I've dug and I've looked and I've Googled, and I can't find much of anything, so I thought I'd ask here.

What if any choices do I have to upgrade the front discs and the rear 10" drums on my 1988 Dakota?

Ideally I'd like to go 4 wheel disc, but just SOMETHING so that when I go "Whoa, Girl!" she goes "Yassir! There's your 9 cents change off that dime!" not "Huh? Wha? Oh, you wanna slow down some? How about Tuesday? Does Tuesday work for you?"

Biggest limit is that I'm on the 5 bolt wheel pattern. I've found stuff for the later Gen1s, 6 bolt, but ... not sure I want to $pend $o many monie$ for that much $topping power.

RwP

 

Rear brakes only make up around 5% of stopping power. Don't think rear brakes help THAT much

 

There may be some compatibility between other Dodge products and the Dakota. I believe I saw somewhere that some of the older D150 or Ramcharger brake parts were compatible, though I can't guarantee that's true. One way to research it is to use RockAuto's website. Just type in your truck's make/model/year, identify the parts you're interested in, and write down the part numbers. Then start trying other models and years to see which ones might share part numbers.

If, for instance, you find that the front hubs on a D150 share your Dakota's part number, then it may be that the larger calipers and rotors from that truck will also fit. For rear brakes, one option is to upgrade your truck's rear end to the newer 9.25 rear on later (gen2 & gen3) Dakotas. It would need to be modified a bit to accept your older truck's springs and shocks, and I think it's about an inch wider overall, but the 9.25 is beefier and comes with disc brakes.

 

OK, I remember where I saw it now and I think you'll like this. Industrial Chassis Inc has a webpage devoted to the Dakota IFS front suspension and brakes. Dakota chassis' and front ends are popular for use in building/upgrading many older vehicles, thanks in part to their Viper kinship and the fact that they came with modern rack and pinion steering. Regarding the brake parts compatibility their webpage states:

"BRAKE INTERCHANGES
The D series full size trucks also have some interchangeability. The brakes to be specific. The 1974 through 1985 D series full size trucks shared the same spindle upright and ball joints as the Dakotas so naturally there is a ton of interchangeability there. Chrysler used the same ball joints, the K778 Upper ball joint from the 50’s up on full sized cars through the 1 ton truck. The same goes for the lower ball joint, K7025. www.rockauto.com has them listed as of 09/04/2014 for under $10.00 each! The brake rotors all use the same bearing sets and seals, what you will need is a set of caliper brackets that matches the brake rotor and caliper you intend on using. We will be offering caliper brackets for aftermarket calipers such as the Wilwood D52 dual piston caliper."

This site has excellent, and current, information for upgrading a 2WD Dakota.

Find them here:
http://www.industrialchassisinc.com/?page_id=281

 

When I had my Jeep TJ, I upgraded the rear to discs using mostly components from a mid-nineties Ford Explorer. You might try that route. Also, upgrading pads can make a huge difference. When I switched to EBC Yellow Stuff pads, it was like night and day.

 

I guess I'd agree and say that there probably isn't too much you can gain out of the rear brakes on these trucks. You might have to go with larger wheels to get bigger brakes on the front; I don't know.

I recently redid the brakes on my '90 4WD which, like your truck, has the bigger 10" rear drums. I bought new Bendix drums and Raybestos "Professional Grade" shoes, pads, and rotors along with remanufactured calipers and a master cylinder (my brake pedal would occasionally drop when sitting at a stoplight). Flushed out all of the old, nasty fluid and bled with new and I am very happy with the truck's braking.

I drove it 1,000+ miles a couple of weekends ago to pick up 1600 pounds of garden tractor stuff. Even with that extra weight I thought it stopped really well. Now, it's no Honda Civic, but the truck stops when I ask it to.

I do still need to find a j-hook for my parking brake cable... I have new cables but without the j-hook the intermediate cable rubs on the drive shaft.

Have you replaced any of the brake components recently?

 

The front brakes from the hardlines out are new (save for the spindles themselves) - new rotors (with imbedded hubs), new bearings, reman'ed calipers, new pads, new hoses.

Rear is still as purchased from previous owner - I have the rear hose to go to the rear axle, will replace that and the master cylinder/booster sometime this weekend or next.

I was looking more for more oomph up front - good to know about the D series trucks being the same spindles!

On the 2WD, the hub is integrated into the rotor, so it's fairly easy to do a hub swap. Biggest thing is I'd love to find some 2-piston calipers or so that drop right in - something like the 2004 Mustang GT PBRs I've got on my 1991 Cougar (1993 spindles to get them to fit). Hmm ... I'd probably have to swap spindles to do much, since the current calipers bolt straight to the knuckle on my Dakota IIRC.

But still - just more "Whoa!" would be nice *grins*

RwP

 

RalphP, I was reminded of this post the other day when there was a 3-car pile up just behind my Dakota on the freeway. Some idiots way ahead of me were trying to pass in the lane that was closing in 1/4 mile for construction and caused a long, quick jam.

I still had nearly 1,000 pounds of tractor parts in the bed and boy did she stop when I stepped on the brakes - I even had several feet to spare between myself and the car in front of me.

Did your master cylinder replacement fix your problems? I keep thinking that there has to be some component in your system that isn't up to snuff.

 

Not sure about the master cylinder - the rear brakes were MIA also!

So, new MC/Booster, and the only thing NOT new off the backing plate is the parking brake lever and cross bar.

She do stop on a dime and give 7 cents change now ... which beats stopping on a dime, and collecting 75 cents tax! *grins*

I still wish for better, but it's at least up to tolerable snuff now. Oh, the Cougar will stop before it will, but then again, I've got the front calipers (2 piston PBRs) from a 2004 Mustang GT on it, which improves ITS braking tremendously.

RwP