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Just joined forum and wanted to say hi. After giving up on a nice clean rear disc brake conversion for the GE, I imported an JDM complete axle. Will post pics once it goes on! Will be doing the larger Acura Type R front brakes also.
It was a process and not for the faint of heart to be honest. Took almost 3 months....but it was fun. Not going to argue any practicality to it, just simply a cool mod. Looks better and may stop a little better but main benefit here is that is was a cool fun project.
This is a hot topic on our Fits. More info about prices paid and installation info etc would be very useful here.
How about some pics of the imported rear axle, a description of how you imported it, and a description of how you installed it would be very helpful.
Did you install the whole axle under your car or did you use parts from the imported axle onto your stock oem axle?
This is a pretty basic swap but if anyone wants to do this swap...I will state that this is a project that should only be pursued with the goal of because it looks better and is just simply "cool". It's expensive and if your goal is to notice better stopping...you'll be disappointed. Once I found out that I could do it....I just simply HAD to do it LOL I never expected to notice better braking or anything other reason to justify the money spent on this but just a cool fun swap and I'm really happy with it.
Parts needed:
The entire rear axle with calipers, pads, rotors, bearings, soft brake hose to caliper, hard lines on axle and the emergency brake cables is what is needed. Do not need the ABS sensors(exactly the same) and do not need the soft brakes hoses from body to the hard lines on the axle. Those are also the same. Do not need master cylinder. According to my research, the JDM Fit's had the same master cylinder regardless of having drum or disc.
Thanks for posting the pics. It's important to those of us that would consider making this conversion, what the cost would be. I've gone on the United Kingdom Ebay and asked 3 or 4 wrecking yard sellers if they would ship a GE8 rear disc axle to the US and they all replied no- that the axle was too big and heavy to deal with. Knowing what to expect cost wise would help.
It looks like you swapped the compete axle into your car. What emergency brake cables did you use? Any surprises in the installation?
I searched the UK and Australia to try and find someone to ship it. It's just too large and will have to be imported via ship. UK stuff is rusty. Australia is really far away. Japan is closest and really the most reliable.
I got mine from www.beforward.jp
You will also need to contact a customs broker, I used www.easyisf.com (highly recommended)
Customs part was about $250-300, axle part was about $900
Waited about 2 almost 3 months and you'll have to pick it up at the shipping warehouse unless you'd like to pay another 100-150 for door delivery.
Not for faint of heart, it's a serious process and involves having customs documentation turned in on time.
As far as the emergency brake cables, you have to use the emergency brake cables for the disc brakes. The left side one is tricky only because of the little rubber boot that seals the hole in the body right before going to the console. It's just tricky because the fuel tank is in the way and it's hard to seat the boot correctly. Other than that, it was really easy.
You said the brakes don't feel much different, but wouldn't it feel more stable while braking hard? With a drum setup, there be more brake bias towards the front.
The only reason why I would do a rear disc setup is simply for a more linear brake feel than having the front of the car dive during hard braking. Also it's a pain in the ass to swap shoes when you're spoiled from simply changing brake pads. My arm has a nice one inch scar from changing my shoes last year.
You said the brakes don't feel much different, but wouldn't it feel more stable while braking hard? With a drum setup, there be more brake bias towards the front.
The only reason why I would do a rear disc setup is simply for a more linear brake feel than having the front of the car dive during hard braking. Also it's a pain in the ass to swap shoes when you're spoiled from simply changing brake pads. My arm has a nice one inch scar from changing my shoes last year.
I don't think the bias would change much after a swap... for one thing, the proportioning valve isn't changed, nor is the actual braking forces needed to stop the car. The car is weight biased to the front along with the "weight shift" while braking, so the front brakes will always do most of the braking.
However, wait differences in braking effect will depend on the how much the pads bite compared to the shoes, along with the force at which they apply. Are the pistons the same size, do they apply the same overall force?
If the pads bite harder, and that overwhelms the bias, then its possible to lock up (sooner).
I'm not saying that people shouldn't do it. I agree with the OP in a sense that, people should have a clear view on WHY they do this.
I had originally ordered the parts for a drum to disc swap (not the whole axle though) along with a BBK. But after I got the BBK, I found out it doesn't fit my wheels and the seller wouldn't do a refund. It was taking a while to get the parts, I decided to cancel the disc swap at a 15% charge ($120), since I can't install the BBK until I buy new wheels... which is waiting until my current tires wear out. I'm actually hoping to find a rear disc setup that uses the same calipers as the stock front along with a separate parking brake. This is because I have already swapped out the front stock caliper (1 pot) for a set of Wilwoods (DPHA, 4 pot, direct swap) and would like to re-use those in the back after moving to the BBK.
And while I do think there's some small benefit for me in doing the rear disc swap (with the DPHA and probably more so with the BBK), I'll say the swap is still more for aesthetics/form than function, for me.
It was mentioned before on forums. Also, mention you want solid rotors and they can drop the price by around $50. Unless, you want slotted/drilled ones.
I don't think the bias would change much after a swap... for one thing, the proportioning valve isn't changed, nor is the actual braking forces needed to stop the car. The car is weight biased to the front along with the "weight shift" while braking, so the front brakes will always do most of the braking.
Find me the part number for a proportioning valve for our cars.
Anywho, I'm aware it won't make a night and day difference. I know it's not going from a 90/10 to a 60/40 balance, but if you're making your brakes work some over time, you're eventually going to feel the difference with a rear drum setup.
Find me the part number for a proportioning valve for our cars.
Anywho, I'm aware it won't make a night and day difference. I know it's not going from a 90/10 to a 60/40 balance, but if you're making your brakes work some over time, you're eventually going to feel the difference with a rear drum setup.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that there is (or isn't) one. If there's anything like that, it's probably built into the master cylinder. Only meant that there was no such mention of a change (valve or mc) when the OP changed the rear axle.
As for feeling the difference, I don't know. The only condition I would go through that might make disc rear perform better is when I do my Costco visits. But even then, I go out of my way to not need the brakes much anyway because the Fit will take a beating from the extra weight needed to give the rear more traction for harder braking. Otherwise, all I see is the rear locking up before the front do, with so little weight for traction.
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that there is (or isn't) one. If there's anything like that, it's probably built into the master cylinder. Only meant that there was no such mention of a change (valve or mc) when the OP changed the rear axle.
As for feeling the difference, I don't know. The only condition I would go through that might make disc rear perform better is when I do my Costco visits. But even then, I go out of my way to not need the brakes much anyway because the Fit will take a beating from the extra weight needed to give the rear more traction for harder braking. Otherwise, all I see is the rear locking up before the front do, with so little weight for traction.
You're good. The brake bias is actually done via VSA. In the service manual, it states on page 19-98 (at least on my '09-12 manual) "The VSA modulator-control unit controls the Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS), the Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), the Traction Control System (TCS), the Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), and brake assist with the brake pressure of each wheel and reduces engine torque."
BMW ALPINA also stated this in his lengthy thread (https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ml#post1178088) that the bias is adjusted automatically. I thought it was a bit weird at first when I first looked into the swap, so I messaged him myself. After asking how the change works, he stated after bleeding the system that the brake bias change is immediate. "The brake bias changed because now you have a larger area inside the rear disc brake caliper for the brake fluid to push compare to the actuator inside the drum brakes" which is probably why OP never mentioned a proportional valve swap. As far as a MC swap, it all depends on who you ask because I either see it being necessary or not. Your mileage may vary, I suppose.
01-08-2019, 11:33 AM
