all. I am going to get the Rubicon Plates / Spacers tomorrow.

I plan on cutting them in half and sandwiching them between the original D44 Plate and the caliper mounting bracket. This should do the job.

Good tip on the schedule 40 pipe. Do you feel it was needed to weld it back together?

BTW... another tip I learned today. The wheel studs will be too short for most alloy wheels when you put the rotors on. You can knock out the studs from D30 front hubs (If you have some old ones laying around) and they will knock right into the D44 axle. They are longer and even have the shank that fits in the rotor holes snugly.
 
Harvo said:
Good tip on the schedule 40 pipe. Do you feel it was needed to weld it back together?
Click to expand...
Well, I cut them in half all the way in half. I welded them back together as I felt it made for a cleaner, more factory looking install. I even considered welding them to the XJ retainers but, I didn't want to remove the bearings.....when it comes time to service the bearings, I probably will.
XpedientJ said:
If using STEEL wheels, are longer studs still needed....???
Click to expand...
I'm using my stock, factory alloy wheels and I didn't need the longer studs so, I think you'd be fine with steel wheels---------Hans
 
Last edited:
Any steel wheel should be fine, and as Hans said, some alloys will be OK. I an using Canyons from a TJ with wheel spacers. I only got 1/2 thread engagement on the spacers, and on the wheels without the spacers I only got about 3/4 thread engagement.

I ran into another problem last night. The block where my brakeline splits and mounts to the axle tube wants to fit right where the D44 plastic breather nipple is. The D44 brake line block mounting hole is about 3 inches to the left. When doing the conversion, I just left my brake lines and calipers mounted as I would be reusing them on the new axle.

How important is it for that block to be bolted to the axle? I can't move it to the mounting hole without cutting and reflaring (which I was trying to avoid for now). How is the plastic breather nipple held into the D44 tube?

It would be nice if it unthreaded and had the same diameter as the 8.25 breather nipple / block mounting bolt combo that came off the Jeep.

How did you guys solve this one?
 
Just found out something else pertinent.

Not all D30 wheel studs are the same length. I don't know what my long ones came off from, but if you hit the parts store for 93 or above wheel studs, you get shortys.

Also... I had to grind some on the center hole of the rotor. The Center flange on the D44 axles isn't as cleanly machined as the later model Dana axles. It didn't want to fit down over it until I clearanced it.
 
99+ D30 wheel studs are longer than the pre 99 ones due to the thickness of the rotors they run.
 
Another thing I found out through the school of duh...

The Rubi plates came in and I was anxious to cut them. For all those who plan on "sadwiching" the Rubi plate between the stock plate and the caliper bracket, don't get crazy with the recip saw. All you have to do is trace your bolt pattern from the caliper bracket, and drill new holes just a little bigger than the ones in your stock D44 plate.

My first one was all about cutting material away to clear the bolts for the axle. I ended up with a funny looking cross with a big hole in the middle. It wil work, but I will have to be careful not to bend the stock plate over the funny cut one while tightening.

The good news is that a sawzall cuts those plates well if you have a vice.
 
The saga continues...

If you are sandwiching the Rubi plate between the D44 stock retainer plate and the caliper bracket, you will need longer studs from the axle housing.

The article I was using suggested that 1 1/4 inch was long enough, but by adding the thickness of another plate, you will need at least 1 1/2 inch flange studs.

I'm in the last stages... whew.
 
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