Thread: Converting 1993 Defender 110 Rear Drum Brakes to Rear Disc Brakes

I'm not sure what is needed to convert, but from my point of view, I would not bother. I have lived with the disc/drum setup on my 1986 model for thirty years, and would regard the trouble and expense of the conversion as not worth it.

Will a Defender disc Salisbury just swap in?

KLR Automotive do a kit to convert the Perentie and County. I wonder if it fits early Defenders?

Perentie Rear Disc Brake Kit 4x4 - KLR-DB

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I'm not sure what is needed to convert, but from my point of view, I would not bother. I have lived with the disc/drum setup on my 1986 model for thirty years, and would regard the trouble and expense of the conversion as not worth it.

Hello John,

Can you please let me know that the drum brake shoe adjustment in the Defender/County improved from those horrid little snail adjusters in the 2A and Series 3?

One of the Series I worked on had worn out snails. The cough splutter 'OEM' replacement snails were made out of tin foil masquerading as metal and they were useless. Even my old EH Holden had a better more user-friendly technique to adjust the brake shoes. Then the expensive TRW wheel cylinders that I had imported from the UK because they were OEM began to leak overnight once they were fitted. This all happened on a Series 2A wide headlight short wheel base.

Prior to that I had great success working on a diesel Series 3 109 and a petrol Series 3 109 and I had no issues at all. Great adjustment and no issues with leaks or adjustment of the shoes. A really firm pedal too. They had all the brake boxes happily ticked.

However, the whole very expensive and highly unsuccessful episode with the 2A left me thinking that there must be a better way. I thought buying Snowy had provided me that better route. I just assumed that Snowy had discs on all four corners. That disc brakes went along with coil springs as standard fitments on Defenders.

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Will a Defender disc Salisbury just swap in?

Hello Slunnie,

So the Defender disc Salisbury might fit under my previously mentioned possible option of ... Or do I just source a complete rear differential from a 1993 or a 1994 which had the discs fitted as standard? Unbolt Snowy's differential and bolt on the replacement disc brake fitted differential.

My only concern is whether things like the track could be different and the geometry of the fittings including shock absorber mounts and bolting Salisbury to the chassis rails?

I am ordering a set of overhaul kits for the front brake callipers. I might as well as order a set for the rear .... The things you find when you stop and look. "Oh.... well .... those are not disc brakes on the rear they are drums ... sigh!

This is all very new to me as I did not even realise the hybrid arrangement of Snowy's brakes until this afternoon. Until then it was all very much 'Out of sight ... out of mind'. In fact it is a classic example of Bruno Latour's, blackboxing is "the way scientific and technical work is made invisible by its own success. When a machine runs efficiently, when a matter of fact is settled, one need focus only on its inputs and outputs and ... it is not until something like an overhead projector fails to function that we notice its complexity.


Latour (1999, p. 183) Pandora's hope: essays on the reality of science studies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.,

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by p38arover

KLR Automotive do a kit to convert the Perentie and County. I wonder if it fits early Defenders?

Perentie Rear Disc Brake Kit 4x4 - KLR-DB

Whats interesting about that kit, is that it uses front calipers on the rear. That should stop well!

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Whats interesting about that kit, is that it uses front calipers on the rear. That should stop well!

Hello Ron and Slunnie,

Thank you for posting the link Ron. What is more interesting is the bit about Shipping: Calculated at Checkout..

With some mobs charging $80 for freight and another charging $247 to shift the very same product to the same destination, I have become increasingly wary of the calculated at checkout step. Hopefully it is the before one commits to buy section - irretrievably so stage.

The kit itself is very well described. Just need to chase up the suitability of the conversion kit to 1993 Defender 110's. A task for the morrow.

The kit description does seem to suggest that it is a possible unbolt the original drum ancillaries and replace with the disc based goodies without having to chase a domino trail back to the master cylinder. All very promising since Snowy is currently off the road and now is the time to do such tasks.

However, there is no mention about possible differences in wheel rim offsets with having front discs fitted to former rear drums. Something else to get confirmed tomorrow with KLR.

The bonus with the KLR kit is that it is all new parts. Prior to the KLR option coming up I could have been looking at travelling to Gympie or the Sunshine Coast to pick up a Salisbury differential and then travelling home. Then most likely needing to rebuild things such as the differential parts as well having to buy all new brake components anyway. So it would not be a cheap exercise.

With the possible KLR kit Snowy's rear end is a known sound condition, is already fully paid for, and is sitting happily in my own house yard.

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello John,

Can you please let me know that the drum brake shoe adjustment in the Defender/County improved from those horrid little snail adjusters in the 2A and Series 3?

One of the Series I worked on had worn out snails. The cough splutter 'OEM' replacement snails were made out of tin foil masquerading as metal and they were useless. Even my old EH Holden had a better more user-friendly technique to adjust the brake shoes. Then the expensive TRW wheel cylinders that I had imported from the UK because they were OEM began to leak overnight once they were fitted. This all happened on a Series 2A wide headlight short wheel base.

Prior to that I had great success working on a diesel Series 3 109 and a petrol Series 3 109 and I had no issues at all. Great adjustment and no issues with leaks or adjustment of the shoes. A really firm pedal too. They had all the brake boxes happily ticked.

However, the whole very expensive and highly unsuccessful episode with the 2A left me thinking that there must be a better way. I thought buying Snowy had provided me that better route. I just assumed that Snowy had discs on all four corners. That disc brakes went along with coil springs as standard fitments on Defenders.

Kind regards
Lionel

The rear brake setup is, as far as I can see, identical to late Series 3. I should comment though that I have never had any significant issues with snail adjusters on any of my Series vehicles. Perhaps because they have never been driven in seawater?

The worst issue I have had with the rear brakes on the County is hub seals leaking onto the linings, but this largely reflects oil lubricated wheel bearings that definitely have advantages for bearing life and half shaft spline life.

With the drum brakes, they need to be adjusted every service, not exactly a major issue.

One problem I did have - I replaced the drums about ten years ago. One of the new drums was significantly faulty in that the centre hole was not concentric with the braking surface by a few thou. This was solved when I was given a pair of as new drums by someone converting from drums to discs!