88" brake upgrade

[Dauntless]

I know this has been covered a few times, but the details are often unclear or contradictory.

My IIA 88" needs a full brake overhaul, so I'm wanting to upgrade to larger drums. My current thoughts:

109 4cyl 11x2.25 front drums
109 1" master cylinder, no booster required
Overhaul original rear drums

I'm assuming the backing plates are the hardest parts to find. Does anyone know a good source for these? Are all 109 4cyl the same across Series IIA and III?

I've read later Series IIIs run a brake booster. What's required to fit these? And are they advised?

Any advice appreciated.

[JDNSW]

Your plans should work. In my view you should not need a booster with the two leading shoe front brakes, and there are significant issues fitting one to a 2a (the mudguard is modified to make room on S3). If it is a diesel you need either a vacuum pump or a venturi setup.

Brakes on 109s four cylinder remained the same through to the end of Series 3, except late Series 3 four cylinder had the same brakes as the six, that is, wider front brakes.

There were some minor differences through production, but I am pretty certain it is all interchangeable.

New backing plates are probably available, from any of the specialist suppliers. If not, it should be possible to find S/H ones. They do not wear or get damaged as a general rule.

[whitehillbilly64]

Hi D.
This has come up on the S2 Club Forum (UK) Before also.
General consensus was that STD S2 Brakes work really well once set Up correctly, with good quality Parts.

whitehillbilly

[JDNSW]

The standard swb (10", 1 leading, 1 trailing) are not that bad, if set up properly as whitehillbilly says, but the 109 brakes, even on a 109, if in good shape are really quite good, without any upgrading or a booster. Except perhaps when loaded and towing a heavy trailer.

However,it must be remembered that they are drum brakes that depend on the leading shoes to help apply the brakes. This means that they will fade if used heavily, and they will stop working almost entirely after driving through water. They also will need adjusting every service.

[goingbush]

Another option convert to disc brakes.

I have been thinking about putting discs on my 88" for 5 years, and just recently one hub seal failed and I got a brake drum full of oil . ( I thought it was an out of round drum) So that was all the excuse I needed.

Having done a number of home grown Disc conversions on classic cars I took it on as a challenge to make a disc conversion for the Landy that will fit behind original rims, missed by a bees dick, had to go with Wolf rims. But still its a winner as they are hands down the best brakes Ive ever had on any car !
Im still waiting on engineer, but it's not my first rodeo , no doubt whatsoever that it will pass.

Readily available & inexpensive parts Toyota rotors up front , Falcon on rear.

IMG20230318155813.jpg IMG20230318160624.jpg IMG20230327164818.jpg IMG20230326172023.jpg

They are good without a booster , would be excellent with a vac booster , but I have no engine vacuum so used an electric Tesla iBooster and the brakes are sensational.

[akelly]

just my 2c here: I'd love to convert to discs on my IIA shorty and the Series 1 109, but honestly the boosted brakes with standard IIA SWB drums are very good. The booster on mine is from an XC falcon so there's some shenanigans involved in getting that fitted (an adapter plate) and approved. As the IIA is currently still in bits I bought a SIII booster to replace the falcon one, just to make life easier down the track. The way the XC MC has been plumbed is messy with the brake lines running all over the shop, so rather than try and make that neat I decided to use LR parts.

I have a set of S3 Stage 1 diffs with brakes here that will go under the Series 1 (when I get around to the EV conversion), but at the moment it has plain old IIA 109 brakes (unboosted) and they are fine.

So yeah, from an engineering project and maintenance perspective I'd love to convert to disc, but can't really justify the effort given the cars stop just fine as they are.

[goingbush]

just my 2c here: I'd love to convert to discs on my IIA shorty and the Series 1 109, but honestly the boosted brakes with standard IIA SWB drums are very good. The booster on mine is from an XC falcon so there's some shenanigans involved in getting that fitted (an adapter plate) and approved. As the IIA is currently still in bits I bought a SIII booster to replace the falcon one, just to make life easier down the track. The way the XC MC has been plumbed is messy with the brake lines running all over the shop, so rather than try and make that neat I decided to use LR parts.

I have a set of S3 Stage 1 diffs with brakes here that will go under the Series 1 (when I get around to the EV conversion), but at the moment it has plain old IIA 109 brakes (unboosted) and they are fine.

So yeah, from an engineering project and maintenance perspective I'd love to convert to disc, but can't really justify the effort given the cars stop just fine as they are.

Have to disagree, try a crash stop (or anything more aggressive than a normal traffic stop) with drum brakes, unless they are meticulously maintained, is just going to be dangerous, and lets be honest no one has meticulously maintained drum brakes. Let's ignore the fact that they don't work when wet. The effort to convert to discs probably on par with swapping in a new set of drum brake shoes to be honest. Once you have discs theres no

This is how easy to change a set of pads (in my conversion). I did this video for a bloke that want sure about the rear pad swap.

[Dauntless]

Thanks for the info.

I'd really like to upgrade to disc brakes, particularly on the front, however I haven't found any kits/solutions that I'm overly happy with on paper. It'd be great if I could use Disco 1 solid front rotors and calipers, but for whatever reason that's not a possibility.

I'd like the braking system to appear standard standard for now as it should be easier to get a blue slip and classic rego. I can then think about other upgrades later.