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After reading some of the S10 forums I came across a bit of knowledge that must be shared. It was said that the S10 axle with rectangular mounting brackets for the drum brakes will accept 91-94 (I will recheck the years) Camaro/firebird rear disc brakes. It is a simple bolt up swap.

I am going to look into this further. If all is well I will be doing this. It is a MUST for drum brake S10 axles. Saves weight, gives better feel, and will look 10x better.

You'll have to let us know if this works out. It'd be a great swap to do for people that already have the S10 axle. But wouldn't it just be easier/cheaper to use the camaro/firebird axle to begin with?

--JOsh

FWIW,

My brother's Super-Stalker came with the S-10 drum-brake live axle. The car weighs roughly 1/3 of what the brakes came out of.

What does going to disks save, weight? No. That they won't overheat? I don't believe the drum set up overheats as-is, so why bother, unless it's the looks...

Whoa, just throwing it out there. If you dont think it is worth it, you certainly dont have to do it. For those who do want disc brakes on the rear this is a viable option.

I personally do not want drum brakes of the back of my sports car. If not only for the look.

Later model S10's come with disc brakes. I actually have a S10 Blazer I am parting out with Disc brakes. It's wider than a standard S10 rear end. But so are Camaro rear ends.

I have drum brakes on the rear of my V8 S10 and they stop it just fine considering there is no weight on the bed. I don't think disc brakes would help. I don't think the trouble of converting it over is worth the alleged advantage. I'm sure drum brakes will haul a Locost down easily.

I wouldn't mind swapping 'em out on mine, but it'd only be for looks. That being the main/only reason, it's not on my "to-do" list. I agree - the drums were built for a heavier truck, so brake fade and other problems should be unlikely.

The main problem with drum brakes is that they do not provide the same feel as disc brakes. They also lock up easier. Mainly, I dont like the way they look.

Check it out and post back. You might do a weight comparison since the question will continue to come up I'm sure. I hope it works out for you.

I have a questions...

Is there weight savings reasons for switching?

Whats the weight difference between the two?


Just so people aren't weighting for the question to be asked

Yes, pun intended.

Hummm!!!

I thought of rear discs for my Ford live axle until I found that discs weigh 40 lbs and drums 18 lbs. Of course this is Ford not GM.

Check it out though. If the sporty look is what you are after maybe there are other places where you can personalize your build. No one will see your rear discs once the car is completed.

Philippe.

They will see the drum brakes through the race rims I plan to put on it . I wont have an update on the weight for a while. Changing out brakes will be one of the last things of the build I do.

ok a newb to the locust but not to disk drum conversions....

don't forget if you swap from drum to disk you might need to change/adjust the front/rear brake proportioning....or get a master cylinder to macth the disk/disk setup. FWIW

I will second the "looks" aspect....

All 98 and up parts (these will work all the way down to 86)

Backing plates (27.00 per side )
Calipers (30.00)
Caliper frames (20.00)
Pads ($20.00)
Discs (36.00 per side at advance auto parts)
OR a loaded caliper from Advance autoparts (includes frame, pads, calipers, bolts, et-al)
Stock bolts
Dust shields (12.00 per side at the dealer)
Brake lines to the caliper...($15.00 each)

Simply remove your old shoes and the backing plates, install the new backing plates then the calipers, etc... Bleed and go...

this is to add later year disc brakes to your s truck rear end and for anyone interested here are the rpo with ratio can be found in the glove box
GU4=3.08
GU5=3.23
GU6=3.42
GT4=3.73
GT5=4.10
HC4=4.56

G80 - limited slip

Most disk brakes have slight drag creating rolling resistance most drums do not. In a light car I don't think they would be worth the effort but thanks for the info cause I've got a v8 s10 that could use some help slowing down.

Speedway Motors sells everything necessary to convert the S10 rear axle from drum to disc brakes. I hate drum brakes and refuse to buy any vehicle equipped with them. I certainly would not consider them for my Seven build. Drums belong on 1930's era cars.

My Ford Turbo Coupe donor has rear discs on the 8.8 rear axle but I"ll be converting the 4-lug parts over to 5-lug using Ranger and Mustang parts. The front will use MustangII/Pinto spindles and brakes. I'll probably go with GM calipers all the way around.

While recently looking through a Jeg's catalog I found a set of rear axle spacers that converted the S10 bolt pattern to the Ford/Mopar 5x4.5" bolt pattern. Since my frame is setup for the S10 rear axle and these are cheap in my area, this may be a better/cheaper solution. My 8.8 already has a limited slip so it's a trade-off.

SamM