So I have bought a 3rd gen axle to swap out for my blown differential on my 2000 Ram 1500. The 3rd gen axle has disc brakes. I have been reading this thread where someone did the same exact thing. The part that confuses me is the guy did not mention having to do anything with the proportioning valve. Seems like he did not do anything at all to it. He updated the thread saying he had been driving it and it felt great. Would I need to fool with my proportioning valve at all? Some say yes but others say no. Any help is appreciated.

 

I swapped the drum brake rear Dana 60 in my '96 Ram 2500 4x4 to a 2000 model year disc brake Dana 60. I did not change the proportioning valve and the truck stops great. I did change the speed sensor on top of the center section of the rear to a '96 style sensor, as I noticed that the plug/connection was different than the later model rear.

 

Proportioning valves are the same so no need.

 

so you haven't had any issues with braking? No mushy pedal or anything?

 

Not a bit. Brakes work perfectly. Stopping power was definitely enhanced with the addition of the rear disc brakes. I also used DOT4 brake fluid, as it has a higher boiling point than DOT3 fluid to help the brakes work more consistently in stop and go traffic and heavy brake usage.

 

well I think I'm going to do the swap and see how it feels. If I think I need to do something with the proportioning valve I will. But from what I've read, people that have done this swap have not felt the need to. We shall see. Thanks for the help.

 

Proportioning valve only comes into play when you really lean on the brakes, then reduces the pressure to the rears to avoid lockup at the high pressure 'split point'. The ABS valve works at all vehicle speeds above a few MPH and all brake pressures. The size of the rear piston (small reservoir) in the master cylinder is what controls the rear brake pressure (bias) and you can bet the engineers paid attention to this. Because of the self activation nature of rear drums it may be that the rear piston is slightly larger for the disc version and a drum brake valve will have a built in 'delay' to let the rears build a little pressure, like maybe 100psi. Maybe you can pick up a little performance with the correct master and using the correct master seems like a good plan.

 

So by using a proportioning valve that's meant for drums, what risks would i be running using discs? Would it be drivable for a bit until I get an adjustable proportioning valve? The EGR conversion kit says you can run the stock proportioning valve if you use a check valve that holds 2 psi of pressure. Thoughts in adding this to help?

 

They are same on the second and third gen?

 

No second gens. How I know is the Dakota and Durango use the same kind and Dodge lists the parts as the same for both drum and disc