4 wheel disc upgrade

[JoeHundredAire]

My '04 Touring had drum brakes on the rear. I was wondering if anyone had upgraded the rear drums to disc. I know the GT has discs on all 4 corners. Would these be swapable to upgrade the rear on my PT?

[cleverklutz]

I know I looked into it awhile back. It would be a really pricey option. I can't remember exactly what you would need, but I'm thinking that you needed the rear axle, the brakes, and you would have to rip apart the center console as the disc setup uses a different e-brake cable. I think also the GT has larger diameter brakes, so you'd probably want to swap in the fronts as well if you'd use a GT. I think I had come across somebody that offered all the hardware needed and the kit was over $1000. I just try not to look at the brake drums on my car... They stop good, I think it would be a mostly cosmetic upgrade IMO.

Ben

[cleverklutz]

More info

[JoeHundredAire]

Thanks clever! Yeah my thoughts were to find a wrecked PT that had them & pull the whole rear end.
But after looking at all those links, I think the drums are just fine. I just hate having to redo drums.

[ucantcme]

PTModRod has 4 disc brakes. I'll direct him to this thread

[PTmodrod]

Originally Posted by cleverklutz

... They stop good, I think it would be a mostly cosmetic upgrade IMO.

Hey, just as a note, My PT LE had 4 wheel discs, so I don't think it was a turbo only option. I believe the stopping percentages are something like 80% front and 20% rear, so the drums should be fine.

Originally Posted by JoeHundredAire

Thanks clever! Yeah my thoughts were to find a wrecked PT that had them & pull the whole rear end.
But after looking at all those links, I think the drums are just fine. I just hate having to redo drums.

If you do replace them, I would recommend UPGRADING. Step up to drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads. That way, once the job is done, you really FEEL the difference. Looks darn good too!

[JoeHundredAire]

The looks don't really bother me so much as the saftey factor. Considering the cost & time, I'll probably save that money for my buggy project & just upgrade the fronts to better pads & cross drilled rotors. I just put ceramics pads on the front, but the rotors are just stock. Sometimes my brakes don't feel as firm as I would like them. I may just need to completley bleed the system to put fresh fluid in it. In its 4 years, it might have absorbed enough moisture to make them a little soft on the petal.

[lakersfan1]

I looked into it and the only rear setup not from a junkyard is a stock kit from Wykoff Chrysler and they want something crazy like $1,300. I decided that since Chysler painted my rear drums black, that even with alloys you can't tell they're drums. The fronts do most of the braking anyways. Just went with a good set of ceramic pads up front. This is doing adequate stop duty for how slow of a car it is. If I decide later, I was thinking maybe to upgrade the fronts to the Wilwood kit 12" rotor and caliper kit. It's a reasonable $550 for a new kit, and most places will throw in stainless steel brake lines for free at that price. Not bad.