front disk brake swap possible on a 72 winnie brave 22ft

[The_Handier_Man1]

From: malodin1  (Original Message)
Sent: 4/28/2008 8:12 PM

Its been awhile since ive been on here but ive been busy working on getting a garage built and all....i am getting closer to it so i am thinking about upgrades to my winnie and am wondering if anyone has swapped in front disk brakes if its possible or worth it?

i have a 1991 dodge 1 ton CTD and am contemplating swapping the diesel into it and need to change the rearend out the dodge rearend is either a d60 or d70 the rearend in the mh is a hd70

I am also tempted since they are both 2wd to think that the front calipers and stuff might bolt onto the mh

any thoughts or suggestions?



From: denisondc
Sent: 4/29/2008 5:29 AM

The drum to disc conversion has been done on an M300 chassis by 'slantsixness'; have a look at his album.
Does your Winnie have 5 bolt hubs (M400 chassis) or 8 bolt ones (M300 chassis)?
If you do a message search in the 'Chassis Mechanical' board you can find several threads on the topic of engine swaps. I searched using the word 'swap'. Also, when I do searches, I dont use the MSNgroups search feature, since it doesnt work with my browser (Mozilla). Instead I use the search feature the browser has. Browsers all have one, and they work fine.

There are several sites on the web where people have described putting the Cummins Diesel in place of 413's and 440's, including this one into an M400 under a Travco RV:
I think we was pleased with his results, the last time he mentioned it at www.mytravco.com. About a year ago he offered it for sale, for reasons unrelated to its engine or RVing with it.

That being said; Im not one who would swap to a diesel, even if the engine/transmission was given to me. (MichiganDon spent about $10,000 by the time he was done with his Travco conversion). I find I have enough power and I like the originality & the lack of Diesel noise. Mine still has its original split rims, and I have no plan to change those either.
If you do the brake swap, I might be glad to get the master cylinder you remove if yours is an M400 chassis. I might even pay $ for it. There might well be members who would want your front drums too - I expect they will become sought after items.



From: malodin1
Sent: 4/29/2008 8:12 AM

Denison, thank you for the info i knew awhile ago i had read about swapped front brakes.  i have the m400 chassis with the 5 bolt hubs. 

I had the whole donor truck given to me for free and the m/h i only payed 200 for so pretty much whatever i do to it is only time into it. 

my reasons for wanting the diesel is for extra towing power as i will be pulling a 26ft flatbed trailer with a Full Size Jeep with 38" tires and a Daihatsu rocky with 36's, as well as the veggie oil conversion what better platform to do it on then a big box that can hold all the tanks heaters etc. needed to keep the veggie oil burning?

it will be a long time coming before i do get to this swap, i have not decided about swapping in the disk brakes or the rear axle, i may just clean up everything this thing uses to stop with and just swap in the diesel and an allison 1000 behind it so i have double over drive to counter act the 4.56's of the mh



From: denisondc
Sent: 4/29/2008 1:46 PM

What I dont know is whether there were any 5 bolt 'Budd" style hubs that used disc brakes. If not, such a conversion would either involve definite machine work to create set of hubs that would hold the rotor and spindle that would hold the calipers, or having 8 bolt front wheels and 5 bolt rears. But with what you describe I expect there would be room for the two different spares.



From: malodin1
Sent: 4/29/2008 2:37 PM

Deni, your saying my system is the "budd" style brakes?  i think  i will stick with them and not try to figure out another situation



From: denisondc
Sent: 4/29/2008 3:58 PM

Yes, the 5 bolt hubs on an M400 chassis are Budd hubs, though most of the brake system was Bendix. I cant recall who made the drums, either Budd or Bendix I think. If yours is the same as mine, the system has 4 wheel cylinders on the rear axle, two per side. The wheel cylinders arent cheap, and I like to replace mine about each 12 years - even though I bleed the brakes annually. The front brakes have one wheel cylinder per side. The parking brake is a cute little drum mounted on the tail-end of the transmission, and it is 'adequate' for parking; if its been recently adjusted and the handbrake cable isnt stiff with age......But I wouldnt expect to save my skin by using it to help stop the Winnebago when coming down a hill.
You can see what the brakes look like (minus the drums), at the MichiganDon picture albums; & on this site in the another album:
Something I have never nailed down for sure, is whether there were ever disc brakes in 73 or 74, before the M400 chassis was switched over to the 8 bolt hubs. Its a topic that has come up a few times over the years, but I dont recall a definite answer.
Also, if your chassis is an M400, it likely has the 4.56 rear axle ratio. With 7.50-17 tires the driveshaft would be turning about 2780 rpm at 60 mph.
An important consideration would be; how effective are the brakes on your trailer?



From: malodin1
Sent: 4/29/2008 5:54 PM

the trailer will be brand new with brakes on both axles (it may even get 3 axles yet to be determined)

it does have the "parking brake" you describe though it doesnt work very well.

the whole rig only has 60k on it.

i have to go through the whole braking system though and redo just about everything(but thats to be expected, hence why i asked about swapping brakes)

the cummins likes to live between 1400-2200 rpms for towing according to randy's ring and pinion with the overdrive i might just get that