1971 Duster 340 10" front drum brakes - what other Mopar brake drum hubs will fit?

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Duster256

Duster256

Honolulu, Hawaii
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My car currently has a Wilwood 140-2713 front drag disc brake conversion kit, 4.5" big bolt pattern, that uses my existing OEM 10" drum brake spindles. The Wilwood drag disc brakes ares noisy and makes a loud "shhhhhhh" sound when braking (I've been told by the Wilwood tech line that this sound is normal for a drag brake). They're too noisy for me and so I plan to go back to OEM front drum brakes, but 10" A-body front drum brakes are hard to come by.

I'd like to know if other body 10" front drum brake hubs (B-body, etc.) will fit my A-body spindles, or if I can only use A-body 10" drum brake hubs. And do these hubs come in BBP or do I need to take them to be drilled to BBP?. Thanks FABO nation from a newbie. Dave
 
A-body Small bolt pattern is the only 10" drums that will fit. It sounds like your best option would be to swap over to the later 73+ BBP discs.
 
R72Demon said:
A-body Small bolt pattern is the only 10" drums that will fit. It sounds like your best option would be to swap over to the later 73+ BBP discs.
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Thanks Demon. Swapping over to 73+ BBP discs would require me to also swap out my 10" drum brake spindles for 73+ disc brake spindles, correct?
 
Duster256 said:
Thanks Demon. Swapping over to 73+ BBP discs would require me to also swap out my 10" drum brake spindles for 73+ disc brake spindles, correct?
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yes, you'd need to swap the spindle as well as the upper control arm or use an upper ball joint adapter (the 73+ spindles use the larger ball joint)
 
If you have drilled and grooved disc's, they are definitely noisy. If you have 14" tires you can't use the 11 3/4 discs from the Cordoba which I use on my 71 Cuda with 15" tires.
 
Duster256 said:
My car currently has a Wilwood 140-2713 front drag disc brake conversion kit, 4.5" big bolt pattern, that uses my existing OEM 10" drum brake spindles. The Wilwood drag disc brakes ares noisy and makes a loud "shhhhhhh" sound when braking (I've been told by the Wilwood tech line that this sound is normal for a drag brake). They're too noisy for me and so I plan to go back to OEM front drum brakes, but 10" A-body front drum brakes are hard to come by.

I'd like to know if other body 10" front drum brake hubs (B-body, etc.) will fit my A-body spindles, or if I can only use A-body 10" drum brake hubs. And do these hubs come in BBP or do I need to take them to be drilled to BBP?. Thanks FABO nation from a newbie. Dave
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Any internet research that I've found about Wilwood brake noise has nothing to do with it being "normal" as in "yeah but it's ok". Sounds like a tech brushoff to me.
 
tonysrt said:
If you have drilled and grooved disc's, they are definitely noisy. If you have 14" tires you can't use the 11 3/4 discs from the Cordoba which I use on my 71 Cuda with 15" tires.
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Tony, yes, my Wilwood discs are the drilled/slotted ones. The previous owner even bought Wilwood’s “street” pads at their tech line’s suggestion but they made no difference in reducing the noise.
 
Are you wanting to stay with the 4.5x5 bolt pattern ? What is your driving like ? Mild , spirited or maniacal ?

I have 4 wheel discs on my 68 Barracuda and manual drums on my 69 340 Swinger . I realized I don’t drive like an idiot and the drums work fine . But I used a smaller bore master cylinder and larger bore wheel cylinders .
BTW…the Dart is a 408 W2 Solid roller 4sp.
 
this noise is quite common in the two wheeled world where drilled rotors are the norm. the cause can be anything from a symptom of the floating caliper design, improper sequence on install (centering hub or wheel), debris on the rotor or pads. or, as some have hypothesized, air or gas being trapped and released in the holes during operation.

i'd go back and check the install with a critical eye.

fwiw, when i had wilwoods on the street they were always a little grumbly. after they were properly bedded and has some miles they were better but nowhere near what i'd describe as quiet.
 
mbaird said:
Are you wanting to stay with the 4.5x5 bolt pattern ? What is your driving like ? Mild , spirited or maniacal ?

I have 4 wheel discs on my 68 Barracuda and manual drums on my 69 340 Swinger . I realized I don’t drive like an idiot and the drums work fine . But I used a smaller bore master cylinder and larger bore wheel cylinders .
BTW…the Dart is a 408 W2 Solid roller 4sp.
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Yes, my preference is to stay with the BBP, and my driving is between mild amd spirited and definitely not crazy. I haven’t ruled out going back to drums in all 4 corners - but is it possible to redrill Duster SBP 10” front drums/hubs to BBP?
 
I've been driving Honda's from 1980 and I felt they had the worst brakes of any car I ever owned. My 80 Civic had solid front rotors and if I stopped hard at 70 MPH the rotors warped. My 90 Accord was a little better but still not that good. My other Honda's also left a lot to be desired in the braking department. So when my Odyssey needed rotors I went with the drilled and slotted and they are very noisy, almost to the point that the pads are metal on metal. I think Honda has improved, but with the Van I wanted the best combination possible with the front brakes. The rotors for the 80 Civic were $10, so I always kept a spare pair. The 90 Accord were the hardest rotors to change because you had to disconnect the ball joint to get at the bolts in the rear of the rotor. Now the worst part of changing the rotors on the newer cars is a screw in the rotor, that you have to use an impact hammer to get out. Still a very unorthodox way to remove the rotor. I've come to accept the short coming of the brakes, with the quality of the rest of the vehicle. Again, those drilled and slotted rotors are very noisy and most likely what you hear.
 
Duster256 said:
Yes, my preference is to stay with the BBP, and my driving is between mild amd spirited and definitely not crazy. I haven’t ruled out going back to drums in all 4 corners - but is it possible to redrill Duster SBP 10” front drums/hubs to BBP?
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yeah it's possible to go out to 5X4.5 on the 10" hub, there's enough meat. you just need a competent machine shop to do the work.

obviously you'll need to drill the drum as well. down the line if you need to replace a drum, you'll need to buy another small bolt and have it drilled because factory big bolt drums have a larger center register.
 
FABO nation - thanks for chiming in. I just spoke to Mancini Racing about their MBM front disc brake conversion kit, big bolt pattern, for 62-72 A-body Mopars, P/N MBMDBK6272A-45. It's an 11" rotor bolt-on drum-to-disc conversion and the description says "Fits most 14" original rims. DOES NOT FIT: Cragar Steel, Year One Rally or original small 9" Drum braking system rims".

Mancini's tech line verified that their kit works with original Mopar rallye rims, is big bolt pattern (nice!), and has no issues between their rotor hub registration and original rallye wheel center bore. They did mention that their kit utilizes GM-style calipers and if anything on some early model A-bodies a tiny bit of grinding on the caliper may be needed (similar caliper grinding was detailed in a 3/1/2019 Hot Rod mag article on converting a '66 Dart GT to front disc brakes: https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/convert-mopar-body-front-disc-brakes/

The Mancini kit appears to fit what I am looking for: (a) non-drilled or slotted rotors for quieter braking, (b) big bolt pattern, and (c) fits original rallye wheels with no hub/center bore issues.

If anyone sees any issues that I might have overlooked, please chime in. Thanks, Dave
 
Duster256 said:
FABO nation - thanks for chiming in. I just spoke to Mancini Racing about their MBM front disc brake conversion kit, big bolt pattern, for 62-72 A-body Mopars, P/N MBMDBK6272A-45. It's an 11" rotor bolt-on drum-to-disc conversion and the description says "Fits most 14" original rims. DOES NOT FIT: Cragar Steel, Year One Rally or original small 9" Drum braking system rims".

Mancini's tech line verified that their kit works with original Mopar rallye rims, is big bolt pattern (nice!), and has no issues between their rotor hub registration and original rallye wheel center bore. They did mention that their kit utilizes GM-style calipers and if anything on some early model A-bodies a tiny bit of grinding on the caliper may be needed (similar caliper grinding was detailed in a 3/1/2019 Hot Rod mag article on converting a '66 Dart GT to front disc brakes: https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/convert-mopar-body-front-disc-brakes/

The Mancini kit appears to fit what I am looking for: (a) non-drilled or slotted rotors for quieter braking, (b) big bolt pattern, and (c) fits original rallye wheels with no hub/center bore issues.

If anyone sees any issues that I might have overlooked, please chime in. Thanks, Dave
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The Mancini kit is just a reproduction '73+ Mopar disk brake set up. It does not use GM calipers, not sure why the tech would tell you that but that kit is 100% reproduction mopar stuff. It is a similar kit to what DoctorDiff sells, but the MBM kit will be 100% offshore parts.

It does not use the same style calipers as the magazine article you linked, so, what they did may not be relevant at all as that's a completely different kit.

As for what it will and will not fit as far as BBP mopar wheels, my suggestion would be to call Cass @DoctorDiff and ask, because he will know what that kit does and does not fit as far as OE mopar wheels are concerned.

You can also build your kit options with DoctorDiff, so you get the options that you need/want. 10.95" Front Disc Brake Kit (Stage 1)
 
72bluNblu said:
The Mancini kit is just a reproduction '73+ Mopar disk brake set up. It does not use GM calipers, not sure why the tech would tell you that but that kit is 100% reproduction mopar stuff. It is a similar kit to what DoctorDiff sells, but the MBM kit will be 100% offshore parts.

It does not use the same style calipers as the magazine article you linked, so, what they did may not be relevant at all as that's a completely different kit.

As for what it will and will not fit as far as BBP mopar wheels, my suggestion would be to call Cass @DoctorDiff and ask, because he will know what that kit does and does not fit as far as OE mopar wheels are concerned.

You can also build your kit options with DoctorDiff, so you get the options that you need/want. 10.95" Front Disc Brake Kit (Stage 1)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, blu. Will give him a call for sure.
 
the only "good" thing i can say about MBM is that it's a complete kit.

100% those lower ball joints are hong kong phooey and suited to the trash.

like @72bluNblu mentions above, if you're going in that direction go with Dr. Diff. it's a no brainer-- better parts, better customer service.

the PB40011 kit in the hotrod article is for the 9" spindle, doesn't work with the 10" unit.
 
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