Disk Brakes on early Hilux RN16

[wolf_rt]

I have a RN16 '70-'71 Hilux. It has twin leading shoe drum brakes on the front which i believe was standard (or very similar) across RN10, RN20, Early Hiace ect. They are unboosted...

having previously owned a RN26 with the same setup, i can say they are quite effective without a load on. With a load (or a worked 202 red motor) they are average at best.

Does anybody know a easy way to convert to front disk? As i want to upgrade the motor (possibly to a 4A GZE or 3S GE)

Should a complete front crosmember be used perhaps? If so, what would be a good choice?

Perferably i can just change the Stub axle assembly, or maybe modify the existing one.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[gianttomato]

40 series Hiace and Hilux have models with correct stub axle and disc brakes. Usual caveats of check steering arms for length and taper before you fit etc.

Pretty sure there was a thread about this a little while ago so maybe have a bit of a search.

[P100_Ute]

I would also like to know how it has been done.

i have a RN20 and a RN41 and went out and did some measureing.. and from observations. the spindles are the same height.. and both balljoints on each car are bolted in the same with the same amount of bolts and they look in the right spot.

only thing that might need to do is Swap Left and Right over so that the steering arm is on the back..

so if this is correct... then a spindle from a RN41 could go straight into a RN20 and then you would have disc brakes... in theory anyway.. i havent tried to do it as i dont have much room to move + the jack is broken and dont trust it.

here is a link to the photos i took. showing both ball joints... spindles and a photo of the measurements.

http://www.ford-cortina.net/pix/cars/Hilux/

heres 2 pix showing the spindle from the front as a preview..
1st pic is RN20 with the coil springs. And the 2nd pic is the RN41.. this has the Torsion Bar.

[gianttomato]

I have converted 2 40 series Crowns (same ball joint arrangement) using the whole 40 series Hiace stub axle assembly. Just switched L to R.

[wolf_rt]

Thanks for the info guys, I did search, and googled, but im finding very little (almost nil) info on early hilux's. If there are any resources out there i would love to hear about it.

I'll do a thread on my build once i have paint on it.

Cheers.

[P100_Ute]

Ok. bit of an update. heres a list of the hilux balljoints

shows RN20 - RN40's have the same balljoints top and bottom.. so that confirms my suspicions i had with my 2 hilux's..

altho it shows the RN10 series have the same upper balljoint but different bottom balljoint.

are you able to measure and take photos of your RN16 spindles and ball joint mounts ?

[gianttomato]

Pretty sure the Crown 40 series lower ball joint is BJ67. It has exactly the same bolt pattern as the BJ127 (Hilux and Hiace 40 series lower ball joint) but has a slightly bigger head and taper. I had to slightly file the hole in the LCA where the head of the ball joint sits and take a slight amount of the end of the lower control arm odd (gentle grind with the angle grinder - less than 1mm) just so I could get the stub axle on. You'll see what I mean when you try to do it.

Just rang my local Bursons and confirmed - part numbers are correct.

[wolf_rt]

So you use the BJ127, with the modified origional RN1# Lower controll arm? sounds good.

Also do the 40series stubs have 100mm bolt spacing for the brakes so the R33 gtst calipers will fit?

I'll get sone 40 series stubs and BJ's and pull it all apart, have a look and take some pics but im in the middle of painting at the moment, so i'll wait till thats finished.

[gianttomato]

Just to clear up any confusion, I did this on a Crown.

I just slightly modified the original Crown lower control arm to take the larger BJ127. Hopefully you should be able to do the same with your early Hilux.

[wolf_rt]

This is a quick pick of the setup. Looks very similar to yours P100.



I had a look at some old hilux's at the wreckers today, one seemed to have 100mm brake bolt spacing, another was much larger.
I assume the one with 100mm spacing is the go.
Wreckers want $180 for the whole stub axle and brake setup, seems a little steep. so i'll look around.

The RN4# seem to have a small bore master cylinder, when i think i need a 1 inch bore master cylinder if i'm goiung to use R33 calipers.
What would be the best car to source a master cylinder and booster from??

Cheers.

[thechuckster]

get a 15/16" MC from an RA65/60 or SAS63 celica or MA61 supra - 1" MC would give you no pedal feel and on/off braking.

have you tried the 4wd wreckers down the back of capalaba wreckers? and priced it for you to remove from car not them? (gives you the opportunity to grab extra stuff like spare nuts/bolts or other stuff that will hide in your toolbox).

[old_school_jap1]

wolf i'm pretty sure the rn40 stubs that have disc brakes have 90mm bolt spacin for the brakes as they have twin spot sumitomos standard and they're usually 90mm. this means u can use ln106 hilux 4 piston calipers with the pug 604 rotors, altho the backing plate may need some modification.

[Shifty]

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but beats making a new one to cover the same info.

Just wanting to know if anyone has successfully done this on an RN1x? I have an RN16 and rather than spending money on the drums obviously want to swap discs over.

Also there's some confusion about the bolt-spacing on calipers... are there indeed two sizes? Which one should I be going for... is it 90mm to allow future upgrades?

If I can make a relatively bolt-up conversion with RN1x, RN4x and late model four-pots (with pug rotors, is that the done thing?) then that would be my preferred route.

Other upgrades like skyline etc if they work too, I'd certainly be interested to know.

[Shifty]

Also very interested to know if there is a bolt-up master that will suit (engineer will be much happier with me not drilling the firewall). I may even consider an under-dash booster setup, if there's something that will fit. Dash is pretty small, if i remember... so not a lot of room.

[old_school_jap1]

Firstly, congrats. Was it the one on Ebay?
Now onto brakes, all of the RN41 Hilux disc brake setups that I have seen have had 90mm bolt spacing, however there are 2 different calipers they used on them, one being the sumitomo twin piston (on SR-5 RN41s) and the other a single piston caliper. They do have different part numbers for the stub axles between the 2 caliper types which could mean they are slightly different, but I'm still pretty sure they both have the same brake bolt spacing. With the 90mm spacing you can bolt up the Landcruiser calipers that are so popular a conversion for the early Celicas.
If you want to go bigger though, I'm reading that it is possible to make RN85 stub axles work if you flip the bottom balljoint on the RN16. This opens up all the Nissan 4 pots as they have 100mm brake bolt spacing, though even on them you still need to make a 10mm spacer or buy the hubs to suit from a guy named MR SPARES on Ebay. Would probably involve a bit more bastardising, but well worth it for the uber stoppers.