[440 4spd Power Ram]

Got a hydroboost unit and master cylinder from a '84 M1008 CUCV, so maybe this weekend I can actually get the rear brakes done and swapped over to hydroboost before the vacuum booster dies completely, or something else fails like the caliper support spring yesterday.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Here's a price list of what I've gotten for the rear disc conversion and hydroboost.

AC Delco K20 rotors, $68.46
New Eldorado rear calipers with all hardware and pads, $324.00
Caliper brackets, $58.95
Complete M1008 hydroboost assembly, $85.00
Braided hoses, $0 as I had them leftover from another project

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

And now comes the fun part, installing and getting everything adjusted properly so the rear brakes work correctly and don't lock up when I look at the brake pedal 😆

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Step one is getting my heavy arse truck on stands and removing the late model Ram 2500 17" wheels and 305 series tires, also rather heavy.

I'll do a in depth step by step on the more important parts of the rear disc conversion using the Eldorado rear parking brake calipers, I've seen too many with either odd cable routing or upside down mounted calipers, I'm not fond of either so I'll be mounting mine in the leading position but swapped left to right.

Drivers side installed, right side caliper reversed so the bleeder faces the rear and the cable points upwards.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Finished the rear disc conversion late yesterday evening, other than some minor hand fitting of the caliper brackets to the axle and to ensure the calipers could slide freely everything else was straight forward, pressed the lug studs out and removed the drums and installed the new rotors. With the calipers swapped side to side the braided hoses were far too long, so I used a set for a '65 Corvette for a clean installation with no chance of snagging them, another plus is they thread directly into the caliper and are just long enough to attach to the axle housing.

Was running outta time so I didn't make new hard lines yet, I'll do so when the hydroboost is installed and reroute the parking brake cables as well.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Hydroboost unit is resealed and modified to fit, new pressure hose and a rebuilt 1-5/16 bore master cylinder is ready to be installed, should make for very aggressive brakes that aren't extremely touchy or low pedal issues.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Hydroboost conversion is done, the difference in braking power is absolutely incredible, not at all touchy but I can lock all four wheels with ease Vs really having to stand on the brakes to actually lock them with the vacuum booster. Other than some minor bending of the hydroboost to steering gear hose it was a very straight forward conversion, took maybe three hours start to finish including bleeding the hydroboost unit and brakes.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Having to do some fine tuning on the Sniper as just removing the vacuum booster has created a start die issue, apparently the booster was leaking more than I thought it was. Had to increase the idle air position across the board to get it to stay running until she'll settle down and idle.

 

[RevboxRyan]

Hydroboost conversion is done, the difference in braking power is absolutely incredible, not at all touchy but I can lock all four wheels with ease Vs really having to stand on the brakes to actually lock them with the vacuum booster. Other than some minor bending of the hydroboost to steering gear hose it was a very straight forward conversion, took maybe three hours start to finish including bleeding the hydroboost unit and brakes.


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Yeah braking power is awesome with hydroboost. On 90 w350 when had a vacuum set up absolutely sucked with loaded trailer. Hydroboost was one of the best upgrades I did.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Yeah braking power is awesome with hydroboost. On 90 w350 when had a vacuum set up absolutely sucked with loaded trailer. Hydroboost was one of the best upgrades I did.

That's exactly what lead me to doing the first hydroboost conversion on a '75 W300 years ago, the stock brakes just didn't cut it with a heavily loaded horse trailer.

 

[mopar65pa]

I'd love to do a hydroboost on my 93 but it brakes almost as well as my wife's 2000 CTD with hydroboost.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

I'd love to do a hydroboost on my 93 but it brakes almost as well as my wife's 2000 CTD with hydroboost.

Back when everything was new or freshly rebuilt I didn't have any real complaints with the brakes, but twelve years later with it needing a booster again and the rear drums being shot I figured why not go ahead and upgrade everything at once and be done with it, it's definitely worth it with just how much easier it is to stop now 👍

 

[mopar65pa]

Honestly I was surprised when I did front brakes and rotors on both our trucks, as well as a rear adjustment within a month of each other. Cheese and rice My truck stopped on a dime with 500-1000lbs on the bed all the time. Then there's the trailer with 7K on top of that. It does well in factory form.

I will say while towing our gifted 37ft 13Klbs fifth wheel camper from TN to PA here, Her CTD 2000 did an awesome job. 5 speed with a tuner. 19MPGs and 17MPGs Got to love it. It stoped fast in a traffic jam in VA with all that weight, it stopped fast. Faster than I would have thought.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Turns out it wasn't the leaking booster causing the idle/start issue but a dying IAC servo in the Sniper, seems to be a bit of an issue with them being defective. Used one from a '92 5.2 Magnum and now it actually has full high idle kickup on starting as it's supposed to, was getting rather annoying with having to give it gas to restart and not returning to idle when lifting the gas.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

Couldn't be happier with the brake upgrades, had someone try to brake check me a few weeks ago on the interstate but thanks to the much better than stock brakes I out stopped them 😂

 

[Canadian country boy]

I cant wait. Rear discs in a short box should stop on a dime. Plus I won't have to push down so hard on my hand controls. Ive already broke the mount once. Ive been brake checked far to many times and smoked a VW Golf once. Now I'm ready for their games. Lol.
It's a shit show driving around here in the city.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

I cant wait. Rear discs in a short box should stop on a dime. Plus I won't have to push down so hard on my hand controls. Ive already broke the mount once. Ive been brake checked far to many times and smoked a VW Golf once. Lol.

I'd highly recommend going to hydroboost when you are able, you'd never have to worry about damaging the hand controls again as there's so little effort required Vs a vacuum booster, and I've found that setting the parking brake with light pressure on the brake pedal locks the rears down enough to actually stall the 440

 

[Canadian country boy]

Yeah, eventually I will go to hydroboost. Is your park brake lever pointing upwards or downward? Having the bleeder facing up doesn't look to daunting.

 

[440 4spd Power Ram]

The lever faces upward and pulls down towards the axle, just from the opposite side from the normal mounting position.