Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Gday, i was just wondering, if anyone has rear disks on their sierra, i have a spare set of front rotors, calipers ect from the front of a sierra, can i use them on the back? Any help would be great

Yep, you can but you need caliper mounts. There are aftermarket billet mounts available which also act as the bearing retainer. I think they run at about $350 for a pair.

You can also use the front caliper mounts with a bit of "massaging" but it's not exactly the "nicest" install (shut up Greg )

I'm sure this has been covered before though, do a search and you should find some info.

Oh btw, if you dont already have one start looking for a handbrake that mounts to the tcase.

Simple answer, YES!
Here are the parts I robbed from a Sierra front end to make up my rear disc kit. The caliper mounts have to be modified. Have to cut the centre out of the drum to use as an adapter for the disk to wheel. And find yourself a couple of axle retainers from a 1L Zook. Very simple and cheap to do.

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Two questions;

1 - What do you need to modify on the caliper brackets?

2 - What are the one litre bearing retainers for, or where do they go?

Use vr commodore rear calipers and pads,

they won't lock up as easy as the sierra calipers will in the conversion

and they will have a better pedal feel as well

wat discs would i use with the vr calipers.

Put the Sierra discs and calipers on the rear and convert the front to 4 door vitara vented discs and calipers. That should take care of the brake bias and you get much better braking on all 4 corners instead of what sounds like to be going backwards using the VR stuff.

wat is involved in installing the vitara discs and calipers is just bolt it strail on then bleed the brakes or does it require fabracation.

i've got the billet ally retainer/caliper mount on the rear of mine. works a treat and never had any problems.

though the weld on jobs people do using a cut down front knuckle work just as effectively.

is it really nessecary to have rear discs in such a light vehicle. i think my zook brakes are ok. with the discs does it increase breaking peformance dramatically.

well ill be going down this track very shortly,rear drums just plain suck when they fill with mud, ive gone through 4 sets of shoes on the rear and i am on number 5 now .so do the vitara disks and calipers just swap straight over? ive also got subaru calipers for the rear, so hopefully no more hand brake probs..

so mud really plays havoc with the drum breaks. with subaru calipers you can use the handbrake on them. otherwise ya need a t/c handbrake correct me if im wrong.

RB zook wrote:so mud really plays havoc with the drum breaks. with subaru calipers you can use the handbrake on them. otherwise ya need a t/c handbrake correct me if im wrong.

Yes mud scres with drums something shocking ..

So much so I had a few sets of shoes for mine ... a set in the vehicle (on the back wheels) a set in getting rebonded and a set at home as spares.. without exageration I could chew out reas in a day on a mud run .. (sandy silica mud woud destroy linings in a day I shit you not) ..
i should daone disks years ago .. The other bonus is backiing down things ... you still maintain braking when going backward ... can be very important in a 4wd desecneding a steep slope backward and the slightest hint of braking locking up the front due to being unweighted.

Well my setup will consist of sierra rear discs and calipers, vitara vented front discs and calipers and a subaru master cylinder (1-1/16" bore)
All this should make it stop like a sports car!!

sounds like the way to go. ill put it on my to do list.
wat do u use for A hand brake

BAZOOKA -

What do you need to modify on the caliper brackets?

What are the one litre bearing retainers for, or where do they go? Are they from the front or back or a 1 litre zook?

Also does the subaru master cylinder just bolt right up?

This link will show you how to do the rear disc conversion that I have done.
http://www.off-road.com/suzuki/tech/welddiscs.htm

Because you have removed the drum brake backing plate that is also the axle retainer then you have nothing holding in the axle. You can either cut up the backing plates or simply use the 1L ones that are already the correct size and perfect for the job.

The Subaru master cylinder is direct bolt on to the Sierra brake booster. All that is needed is the piston rod has to be lenghtened to suit and the brake lines have to be re-routed to fit the subaru cylinder.

As I have now lost my handbrake due to the rear discs I am making up a Transfer Case mounted Disc handbrake that should have more holding power than the crappy earlier model drum brake and also look heaps cooler

RB zook wrote:wat discs would i use with the vr calipers.

sierra front rotor's, it's all the same as the sierra disc brake conversion but you modify the mounting plates to suit the VR calipers and use VR pads then there's a less of a need for a proportioning valve, as for the subaru calipers, try to stick away from the calipers that have an inbuilt hand brake as the mud usually ceazes them up really quick !!!!
Just use the NT sierra trans brake and get the inner drum done with knurling on the braking face and then it will work really good !!!!

don't worry about the handbrake pads wearing out because you only use the handbrake when you've stopped...