Rusty Hope Disc Brake Kit

[Jim Shepard]

I've been communicating with Paul about his conversion to disc brakes using the Rusty Hope kit. I'd like to open up the discussion to others who have gone this route. I'd like to get some feedback as to how easy this conversion is and what problems might be encountered. Am I correct that you need to send him your spindles? His web-site says the calipers are GM and, according to his photos, these don't come with the kit. What specific GM car(s) supply the calipers? He says the rotors are MOPAR (also not supplied). Which MOPAR cars provide these? His website also states that he recommends using the master cylinder that goes with the calipers being used. That seems to be a major undertaking, as opposed to just bolting on a modified spindle and new rotors and calipers. Where is the new master cylinder mounted? I hope this isn't too much overload, but I want to get as much of this out of the way before I make the jump... Thanks for any responses.

[bkahler]

Jim,

 

I finished the Rusty Hope installation a few months ago but have not driven the truck yet.  

 

The kit comes with the caliper mounting bracket that have been CNC cut out of plate steel.  He also provides the necessary bolts to make the conversion.  The calipers, rotors, bearings, brake hose, etc are purchased by you at whatever place you buy parts from.  Personally I source mine from Amazon, ebay, the local parts store and probably a few other places as well.  The kit comes with a complete list of parts needed and which vehicles they were sourced from.  

 

You will need to drill 9/16" or 5/8" (can't remember which) in the steering arms on each side.  You will also need to tap two holes in each spindle assembly for I think 9/16-18 threads, again I might be off on the size.  It's been a while and I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning!

 

All in all I think it's a good kit and a good way to go.  Just be prepared to drill some large holes and to tap some large holes.  

 

Here's a link to my thread where I installed the kit.

 

 

Brad

[bkahler]

Forgot to mention the brake MC.  I ended up used a Jeep Cherokee MC mainly because I had to do a rear end swap due to a bad ring gear so I ended up with a Jeep Cherokee differential with disc brakes.  Since I was now going to have discs front and rear I figured a newer master cylinder would probably be appropriate.   I made an adapter plate that put the new MC in the same spot as the old MC.  Needed new plumbing and the pushrod need to be shortened.  

 

Brad

[PT81PlymouthPickup]

Jim,

 

Last year I compared available kits for front disc brake conversion on my 1939 Plymouth pickup. The Rusty Hope kit is popular and I believe a good kit, but after careful comparison I chose Scarebird's kit because it did not require any modification to existing steering components. The Rusty Hope requires drilling out and tapping your steering arms and I believe another modification for the spindle nut cotter pin. It also will offset the wheels outward further than the Scarebird kit. I did not wish to modify the steering arms, just in case I ever decided to reinstall the drum brakes.  Scarebird uses an aluminum hub, Ford Probe rotors, and GM calipers. I've only driven it a few times since install, but it seems to work fine so far. I've read others have had good results. The only minor complaint I had was the bearing dust caps did not fit properly. I had to tweak them to stay in. I too installed a Jeep rear and dual master cylinder, but I have drum brakes on the rear axle.

 

 

[Merle Coggins]

I’ve been running the Rusty Hope kit on my truck for several years now. I cross referenced all of the part numbers given in the kit. Most of them covered many years and makes, but I narrowed it down to a common year, 1985. ‘85 Buick LaSaber calipers, ‘85 Dodge Diplomat Rotors, Ford F-150 bearings, etc... 

 

You can send him your spindles, or you can drill and tap them for ourself if capable. Again, the drill and tap specs are in the instructions. I don’t recall the specifications anymore. I did them myself, but I also had the tooling available where I work. If you don’t, I’m sure you could find a local machine shop that could do the work cheaper than shipping them back and forth to Charlie. I pulled mine off when I drilled and tapped them, but I also wanted to replace the king pins at the same time. Otherwise, with a good drill, and a steady hand, you could do it in place without removing them. 

 

I am still using the stock master cylinder and it is working fine. I realize that I am not gaining the added safety of a dual chamber M/C, but I’m OK with that for now. It stops straight and true without any issues. 

[Dave72dt]

I think the master cyl replacement recommendation  has to do with residual check valve pressure ratings differences between drum/drum, disc/drum and disc/disc setups.  The 12# residual commonly recommended in drum/drum setup may cause a dragging of the discs in a disc/drum or a disc/disc.  Residual check valves used to be built into the master cyl, maybe still there or in the combo/proportioning valve.  I see in the second pic of the Scarebird, it appears to have a residual plumbed into the system.

[PT81PlymouthPickup]

1 hour ago, Dave72dt said:

I think the master cyl replacement recommendation  has to do with residual check valve pressure ratings differences between drum/drum, disc/drum and disc/disc setups.  The 12# residual commonly recommended in drum/drum setup may cause a dragging of the discs in a disc/drum or a disc/disc.  Residual check valves used to be built into the master cyl, maybe still there or in the combo/proportioning valve.  I see in the second pic of the Scarebird, it appears to have a residual plumbed into the system.

Yes, our trucks originally had a residual check valve built into the master cylinder for drum brakes. If you're keeping the oem style master cylinder the check valve should be removed if converting to disc. I believe the check valve would hold around 10-12 psi on the system which will cause discs to drag. I have a 2 lb residual for the front disc and a 10 lb for the rear drum on my system. This keeps a minimum pressure which relates to a faster responding pedal. It's more important on vehicles (like mine) that the master cylinder is below floor or below the calipers or drum brake pistons. I also added an adjustable proportioning valve to set the bias on my custom brake system. There are a lot of factors / variables when altering brake components that can possibly lead to an unsafe system. These are often unnoticeable until a panic stop situation. Automotive engineers calculate and test systems for production applications. I would recommend testing thoroughly in a empty parking lot somewhere before being too confident on the open road. I have learned the hard way. ?  Also make sure there is some free play between the master cylinder piston and the pedal push-rod and if you convert to a split system master cylinder it's important you have full travel of the master cylinder piston in order to gain the safety benefit.

[Bdblazer1978]

I had 2 items that came up when I installed the kit:

1) I had custom flexible brake lines made that had a banjo fitting on one end and the original bolt through frame fitting on the other. 

2) The recommended calipers didn't fit my rims, so I ordered an adapter. 

 

I'm working on a B2C, so I'm not sure if that's what caused the differences. 

 

Overall very happy with the kit and the support while installing was great. 

[Jim Roach]

I purchased one of his kits a number of years ago and just now getting around to geting them installes. I found the kit a lot easier to install than I thought it would be. The only thing I had someone else do was the tapping of the spindals. I took them to my local machine shop but I don’t remember what the cost was. I did upgrade to the Jeep master cylinder. I’m still working on it so I can’t coment on exactly how it will work but I don’t anticipate any issues. I’m also adding my dual carb set up. I had Charley build the intake and exhaust manifolds for me. They fit perfectly. I can’t wait to get it back on the road. To sum it up I don’t think you can get a better kit anywhere than Charley’s. 

[gramps1951]

I have had the rusty hope kit for about 3 years very happy with the kit and was easy to install I had to cut off about half inch on both tie rod ends no big deal to make up for the thickness of the caliper mounting plate to get frontend to line up.  Neil

[Plymouthy Adams]

what timing this topic...I just got off the phone with Charlie after calling and wishing him a Merry Christmas and better year for 2021...if you ever get a chance to meet Charlie, I think most will find him an excellent person to know.

[bach4660]

I used a 7" mc mounted under the cab, looked great was tough to check fluid levels (had to pull up the carpet and  remove the tranny cover) but the Rusty Hope conversion worked great