Disc brake upgrade - is it worth it?

[Chrisw]

Hi all

I’m thinking of doing the upgrade to 8.4 inch discs while I
Restore the car.
I’ve upgraded to a standard 1100 from 998.
I have 2 options:
Rebuild all the drum brakes and fit a booster
Fit discs up front, also with a booster (or not).

Option 2 is much more expensive, is it a necessity, or just a nice to have?

What the forums thoughts?

Thanks
Chris

[Chrisw]

If I do go for the disc conversion, is a booster required, or are they good enough without one?

Thanks

[Drakman]

I have the 8.4 disc brake set up on mine, with the booster.  I would always fit a booster after driving mine around, it stops but you couldn't use the phrase "stops on a dime".

[Tim]

I have Metro turbo 4 pot calipers and ventilated 8.4" discs on mine (no servo). It stops fairly well under normal braking but if I really stomp on the pedal, it will just about stand on its nose. If I was to do it again I would just use standard Mini calipers and discs, the Metro Turbo ones are probably overkill and are much heavier than standard.

For my mind the best thing about them is the low maintenance requirement. Mine get checked about once a year (I don't do high mileage) and I have never needed to do anything to the front since I fitted them. The rears still need to be checked occasionally to get the dust cleaned out and correctly adjusted, but nowhere near as often as when I had drums all round. They are worth it for that alone.

Tim

[Pete74]

I fitted 8.4 standard brakes to my moke and it is a noticable improvement to the old drums. Admittedly my drums were stuffed. The feel in the pedal is a bit better too.

[moke]

I also have a standard  8.4 disc fitment on my 998. Love the fact that I don't have to adjust them every month and they will actually stop the car with not too much effort. No booster fitted, I'm happy with them as they are.
Dean

[Samm]

I went 7.5" conversion last year and would say it depends on your driving style. I don't run a booster.

I didn't have any dramas with my drums but made sure they were well adjusted regularly (didn't drive the moke all that often). The drums saw me out of a few sticky spots and kept up during those spirited runs through the odd twisty bit (again depends on driving style).

The discs do pull up a bit quicker but didn't have an 'oh my god' moment after the swap thinking that I should have done it alot earlier.

Alot of guys still run the drums without issue but as others have said it depends on how often you want to be on your back adjusting them and also in my opinion what your driving style is.

Samm

[Halfpint]

Hi,
Absolutely agree with the others.
Drums work great and will stop a Moke just as well as Discs as long as they are in tip top condition. And for them to be in tip top condition, they need to be well maintained and regularly adjusted.

As much as I enjoy tinkering with the Mokes, brake adjusting wears thin after a while and I haven't ever looked back after converting to discs.
I also have the 8.4" and reakon their great, no need for a booster.
Something to watch out for is if you have Sunrasia Wheels, there was a period where deep dish rims were used for drum brakes and a more shallow dish used for discs.
I'll try and find a thread where we discussed the different rims ( there were a few threads) just incase.

HP

[Halfpint]

Found this discussion thread and apparently early 1977 sunrasias fouled on the discs and weren't inter changeable. From then on they were all good for both Disc and Drums. Just something to watch out for.

https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=2944.msg23892#msg23892

HP

[Canadian Moke]

You mentioned that your metro turbo brakes almost make the Moke stand on its nose.  Are you saying that it is too much brake?  I have the option of running turbo or standard 8.4” brakes.  Are there any other things to consider?

Thanks,
Tim.

[Tim]

The metro 4 pots only lock up if I really need a lot of braking, under normal driving they are fine, but I think standard 8.4" disks would be enough. The metro ones, with their double layer discs and huge cast iron calipers add a lot of unsprung weight. I would opt for either alloy calipers or just standard Mini brakes next time.

I forgot that thing that Halfpint mentioned about the early style drum-brake sunraysia wheels fouling on the calipers. They need about 6mm extra clearance. Plain steel wheels are OK as are later Sunraysias.

Tim

[Steam]

I have 7.5 discs on my clubman and the smaller booster and the brakes are good. However they are not a whole lot better than my previous set up of the larger booster and drums. That setup saved me from a total writeoff scenario when a car pulled out right in front of me and the drums/large booster just about stood it on its nose. Drums are a lot more dependant on good maintenance though.
 I have driven a mates with 8.4 discs and no booster and I found them barely adequate.
My 7.5 with small booster were much better.
Hope this helps.

[Tim]

My experience with 7.5" disks under 13" Moke wheels was disappointing. On my previous Moke I fitted Cooper S disks and calipers, like all the mini guys were clamoring for, but they weren't a lot better than the drums. They were OK in that they didn't need as much maintenance, but they didn't stop that much better. I always asumed that the extra radius of the wheels created more leverage which meant they didn't work so well. The current  8.4" disks and 4 pot calipers are much better though.

Tim