Rear Disc Brake

From GM Wiki

Contents 1 Overview 2 Parts 2.1 Part Numbers 2.1.1 Parking Brake 2.1.2 Shoes 2.1.3 Brackets 2.1.4 Park Brake Lever 2.1.5 Backing Plate 2.1.6 Cable 2.1.7 Balancer 2.1.8 Banjo bolt 2.1.9 Adaptors 2.1.10 Caliper 2.1.11 Braided Lines 3 How-To 3.1 Step one 3.2 Step two 3.3 Step Four 3.4 Step Five 3.5 Step Six 3.6 Step Seven 3.7 Step Eight 3.8 Step Nine 3.9 Finished

Overview

This is a semi How-To for swapping Dodge Neon rear discs (using the factory J bearing) onto your car. This doesn't require welding, however it does require a machine shop or access to a milling machine. I would give this 4/5 wrenches. Its not basic stuff, and does require fabrication skills. I spent about $350 when all was said and done (all the parts except the cables came from the junkyard). I used Brembo rotors and Hawk HPS pads, but there are literally hundreds of pad/rotor combos out there. Since it retains the factory J bearing, you can keep your ABS if you want. My biggest disclaimer is about the proportioning. I have no idea if this will work with the factory master cylinder. I am using a bigger Bonneville unit with externally adjustable proportioning. All I can say is once someone tries it, please let everyone else know if it works, or what you needed to do to make it work.

Parts

The setup is the same from 95-02, so any year should work. To do what I did, you will need (part numbers for all this can be found in the next section)

• Caliper bracket
• Caliper
• Backing plate/dust shield
• Rotor
• ALL internal park brake hardware
• Balancer for park brake cables (inside car)
• New park brake cables
• New brake lines to go from hard bent to caliper

Part Numbers

These are all Mopar numbers. I would definetely make sure of what you're ordering before you actually order it. The dealer will be able to tell you exactly what you need. You're much better off buying all this from a salvage yard though, it will be much, much cheaper.

You also need to work out the plumbing. I got all my stuff from Pegasus Auto Racing- I used pre-made hoses available in many different lengths and end configurations- hoses. I also used some adapters as well- adapter.

Parking Brake

• 04509504 (SOCKET, rear wheel p/brake adj screw)
• 04383539 (NUT , p/brake adj)
• 04383541 (SPRING, p/brake shoe retainer upper)
• 04383542 (SPRING, p/brake shoe retainer lower)
• 04383543 (CLIP, p/brake shoe hold down)

Shoes

There a 4 numbers for the shoes, one factory and three aftermarket:

• 04741772 (Factory)
• V2013036 (Aftermarket)
• BHKP7300 (Aftermarket)
• BHKP7301 (Aftermarket)

Brackets

There are 4 different bracket (called adapter) numbers, some come with the ABS sensor, some don't. You would have to check at the dealer for the correct one (you DON'T need the sensor, since you're still using the Cavalier bearing with the sensor built in)

• 04762684 (ADAPTER, rear wheel disc brake with sensor mount)
• 04762685 (ADAPTER, rear wheel disc brake with sensor mount)
• 04762686 (ADAPTER, rear wheel disc brake with sensor mount)
• 04762687 (ADAPTER, rear wheel disc brake with sensor mount)

• 04238733 (PIN, rear wheel brake shoe hold down)
• 04238721 (PLUG, rear wheel brake adj hole)

Park Brake Lever

Two numbers for the park brake lever. I'm not sure whch one is which. I'm guessing the 8113 is left.

• 04728112 (LEVER and LINK ASSEMBLY, p/brake rear wheel, right)
• 04728113 (LEVER and LINK ASSEMBLY, p/brake rear wheel)

• 04509503 (SCREW, rear wheel p/brake adj)

Backing Plate

Two for the backing plate/shield. (Again, I'm guessing the second one is left)

• 04728110 (SHIELD, rear wheel disc brake, right)
• 04628111 (SHIELD, rear wheel disc brake)

• 04723981 (SCREW and WASHER, shield to adapter)

Cable

Three different cable numbers. My guess is that some of them are for sedans, and some are for coupes.

• 04509633 (CABLE ASSEMBLY, p/brake rear, w/or w/o ABS)
• 05273636 (CABLE ASSEMBLY, p/brake rear, w/or w/o ABS) this is the one I used
• 04446981 (CABLE ASSEMBLY, p/brake rear, w/or w/o ABS)

Balancer

You also need the balancer/equalizer piece, but it nots available on its own, its only available with the entire lever assembly.

• 04509637 (LEVER ASSEMBLY, p/brake)

Banjo bolt

The Neon caliper uses a 7/16" banjo bolt. I used a 3AN to 7/16 Banjo Brake Adapter. Banjo fittings do not include the bolt or crush washers.

Adaptors

I used a 3AN Brake Fitting, you can find them here: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/ProductDetails.asp?RecId=2915

Caliper

Not Listed.

Braided Lines

I used these Braided Stainless Steel lines to transition from hardline to the Calipers: http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/ProductSelection.asp?Product=3

How-To

Step one

To start, remove all the J body hardware (drum, shoes, bearing, backing plate, park brake cables, etc). There has already been talk of using the factory J park brake cables with the Neon caliper brackets. I have no idea if this will work., try it and find out.

Step two

Plumbing

You will need to figure out the brake plumbing. This is entirely up to you. The Neon uses a 7/16 banjo bolt, so your options are pretty open. I used the braided lines & banjo fittings shown above. At the unibody side, I used the -3AN to 7/16 adapter shown above to get back to steel hard line.

Some other options:

• Use the Neon hose and adapter from the salvage yard
• Install the adapter I used on the axle, and use a shorter braided line
• Something entirely different

The options are pretty unlimited here.

Step Four

Park brake cables

You will need to run the park brake cables. I purchased new cables from Mopar. They are part# 05273636 (2 req'd). There are 3 different cables available, I'm guessing for the sedan and coupe variants, but I'm not positive. The cables I used were the perfect length for 2nd gens. As I mentioned earlier, there is one other swap I know of using another Chrysler disc setup with the 2nd gen J cables (88ragtop).

Step Five

I drilled a 1" hole for the cable grommet to go into. The grommet does move on the cable, and there is a little clamp holding it in place. It was in the perfect spot and I didn't have to move it for my car.

Step Six

This is the balancer from the Neon. It is not available from the dealer without buying the entire park brake handle, so get it at the yard.

Step Seven

You will need to build a bracket to hold the cable ends. I used 1/2" angle iron. I had to shorten the arm on the Cavalier lever to take up the slack since I couldn't move the bracket any farther to the rear.

Step Eight

Caliper Brackets

You need to have the Neon caliper brackets machined. This can be done at home, provided you take your time and make sure the center hole is dead on. I had it done at a machine shop for $60. You will need to have the center hole reamed out and the four bearing bolt holes drilled, as well as some clearance cuts made.

Pictured are the Neon caliper brackets before and after machining.

Step Nine

Assembly

Assembling this is not much more difficult than replacing the wheel bearing. The factory bearing bolts can be used with no issues. It's a tiny bit more difficult to get them in with the park brake shoes on, but they fit. Once you've got the bearing bolted up, you need to figure out a way to shim the rotor out so it doesn't rub on the backing plate/dust shield. I used a 1/16" thick washer on each stud until I get some plates made to fit. I thought about this problem for awhile. You could space the bearing away from the caliper bracket, but that would leave even less thread on the bearing bolts. It is only about 1/16", so I'll leave the decision up to you, but the rotor DOES need to come away from the plate, or it will drag.

Finished

Heres some shots of the finished assembly.

I think the best thing about this is that all the wear and tear items can be directly replaced (rotor, caliper, pads, bearing) with factory or aftermarket parts.

Completed Assembly
Finished install from front	Finished install from rear	Finished install behind wheel