I thought I'd give my own take on this, since I went ahead and did the conversion this weekend.

First off, the install. Not easy the first time you do it. The first side I did took me awhile b/c one, I was careful, and two, I didn't have everything I needed.

Some particulars:

-The OEM Disc emergency brake lines were not required. Someone noted that the fitting for the BACK of the dust shield didn't mate properly with the drum emergency brake line. They were correct. However, that fitting is only there to act as a tie-down or holder so that the spring action of the emergecy brake line is effective. Since the fitting on the drum emergency brake line is larger than the hole for the back of the dust shield, the tie-down effect is taken care of. Moveover, since the emergency brake line is so taut anyhow, there isn't a need for the fitting to act as a holder either. On the second of the two conversion (passenger side), the emergency brake line was 1/4 inch short, so I had to trim (with a drill bit) into the back of the dust shield the same amount to make it work.

- The drum brake line is female into the drum and the disc brake line into the caliper is male. That sucked. I had to go out to the parts store and finde a male-to-male small(8-12"?) japanese brake line to make it work. Wasn't easy to find on a Sunday. Advanced Auto had one though. Make sure you get the correct brake line with your conversion "kit."

- It didn't seem like my disc was perfectly straight UNTIL I mounted my wheel. Kind of irritated me at first (b/c I had them turned and cleaned), but was relieved to see it was straight after the wheel mounting.

- I made sure to grease my emergency brake "drum" well. It gets sticky and rusty at the salvage yard.

-DON'T forget to bleed the calipers. It doesn't take but four or five pumps (for each caliper) of the brake pedal to get it done, but do it. I didn't (forgot to...) and the damn brakes didn't work well. After taking off both wheels, I realized what I needed to do. After that, they worked like a charm.

-The rounded edge of the hub is supposed to mount a certain way (UP). It won't mount any other way.

-BE careful with those B-nuts, they brake easy. Luckily my victim was an expendable line (off the drum), but in the forward part of the wheel well, I knew to be careful with that one.

-And have that damn bolt ready to take off the drum cover. It was well worth having.

(summary: Don't forget to have your correct brake lines, bleeder kit, brake fluid, bolt that fits drum cover, and other assorted tools in changing out pads)

Impressions:

Awesome! The new brakes have a significant effect on braking. Really, showed how poorly drum brakes work. The car used to dive forward slightly under hard braking. Now, with the discs, there is better balance on all four corners, including brake efficiency, distance, and weight.

I thought I was doing this merely to aesthetically improve the looks of my car by subtracting those ugly rusted drums out. Au contraire. After completing the conversion, this has to be the best suspension/handlingmod to date.

I did paint the calipers black while they were awaiting install. Looks very nice.

p.s. rear OEM drums for sale! (cheap!) ;-)

I've had the parts for how much longer than you, and I still haven't done mine... nice job, maybe one weekend this winter you come up you could give me a hand when I do my swap.

"The fastest draw is when the sword never leaves the scabbard,
The strongest way to block, is never to provoke a blow,
And the cleanest cut is the one withheld."

Michael J. Kulaga
e-mail: Michael_97RS@2gntDSM.zzn.com aol IM: MJKulga
http://highlander.dsmpower.com/

All Motor Beast in the Making

Injen CAI, 55mm TB, Hooker 4-1 Stepped Header, GS-T Muffler, AFX UDP, S-AFC, 8.5mm Magnecor Wires, SS Clutch Line, NRG Susp. Motor Mount Ins., FU/RU/RL STBs, TSW Blade 17x7.5, Bridgestone Potenza RE730 215/45ZR-17. Front KVR Cross-Drilled Rotors and Carbon Fiber Pads

To Be Installed: Ported/Polished Intake Manifold, Rear disc brake conversion kit, SS Brake Lines, Rear KVR Cross Drilled Rotors and KVR Carbon Fiber Kevlar Pads

Can you make that thing about triming the ebrake line or something something clearer? Yup that's how it feels with discs, the braking is more even. Did you adjust the parking brake? I figured out how to just yesterday haha...

was it a bitch to bolt the hub onto the knuckle?

>Can you make that thing about triming the ebrake line or
>something something clearer?

I trimmed the area outside the entrance for the parking brake line about 1/4". Not the actual ebrake line. I trimmed it since, the line was about 1/4" too _short_ to squeeze into the fitting for the parking brake without pulling and therefore pulling the brake.


Did you adjust the parking
>brake?

No need to, since the brake line was so taut already. I'm happy with the amount of slack (and clicks) needed to use the ebrake.


>
>was it a bitch to bolt the hub onto the knuckle?

Naah, it wasn't necessarily cake, but it was easy enough for me once I figured out the round part of the hub needed to face upwards.

Thanks for all the information beforehand, Merlin. And thanks for the FAQ Deano!

I was wondering how difficult it would be to leave the original parking brake lines(and reuse them). Looks like you adapted and overcame...LOL

Hey all,

I jess completed my rear disk conversion too and have pix and am doing a write up. me and merlin used the original ebrake line and it works REALLY well... it was hard on 1 click and now has adjusted to 2-3 clicks... we didn't have to buy any extra parts at all. If someone wants to host the pics i can go ahead and post em up!

i love having rear disks... i have mm pads all around and rre SS lines using motul 5.1 fluid. awesome upgrade!!