Dodge Axle Swap: Considerations???

I have never seen either vehicle with a 4 lug wheel that said the W150 axel is most likley wider than the jeep

Dodge wheels will fit.

Now I have a headache.

Yeah. What exactly do you want to wind up with here? You have a 30 year old Jeep with "original D30 front/AMC20 rear & 11" drums all 'round" that as far as we can tell, is still operational. Why do you want to change it? Disks are nice, but 11" drums aren't too bad either.

Earle

Well, drum brakes just don't cut it for braking and the Dana30 needs to be overhauled completely (driveshaft, all internals, axle U-joints, ball joints). So, looking at ditching it and starting from scratch. Drink

Drum brakes are fine if they are big enough, and 11-inch on a CJ, well that's big enough. At any rate, the Dodge axles sound like more trouble than they are worth. I would be looking for Scout axles, or rebuild what you have. You can't really make any vehicle bullet proof, but if it is good enough for what you want to do with it, then it's good enough.

Earle

conversion.

Have you ever driven a more modern CJ with front disks and power brakes?

I am 6'4" and 210 lb. My CJ7 has all new rotors, drums and fresh pads and shoes with 33x9.5 muds on.

I was forced to lock up my brakes a couple weeks back due to an idiot pulling a u-turn in front of me and it took 'all' I have to get a little screech out of them. That much foot pressure actually blew one of my brake lines.

Mike

What exactly is the point here? Disks or calipers not big enough? Mismatched master or booster? (If hoses blow, they are defective, in my experience.)

Earle

in my experience also. Plus as they start to stretch, it requires more pressure to get the vehicle to stop.

Dave.

I have not driven a CJ7 that had what I would consider 'good' brakes when compared to any modern car. I have read of lots of folks trying to upgrade them using things like masters out of Caddys and such, but....

I just figure that my CJ7 is the small truck it is supposed to be with braking like a truck.

Mine blew a steel 'line' under emergency stopping. Yes it was one of the older ones on the vehicle.

Mike

Earle Hort>

Interesting, because the brakes on newer Jeeps that I have driven have been pretty good, considering the weight factor. With regard to this thread, I wouldn't recommend slapping on Dodge brakes, without some consideration given to proportioning valve, size of disks, pads and pistons, master cylinder, booster, etc. Unless the parts are all matched more or less properly, it just won't work as well as it could.

Earle

The Waggy brakes pretty well for an old Jeep (it has discs though). Not hard to get the fronts to chirp.

Dave

The 4 wheel disks on my WJ seem to do okay although I've never needed to lock them up (knock wood).

That being said I quickly noticed they weren't as responsive as the brakes on the Audi but that is a unfair comparison I think.

The only problem on the drums I had on the Dodge (and all the vehicles before that) were when you drove through water deeper than the axle that the brakes weren't much good until you rode them long enough to dry them out.

It is all a personal preference I guess, I didn't like disks at first because they were different.

Agreed! And this is a very good point to bring up.

A full application of the brakes should be made daily before ever driving any vehicle. People take braking systems for granted too often! Brake hardware and hoses (hydraulic or pneumatic) are designed to withstand full application of the service brakes.

I was taught early on that this was to be done, along with checking fuel level before driving a vehicle, including (and especially!) the big truck. If hoses burst when testing, this is the time to find out about it, not during an emergency stop.