I have heard and seen alotof this done and was curious........ I have a 74 Ram D100 that I am planning on doing a complete restoration on and building a decent wheelin rig out of it. I have seen and heard of alot of guys who are building older trucks convert their crappy drums to discs by finding a simliar axle from a same era car and swapping in the parts. Has anyone done this on this era truck and know what axles and parts I should be looking for? Would it be better and easier to pop the nearly $1000 for a kit from a company like Baer? Opinions and knowledge are always welcome. Thanks

 

You could spend $1000 for a brake kit, or you could buy a D44 or D60 front axle off a much newer truck for ~$350.

You'll need the disc brake master cylinder though, drums use a lot less fluid and your front brakes won't work well with the drum master. My buddy swapped a newer d44 disc axle under his 73 w100 last year and it's been great.

 

sweet, kinda whatI was thinkin

 

I'd recommend getting all of the bearings and seals replaced on the axle before you put it on your truck and waste a bunch of money on filling the thing up only to have to get the thing rebuilt.

 

yeah, i'm plannin on doin a complete tear down frame off anyhow, the stock 318 is destroyed, it had the three speed auto and a divorced transfer case, I am not a fan. I am gong to build a 360 or360 stroker, 4 speed auto and np205, some nice d44 and d60's would be sweet