Drums to Discs - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

hadadat · 08-08-2006, 09:01 PM

Alright I'll make it quick here, 03 S Corolla. I want to put discs on the back instead of the drums, is this something someone who is not a mechanic should undertake? What can I expect to pay if a shop does it?

***REN69*** · 08-08-2006, 10:37 PM

If you don't feel mechanically inclined enough to do it, then let someone who knows how, do it for you.

CorollaINC · 08-08-2006, 11:47 PM

we are talkin about Brakes Right? well then i REALLY REALLY suggest you get a proffesional to do it. and the price im not too sure..just call and ask around.

94_Rolla_Guy · 08-09-2006, 01:41 AM

you could tackle it but what do you mean by not a mechanic like never spun a wrench or ????? if your mechanically inclined its possible the big challenge will be finding a XRS to rob the brakes off of

freakinbox · 08-09-2006, 03:05 AM

my first question is going to be do you brake hard alot?

if you answer no to this then why do the conversion?

I am not sure on the size of the rear drums on the newer corollas but they will be sufficent enough to stop the car for daily driving (with my ae92 they are larger than most smaller cars today that weigh more than the ae92... they are over sized for what they do.) and as I have said before what I have heard about rear disc on cars and trucks is caliper problems and stuff siezing and rotting because they rarely heat up enough to keep the crap off them. On the cars the parking brakes tend to use the caliper which isn't a good e-brake if it comes down that you have to use it (at least not what I have heard from the gts guys. On the trucks the ebrake rots out because it's more like a drum inside the rotor and never gets used to cause any heat and everything stays in them and rots them out.

Flashmn · 08-09-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

I am not sure on the size of the rear drums on the newer corollas but they will be sufficent enough to stop the car for daily driving

Even big rigs use drums

Granted they are "bit" bigger in size.

The handbrake in the caliper SUCK ASS, I'd rather have a drum operated handbrake. Alot of newer cars have built in drums inside the disks that use the handbrake.

TheOtherCarolla · 08-09-2006, 10:29 AM

Are you going for looks of a caliper setup or performance? A 13in front rotor with the stock drums in the back would make for some wicked stopping action.

My Geo has stock 10.5in disks up frong and stock drums in the back and it stops fine.

CorollaINC · 08-09-2006, 11:11 AM

the 90+ GTS, what size rotors do they have all around?

and what size does your 03 corolla have up front?

freakinbox · 08-09-2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flashmn

Even big rigs use drums

Granted they are "bit" bigger in size.

The handbrake in the caliper SUCK ASS, I'd rather have a drum operated handbrake. Alot of newer cars have built in drums inside the disks that use the handbrake.

yea but those drum e-brakes in the rotor rot out lal the time. I think 4 or 5 came into the shop in the 6 months I was there and sure enough every one of them were rotted out. A few cars had rear disc and we ended up replacing the calipers on them since they got all messed up because of all the crap that gets on and in them.

Flashmn · 08-09-2006, 04:08 PM

They may rot out, but they sure as hell work better than the caliper ones. I'm seriously considering doing a hydraulic handbrake for the rear calipers... frigging lot better to play with.

hadadat · 08-09-2006, 05:05 PM

I want to do it mostly for looks. I drive the car about 700 miles a week, and half that is delivery driving downtown Milwaukee so I am a bit hard on my brakes at times.

freakinbox · 08-09-2006, 06:50 PM

thats not a good reason to do a brake swap... Unless your going to push it and brake hard all the time disc brakes on the rear are a waste. If you want better looks either paint the existing drums w/e colour you want or buy new ones and paint them if the others are really rusty and you don't feel like cleaning them up. I find the drums last longer.

as for the e brake I am not overly worried about it. I only use it when I park the car, never for when I am driving. Like I guess it's nice in the winter when the roads are REALLY bad and you can barely turn because of the understeer but even then I don't like using it for when I am driving.

also with drums I have had to slow down times when I was speeding and cut off by a larger car or SUV and they stopped me fine.

I try to use downshifting to slow me down most of the time but even for the shit I do on the country roads my drum brakes have been fine. And we are talking about heating them up to where you can't touch the drum for to long because it hurts and standing around a foot and a half away you can still feel the heat from the fronts and to where it heats the rim. Save your money and stick with the drums

TheOtherCarolla · 08-09-2006, 09:23 PM

If your looking for braking performance, you need to upgrade your front brakes since they do 70% of the braking anyway.

Flashmn · 08-10-2006, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Like I guess it's nice in the winter when the roads are REALLY bad and you can barely turn because of the understeer

If controlling the car would be that bad I'd get some proper winter tires...
studded wintertires FTW

I need to get a new set of winter tires probably this winter. Something with studs meant for vans, they're bigger than passenger car ones.

freakinbox · 08-10-2006, 02:46 PM

well since they are illegal here I get to drive around on x-ice tires and the understeer can be a bitch sometimes. Times like that I wish it was a rwd