Brake Upgrades For A 76 Cj5?

So yesterday my wheel bearing service turned into a brake job. But I'm adding a booster and was already planning to run all new lines including braided stainless up front, so realistically this isn't much additional work. (Somebody put CJ 11" disc brakes up front on this one.)

One of the calipers is seized and there is other damage to the pad retainer plate and screw on that side. The pad also has some of the weirdest damage I've ever seen (a V shaped chunk taken out of the middle of it). The rear drums are shot, there was no pad material left on three of the four shoes. The rear slave cylinders don't look very happy either.

I know front calipers are readily available, but are there any cheap, easy upgrades I should be thinking about? Maybe some kind of two-piston that'll fit into a 15" wheel? For the rears, I assume it's a lot of work to switch to disc brakes, is that the case? Cheap is the key word, I'm not dropping $2K on Wilwood or something like that. (I used to race, I've changed a LOT of brake pads in my day, I actually think the front caliper design is kind of clever.)

 

Hmm, I see my calipers are 2-bolt (one exposed bolt down low, and the other on top behind the brake line port), which I think means they're 79-86? Does that matter for ordering pads? Does it matter for the removable part of the caliper?

Aren't old cars fun? lol

 

i'd imagine with a rebuild the rear brakes would be fine, right? they should be 11" drums, which are the better of the drum brakes on jeeps. i don't know on the fronts.

 

JMO - you don't need disks on the rear axle. The rears do very little work in hard braking, since the weight of the vehicle transfers to the front. I would refurbish to factory specs. Indeed, in 1978 Jeep made front disks standard and reduced the size of the rear drum brakes on CJs, from 11"x2" to 10"x1.75". They also don't wear out very fast, due to the light duty they see. You need the right prop valve for a disk-drum system, since the rear will get really light in severe braking.

There's no upgrade for the front calipers that I know of. You might search jeepforum.com for some commentary - the '76 is a "late" type and there is lots of material there about this vintage. Select the pads you want. As you found, disk brakes were not available on the CJ in 1976, and your front disks were swapped in.

site:jeepforum.com CJ-5 brake upgrades - Bing

If you want a big upgrade, you might fully service what you have and consider hydroboost, assuming you have power steering.
CPP UNIHBK-SB Universal Hydroboost Hydraulic Power Brake Booster
The AstroVan hydroboost is a popular upgrade for hot rods and such.

 

Tim, could you clear something up for me? You have stated this several times yet I have seen where disk brakes were a option in 1976. JeepTech.com for example notes this (Jeep Axle: Dana 30 (jeeptech.com) and when looking up parts for a 1976 era Dana 30 axle, disk brake parts are listed.

 

I may have stated that disk brakes were an option for a '76 a decade or two ago. If I did, I was conflating "late" with disk brakes - not so. I now realize that front disks were not available for the CJ in 1976. They were introduced as optional in 1977. Disks became standard in 1978, and sometime in 1978, Jeep went to the smaller rear drums. The parts book confirms this.

According to the book -
1976: 4-wheel 11"x2" drum brakes only
1977: 4-wheel 11"x2" drum brakes standard, Front disks with 6-bolt caliper bracket and 11" rear drums optional.
1978: transition year - 4-wheel 11"x2" drum brakes export only, front disks with 6-bolt caliper bracket and 11" rear drums transitions to front disks with 2-bolt caliper bracket and 10" rear drums, one or the other standard domestically.

 

Thanks guys.

The removable piston portion of the caliper is different between 2- and 6-bolt right?

 

That I don't know. I could look at the parts book (I'm at work now) but it likely will not break out the piston by itself. If the seals are different, I'd assume that the pistons are different.

 

I just meant the part that contains the piston -- the part you remove from the rotor to change pads etc. But now I've realized the rotor thickness is different too, so it's almost certainly not interchangeable and I need to source a 79+ caliper to replace my seized one.

 

Looking at the parts book, the calipers are indeed different between the 6-bolt and 2-bolt versions. Caliper changes again in 1980. They also sold a seal kit that included a new piston, which is also different 6 to 2. This kit does not change for 1980 though, which suggests it's some (possibly minor) external change to the caliper. Bracket does not change for '80 either.

 

And my bearing job, turned brake job, just turned into a spindle job. Yowza. Nothing on either hub was assembled properly, but this is a whole new level of "somebody take away that man's toolbox." Wow.

 

When I ppt a newer front axle on my 76 CJ5 I thought it was a 77 but the rotor didn't fit. Way to thick.
It must of been a 78, 2 bolt brake caliper. As all those part fit nicely.

This was my first attempt with a 77 rotor and a 78 2 bolt caliper

No room for pads


I also have a 1980 front axle with disk brakes, and those are a different design although they are also 2 bolt, they are just like the ones on my 84 front axle.

 

Fwiw the met calf brackets are an easy upgrade for discs on a drum 30.