Brake drum to disk conversion

liquidsteel · Post by **liquidsteel** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:14 pm

Ok, I have an awesome 2005 Vibe AWD that has rear drum brakes. My question is how hard would it be to convert it over to disc brake in the rear? Im pretty handy with tools, and I think I could accomplish this. I was unsuccessful with finding any conversion kits online. Because it is an AWD, does that mean I will be stuck with drum brakes in the rear?And if I can convert them, would I want the rear brakes to be anti-locking, like the front brakes?

moonstonemike · Post by **moonstonemike** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:27 pm

I think the gt may have come with 4 wheel disk, I need to check the sales brochure. If it did it would probably be an easy swap

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:55 pm

You might be stuck with them.... Much would depend on the center boar of the discs, weather or not they would fit OVER the axles.. Things could be machined and whatnot, but you are dealing with a whole different game when it's AWD.. But really, unless it's purely for ascetic purpose, there really isn't a need... They wouldn't gain you anything in braking..

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:22 pm

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind Â»But really, unless it's purely for ascetic purpose, there really isn't a need... They wouldn't gain you anything in braking.. Very True. When my dad ordered his Vibe he talked with the service people and asked if there is anything he should/shouldn't get on the vibe, the one thing they mentioned was don't go with the disc's on the rear because you really aren't going to gain anything (Drums have come a long way) and the rotor's have a tendency to rust more on the rear since the car isn't very heavy and this can cause the rear brakes to lock up (rotor needs to be replaced)

liquidsteel · Post by **liquidsteel** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 5:31 am

Thank you very much for the info. I was always under the impression that four wheel disc brakes were better. And I do plan on putting some aftermarket rims on it, and with drums, it would look kinda funny or tacky. But if I dont gain any braking ability, then it may not be worth it.I do enjoy my Vibe, ALOT!

Old Tele man · Post by **Old Tele man** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:06 am

...yes, disc brakes ARE better, especially for fade-resistance when being repeatedly used (driving through twisty mountains, road races, etc.), but they are NOT the best thing for either FUEL ECONOMY or SPEED records....why? because disc brake pads always "ride" against the rotor slightly, causing a small but measurable "friction" which is detremental to both fuel economy and top-end speed...because the faster you go, the MORE resulting friction there is....drum brakes have "retractor" springs which pull the two 'shoes' back away from the 'drum' so there is NO friction losses as there is with disc pads that are "riding" against spinning rotors.

L5K · Post by **L5K** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:18 pm

If you are paying someone to replace your pads, get whatever you want.If you are doing it yourself, get discs and never look back.Almost any higher performance option for any car has disc brakes anymore. The advantages of drums in the speed/friction department are negligible and when you are working on them you'll be glad you got discs and don't have to waste time with springs and tensioners and rust built up all over the drums.

Kamikaze · Post by **Kamikaze** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:21 pm

Quote, originally posted by liquidsteel Â»Thank you very much for the info. I was always under the impression that four wheel disc brakes were better. And I do plan on putting some aftermarket rims on it, and with drums, it would look kinda funny or tacky. But if I dont gain any braking ability, then it may not be worth it.I do enjoy my Vibe, ALOT! I'll tell you anytime you're comparing everyone is going to have their opinions. Personally I would think that disc's would be better in the rear. I havn't done any concrete investigating so I can't state facts. But from what I know, and have heard Drums sure have come a long way. Will Disc's dissipate heat better? I would think so, but how much heat are we talking about on our little cars for the kind of spirited driving we are doing? If I were auto crossing and my vibe was my huh huh... race car...then yeah, Disc's are probably the better bet... but I'm probably going to want to have bigger brakes up front anyway, so I'd have to do a big brake upgrade front and rear..... so if I had the money to spend on a big brake upgrade, then I probably will have the money to put into everything else on the car right? so next thing I know I have $35k into my vibe and it still isn't as good as half the cars in my class... We've just come to the realization that unless upgrading for ascetic purposes, or because we have them just laying around, it's probably not worth the time nor the energy to swap them out. I will agree that disc's would look nice on the back of my vibe with my wheels, but the only person that really is going to notice is me.

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 8:33 pm

There have been people who have talked about using the celica gts rear disks and associtated hard ware to make the conversion. You would have to do the research.

B14CK_H4WK · Post by **B14CK_H4WK** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 2:39 pm

here is a link to buy the conversion for our carhttp://www.neverenoughauto.com...=3482

liquidsteel · Post by **liquidsteel** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:20 pm

THANK YOU!This is exacly what I was looking for.By the way, that photo of your vibe, looks alot lke mine. Do you have the moon and tune package? Is it all wheel drive?Thanks again for the intel!

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:59 pm

Quote, originally posted by B14CK_H4WK Â»here is a link to buy the conversion for our carhttp://www.neverenoughauto.com...=3482Liquid, IF you where to decide to do the swap, don't forget you need to install a proportioning valve for the rear brakes... The forces would be different and you would need to adjust line pressure and/or flow...

B14CK_H4WK · Post by **B14CK_H4WK** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 11:48 am

thanks. you have a link to your garage i want to check out your vibe. yes i do have the moons and tunes package. but all my audio has been replaced except the stock mids/high amp ands its only fwd. i also want to get disk brakes in the back ones i need to replace my brakes I;m going to do it

DrunkenMonster · Post by **DrunkenMonster** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:59 am

Did anything come of this? Very interested in seeing if another vehicle will swap onto our rear. Any suggestions?

liquidsteel · Post by **liquidsteel** » Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:02 pm

Nah, nothing has happened. Ive had a few of those "life happens" issues the past few months that has tapped my finances pretty good. I did however replace the blower motor in my car. It was extremely easy cause I used this sight for a reference. That blower motor sure does work good, espcially since its -25 today with the wind chill.

DrunkenMonster · Post by **DrunkenMonster** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:35 am

Check this out...http://matrixowners.com/index....85847

armandjones82 · Post by **armandjones82** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:37 am

On my part, I would rather stick it with the way to keep my Brake Drum intact instead of having it replaced with the Brake Disc. This is because I can see that in the long run, some car parts may act up not to its good standards when having a conversion. It's like making a gasoline car turn into a diesel car. Hard time, plus consumption of money will be the bad key here!