Hot Rods Cpp kit for disc conversion 56 Chevy pickup

Hi Guys,

I have 56 3100 1/2 ton
After some searching around I decided to bite the bullet and fit a disc brake conversion.

I chose CPP.
I received a single sheet of A4 with instructions.
The instructions are inaccurate and irrelevant.
In fact if the parts did fit together which they don't the instructions are all absolutely wrong.
There is one very small drawing at the bottom of page which shows in a sketch fashion the layout.
Not very good Mr CPP when you are assembling bearings retainers bushes etc which are not even included in the picture or should I say sketch.


I opted to go with the Aluminum hubs. I figured my 60 year old hubs could do with retirement.

The tapered bolts supplied do not fit the Aluminum hub.
It's not a biggy as the holes can be redrilled. But why? I paid $750 hard earned bucks for this kit right?
I took the discs the hubs and the retaining plates to a nearby machine shop.
When the lugs supplied with the kit where pressed in ... guess what ?
They didn't fit!
Each lug, which was pressed flat to the disc surface was wonky and not straight.
The reason could be varied.
Disc surface on the inside not true and square to the outer face. Maybe. The lugs themselves not of sufficiently good quality and not square.
The holes in the hubs not accurately aligning with the discs causing the studs to come through at different angles. Maybe.

The next problem bought to my attention by the machine shop was the Aluminum hubs.
That I paid extra for !
The hubs rely on the securing bolts and lugs for alignment.
This is not good enough.
As, if the bolts and lugs do not line up they will clearly be off balance when the wheel turns at speed, dangerous vibration at speed could occur with no way of addressing this later.

The hub must sit perfectly centred within the disc preferably with a lightish push fit.
Then you will have a perfectly centred hub on the disc with less of a likely imbalance.
The hub has a 1/4 inch gap all round and it therefore has the ability to move within the disc centre hole.
In a heavy truck braking hard with a 1/2 ton load onboard you do not want to relying on 3 bolts and your lug nuts keeping the brakes running true and straight.
In my opinion the hubs must be a tight fit within the discs AND have the bolts and lugs holding all together !

The machine shop are making a spacer for me which will guarantee the hub fits the discs correctly with no play. It's a circular steel piece that will go between the hub and disc.
The faces of the discs will be checked and remedied if necessary for squareness of inner area were the lugs go and outer area were the hub sits.
Each lug nut will be checked for squareness.
Total cost $300 ...so far.

I haven't even started to look at calliper mounting and any bearing issues yet.

I'll keep you posted.

Not Good Mr CPP.

 

This is what you receive from CPP.
Really guys ? Cmon
A few pics a few close ups
Some part numbers maybe.
How many of these kits have been sold?
How many headaches?

 

Those look like relatively complete instructions. And the rotor does not really need to be centered to the hub any better than it will be by the studs.

Pictures of the studs and how they looked after installing them, might let us see what the problem is?

I don't know why you'd want to order aluminum hubs, the iron ones last forever, as long as a bearing race doesn't spin in it.

I guess you've learned something from this.

 

In my opinion the hubs do need to fit tight in hubs Squirrel.
There should not be a 1/4 inch gap and a hub dependent on fixings to secure it.
How can you rely on this for balancing?


There are parts included in the kit that are not in the picture.
The instructions do not even mention those parts Squirel

 

It does't sound like you got what you paid for, and probably overpaid by prices compared to those here in the states. Have you been in contact with CPP? I'd be E-Mailing them until I got an answer. I just received a front disc brake conversion today that was an E-Bay purchase. I was sweating on the quality of what I ordered, but when I opened the box, it was a Mike McGaughey setup, a well known name with us Chevrolet guys. Looking at your "instructions", it's definitely NOT
a hub-centric kit, nor lug-centric, so what bolts together will have to be dead on; it looks like there would have been a better way to assemble the setup (???). Too bad you have already started modifying the kit, kills returning it for sure. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Hi Butch
Thank you for your comment.
I'm used to kind of tinkering with all hotrod kits as more often than not it seems to be part of what is expected of you as a consumer and they rarely fit first time. I wanted to let other rodders know exactly what's going on too.
I couldn't find any information "out there" and many people had bought their stuff.

The thing is this company has been around for years peddling the same stuff to honest guys and getting away with it. I will make it fit and do it properly. I'll replace any parts as necessary and machine the other parts to suit.
I'll checkout Mike McGaughey do you have a website I can checkout?

I'll post the installation as I go.
I'm hoping it will be of help to other people considering a brake drum conversion on their truck or car.

 

Straight away I noticed the holes in the Hub are too small for the countersunk bolts supplied in the kit.
The bolts supplied in the kit have a shoulder which sticks through the retaining plate.
This means that the hub has to drilled out and countersunk for the plate to sandwich the hub tightly against the rotor.

 

Here are the 3 bolts supplied in the kit.
The depth of the shoulder of each bolt means they protrude through the securing plate.
So without countersinking the hub the "securing plate" would just rattle loosely.

 

Still waiting for pictures of the studs, so we can see what you're on about.

I guess my expectations are too low....pictured here are the instructions for installing the Willwood brakes I got with my Speedway axle.


The rotor needs to be centered on the hub, but it's not critical that it be concentric within a thousandth of an inch. If the studs go through both the hub and the rotor, it will be fine. If not, then it might be a flaky kit? but I have no way of knowing, with the pictures you've provided.

 

I have had the unfortunate CPP experience, the customer service and quality of parts is horrendous, I must admit that it is hit and miss with their parts, some fit perfect but for the most part they don't ..
Seems like this gent is overseas and trying to return this product will Cost a small fortune.

Next time research and look up CPP, or any manufacturer that sells critical braking components for that matter, CPP has many complaints even from local guys like me that have had terrible experiences (look up their yelp reviews).

Parts come incomplete, ill fitment ,customer service that is terrible , no refunds( they charge you 20% re-stocking fee ) etc.

This is my personal opinion, others may have had good success with CPP , not me.

 

Hi there,

I think the true picture is starting to come to light.
While all seems good on the surface if you pay over your money it's far from rosy in reality.

Very often the Hot rod mags seem to use them but never ever mention any issues.

I hate to sound cynical here, if you were offered a free kit for a review in your magazine would this alter your opinion?
Perhaps we should all start to ask the magazines to let us know if the parts have bee supplied for free?

Here is my spindle and back plate.
Once you have removed the drum, and the shoe assembly this is what you will see. That's a 3/4 spanner I'm using on the front. On the back there is a castle but and split pin, remove the the split pin. Undo the nut. The bolt goes through some of the steering components, gently tap both bolts out.
I gave them a good squirt of WD40 prior to disassembly.
On top of the plate are 2 more securing bolts. They are not held in with castle nuts.

Keep everything as you may need it later for reference.

In this picture is a tapered bearing yours may not look like this if you have the earlier roller bearing type.

I found that the best way to remove the bearing was to use 2 sturdy screwdrivers underneath the back of the bearing gently levering forwards.
Often some people use just one screwdriver so the bearing gets cocked and can be more difficult to remove.
Use 2 screwdrivers or levers.

Once you have removed the 4 bolts the backing plate will come free.
It will still be connected to the main brake pipe via the flexible brake hose that hooks up in slave cylinder.
If you haven't drained the system you can use a pair of grips to squeeze the hose, undo the connection to the slave cylinder and drain off into a jar or bottle. A couple of pumps of the pedal might help too.
I'm waiting for the discs to come back from machine shop.
Keep you posted.
I also have a booster and replacement master cylinder assembly which I plan on fitting.

 

Oh....your truck already had one of those flaky "roller bearing" conversions.

 

I've used them on at least three different cars or trucks. Bolted it on (with a few minor adaptations) and never looked back.

 

You maybe should have.....look at the seal, it has been out of the hub for quite a while.

 

Update. I dropped the the Aluminum hubs at the machine shop.
The holes drilled into the machined hubs did not line up with rotor holes.
The solution was to make some Aluminum plugs. They were welded into the "new hubs" the holes were then re drilled and correctly lined up.

 

Sorry I've uploaded the top image a few times.

A centered aluminum piece was machined. This gave us the exact centre of the rotor. We used this to then get the exact centre of the hub. The hubs were marked and accurately drilled.

 

The lugs were then pressed into the newly drilled hubs and loctited into place. I assembled the rotors and new hubs.

 

I cleaned up the spindles. Some 180 emery cloth works well.
When I ordered the kit the salesman at CPP said I should also purchase the upgrade bearings. I asked if the bearings in the kit are of inferior quality? He said no but the upgraded bearings are better. I agreed and they were added. I think I only want to do this once and do it properly.

Sure enough I paid the $95.00 and got stiffed !!
The replacement bearings do not fit new hubs. Thanks CPP. You got me good once again.

 

This is the so called upgraded bearing.
It doesn't fit

 

If you signed your check "mr poopy pants" they probably thought it was appropriate to send you a box full of crap.

 

I used this grease to pack the bearings before fitting them.
I fitted the bracket supplied.

 

Today I went back out to fit the calipers and rotors.
I seemed o get everything to fit ...kind of...
There's a lip on the calipers which hit the bracket. I filed off a few millimetres with a hand file.

 

I ordered this kit in May 2015 from CPP.
The kit includes brake hoses.
Have a look at the picture of the hose supplied in the kit.
It's stamped and dated 2012.
Hey thanks CPP you've stiffed me yet again. I don't think there is any doubt about the date. They were made 3 years ago maybe. I'll have to replace them.

 

Well great news I finally have discs and calipers in.
I thought I would try and fit the wheels back on. Guess what? They don't fit over the calipers.
To be fair CrPP do say original wheels "may not" fit.
They should of course say original wheels will not 100%guaranteed.
Thanks CrPP
$240.00 additional machine work.
1 pair of replacement brake hoses $80.00
I pair of steel wheels $160+
I can't wait to get started on the CrPP bolt in brake booster and master cylinder.
Once I have my new front wheels I'll fit the tyres and be able to jack up the back of the truck and rebuild the back brakes.
Luckily I'm not using CrPP products so everything should fit perfectly and go on ok first time.

 

A family member is having a disc conversion update on a 57 Caddy, it's ok though as the kit didn't come from CrPP.
The kit comes with some spacers about 1/4 inch thick, no biggy as such IMO, anyway I've ordered a pair from a well known internet auction website. For about $15.00 bucks. I am going to try these before I commit to the new wheels.
I'll let you know how I get on.

 

thanks for posting this, along with the repairs needed.
for any one else doing this, i used late '70's blazer [6 lug] rotors and backing plates to do this conversion. i knocked the drums off the hub and slid the rotors on using new longer studs. the holes in the backing plates needed to be drilled to match the original truck and a couple 3/8" spacers made. i have over 100k hauling stuff with this set up.

 

Hiya, Great looking dog btw, Thanks for sharing, that's a really good tip.
Did you use new bearings? How about the calipers? Sounds like a good economical way forward though. Well done!