Finally got tired of messing with the rear drum brakes on our 97 Tracker. Broke the ring gear, so we had to take the axles out, which meant removing all the drum stuff. The rear brakes and parking brakes have never worked right, and lately have not been working at all. Here is what I am trying.
The front Tracker rotors fit the rear axle hub just fine. I thought about using the calipers, but I wanted a parking brake, without using a line stop, because several different people drive this vehicle. The local parts place said that mid 90 GM cars like the Grand Prix had calipers with the parking brakes cable, but the core charge on those calipers is high. So I visited a local salvage yard and saw a 90 Isuzu pickup with rear disc and the parking brake cable. Picked up both calipers, $30, and started to test fit. First problem was the shock is in the way to mount the caliper behind the axle, so they are going in front, But you have to swap sides so the bleeder valve will be right. When I got the calipers, I also got the mounting bracket, something that may not come if you just order the caliper. I made the mounting plate out of ? ? plate steel, with ?? bar stock welded to it to get the right spacer thickness. This plate is much heavier than the drum mounting plate. The plated is bolted on with the axle retaining bolts, lengthened , and welded to the tube.
Because the Tracker and Isuzu brake cables were frozen, I ordered two left side cables for a long bed Isuzu truck ($80), and made the cab end fit the Tracker, a lot easier than I thought it would be. Also had to get fittings to change the brake hose input on the caliper to match the Tracker, along with changing the rear brake line to a simple T instead of the normal Tracker system. The Tracker proportioning valve, a weird looking system above the rear axle seems to be working OK, so I just left it alone.
Rotors $40 (2)
New Calipers $44 each, $52 core charge each (got them from the salvage yard for $15 each)
Brake pads $23
So now I have rear brakes that actually work, without the hassle of drums if anything goes wrong in the axle, the parking brake works, for less than the cost to replace all the broken parts on the drums.
Other than waiting for parts, actual rebuild time including replacing the rear diff was less than two weekends.
Pictures are in the gallery I think
The front Tracker rotors fit the rear axle hub just fine. I thought about using the calipers, but I wanted a parking brake, without using a line stop, because several different people drive this vehicle. The local parts place said that mid 90 GM cars like the Grand Prix had calipers with the parking brakes cable, but the core charge on those calipers is high. So I visited a local salvage yard and saw a 90 Isuzu pickup with rear disc and the parking brake cable. Picked up both calipers, $30, and started to test fit. First problem was the shock is in the way to mount the caliper behind the axle, so they are going in front, But you have to swap sides so the bleeder valve will be right. When I got the calipers, I also got the mounting bracket, something that may not come if you just order the caliper. I made the mounting plate out of ? ? plate steel, with ?? bar stock welded to it to get the right spacer thickness. This plate is much heavier than the drum mounting plate. The plated is bolted on with the axle retaining bolts, lengthened , and welded to the tube.
Because the Tracker and Isuzu brake cables were frozen, I ordered two left side cables for a long bed Isuzu truck ($80), and made the cab end fit the Tracker, a lot easier than I thought it would be. Also had to get fittings to change the brake hose input on the caliper to match the Tracker, along with changing the rear brake line to a simple T instead of the normal Tracker system. The Tracker proportioning valve, a weird looking system above the rear axle seems to be working OK, so I just left it alone.
Rotors $40 (2)
New Calipers $44 each, $52 core charge each (got them from the salvage yard for $15 each)
Brake pads $23
So now I have rear brakes that actually work, without the hassle of drums if anything goes wrong in the axle, the parking brake works, for less than the cost to replace all the broken parts on the drums.
Other than waiting for parts, actual rebuild time including replacing the rear diff was less than two weekends.
Pictures are in the gallery I think
