brake upgrade

[keyring]

I've been reading up on the forum tonight, and there seems to be some conflicting views...

Is there any brakes i can bolt on to the front of my 410 as an upgrade that are straight bolt on items?
If i upgrade the front calipers would i be better getting a new master cylinder?
Also considering changing the rears to disc too, to save the hassle of drums
any help would be great!

[Anton]

My SJ stops very nicely, and it's only had a rear disc conversion. What's wrong with your front brakes?

[keyring]

Maybe I'll just do a rear brake conversion then!
I'm offshore at the moment so can't get a look at my front calipers, but I don't expect them to be in the best condition, especially the bleed nipples.... But you never know!
Was just trying to get info before I get home so id know what I'd need to order, but it would save alot of hassle kkeeping the original brakes and just changing the rear to disc!

From what I've read on here, the load compensating valve on the brake lines have a high chance of snapping the bleed nipple when trying to remove it, does anyone know where I could get a new one of these?

Ciaran

[ScottieJ]

Use vitara lwb or GV callipers and mounts, however the later need 16" wheels or wheel spacers to clear the calipers.

Yours is a 410 as well isn't it, upgrade the master cylinder to a samurai/vitara unit, you will have a servo as well then.

tbh front calipers are far too powerful for the rear, yes it works but its far from ideal IMO. If you've ever had to do an emergency stop in the wet you'll soon find out a brake bias valve is the absolute minimum that should be included when you do the conversion.

[keyring]

So you recommend sticking with drums on the back and lwb vitara lwb calipers with a samurai/vitara master cylinder?
I assume the vitara master cylinder is a straight fit the same as the samurai?
Yeah mine is a 410

[keyring]

Also, do you have the load compensating valve still installed? Someone recommended removing it, but I don't fancy having the rear end lock up on under a heavy brake!
But from what I read, I don't see much chance of the bleed nipple coming out easily, so thought it was maybe best to replace it if I can get a new one somewhere...

[keyring]

Gets better, just realised the shell i have bought already has a servo mounted on it! Winner!!

[ScottieJ]

I'm not saying it's best to stick with rear drums, but you need to factor in that the rear will be over braked using Sj callipers.

I've never had an issue with the bleed nipples on the valve on any SJs and have always kept it when converting to discs. the back end will still lock up before the front, however I've had that happen with rear drums as well....the beauty of brake dive

If fitting a servo and cylinder off a Sammy/Vit into a 410 body it's not a straight fit.....then again some late Spanish 410s did have servos so it will be with them.

[keyring]

Yeah, I was thinking discs on the rear more for the fact of there not being drums to get clogged up and full of sh*t

Fingers crossed mine doesn't have an issue coming loose then! Filled me with a bit more confidence

I read up last night and seen I have to change the bulk head abit, luckily the tin top shell seems to have a servo fitted in the photos, so should be a straight fit onto that hopefully!

[Anton]

When I went to rear discs, I fitted rover 25 rear callipers to mine as they're about the right piston size to maintain the brake balance. It's common to do this, but I'm thinking of swapping to something else as these calipers had new pads in them, I've done about 1000 miles in the truck since fitting them, and the rear pads are shot already.

I have a feeling the handbrake mechanism in these callipers is stopping them from releasing properly, making them bind a little and that's eaten the pads away.

Shame, as they're otherwise fabulous. Just the right balance.

The thing is, they're not really "better" at stopping me than the old drums were, they just don't fill up with mud and then become useless. So I wonder if there's something wrong with your current drum setup that's causing your brakes to be so useless. When I had 31x10.5 road tyres on this thing, hard braking meant the vehicle would try to garrotte you with the seatbelt. It was really that powerful. At least as good as my 08 yaris.

What's your braking like right now? Perhaps there's something else wrong too...? It's just, if there is, upgrading to rear discs might not change anything for you.