Mountaineer01 previously posted:
"I'm surprised that they don't make a better conversion kit for the YJ or the D44."
Not to derail Jim's thread, but first and foremost, YJs never came with D44, and the typical and easier swap for an upgraded rear axle is a Ford 8.8. There may very well be good disc brake conversion kits for the 8.8 with e-brake - I couldn't tell you as thats not something I've ever worked on.
As for the D44 - the challenge here is that most rear D44s were used in vehicles in the 50-60s - before disc brakes were common. Into the later 70s and 80s, disc front/drum rear became common in GM applications, but D44s were mostly in the front (not strong enough for large v8 power for rear usage in full-size trucks), so the D44 disc swap kits are based on front disc set-ups which of course wouldn't have e-brake provision. Keep in mind that most aftermarket swap kits are really just companies that assemble all the parts needed from various existing applications to make it work - very little 'newly' engineered and fabricated pieces are actually produced (at least up until the most modern of times and specifically the JK and JL jeep aftermarket world etc). As GM parts were both the most common and continuously produced with minimal changes, they often are the basis for most swaps. Unfortunately, finding a rear D44 application with disc brakes is pretty much impossible although I believe late IH Scouts, some full size Jeep trucks, and even more recently Izuzu Troopers, Suzuki Samarai and even Geo Tracker and Sidekick used rear D44s with discs. But, quite a lot of those used a different bolt pattern and wheel hub (6-lug) and don't work well with common 5 lug jeep patterns. They can all be made to work, but it takes some mixing and matching of various hubs, bearings, races etc (Brennan metcalf is making some cool D44 disc swap kits from the Geo parts if anyone is interested - and is also working on an electric e-brake caliper to combine with the disc set-up)....So in the end, the Eldo caliper became the standard go to even though its not ideal. keep in mind that the eldo caliper works well in many hot rod and classic car applications that mostly street and strip rides that are not used in ugly weather, salt and snow, mud and other typical jeep conditions.
As for me, living with two jeeps, both with D44 rears from the 50s and 70s, I've spent a lot of time considering disc brake swaps. Honestly, I've found upgrading to 11" drums is very reasonable, functional, cost effective etc. The axle Jim has under his YJ is kind of an unknown D44 - but most likely came with drum brakes. If it still had 11" drums with cable actuated parking brake, I would just keep it that way. of course, his has already had swap work done, so its hard to want to go 'backward' to drum brakes. For many of us in these old jeeps, just getting to 11" drums is a big upgrade, and if going with disc, just getting disc in the front with drum rear is awesome. And a rock makes a great parking brake!