Rear axle seal replacement

[THEFERMANATOR]

I see nothing wrong if you have the 13x3.5" drum brakes. Too many times I've seen people do disc brake swaps and lose braking ability because they don't realize other components need changing going from drums to disc's. Disc's have a huge advantage when it comes to handling heat and repeated brake applications, but when it comes to stopping heavy weights, I still think there's a reason almost all of your truly heavy duty trucks still use drums. Disc's have alot of advantages, but if they were truly the end all be all, then everything would be disc brakes now.

If you do swap to rear disc brakes, don't forget to also swap over to a 4 wheel disc master cylinder(available from a 3500hd from the 90's), and to swap the proportioning valve(good luck finding one, but they came in 3500hd gmt-455's, and I believe 01/02 2500/3500 rams with 4 wheel abs).

 

[WarWagon]

Obsolete Drum Brakes ...

You need to use good frictions like Wagner or Raybestos. The "Store brand" top of line is designed to never wear out. Thus the cheap frictions don't stop so well. This one factor makes a big difference in stopping power. RockAuto @RockAutoLLC is the only sane way to save money on brakes.

Adjustments Because Autoadjusters don't. P.I.A. Every other oil change after they are worn in. Rust belt makes it worse, but, do you stop hard enough often enough in reverse for the adjusters to even hope to work? We are talking nearly "unload the pickup in reverse by slamming brakes hard."

The only disadvantage to disk brakes on the rear is they eat the water and dust mist thrown off the front wheels. So bad dust shield design *cough* 99-2004 and rare 2005 hybrid pickup GM 1/2 tons *cough* can wear them out fast. (2005 GM 1/2 ton pickups went back to rear drum in part because GM couldn't figure out how to make a reliable parking brake with 4 wheel disc let alone it's not an emergency brake anymore. The 2005 hybrid 1/2ton pickups sold in CA and other limited places still had 4 wheel disc.) After driving in the rain the wet rear brakes can catch you by suprise. Again dust shield design may be an exclusive GM problem for both wet rears and fast wear. Slotted rotors do dry quicker than standard rotors.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Obsolete Drum Brakes ...

You need to use good frictions like Wagner or Raybestos. The "Store brand" top of line is designed to never wear out. Thus the cheap frictions don't stop so well. This one factor makes a big difference in stopping power. RockAuto @RockAutoLLC is the only sane way to save money on brakes.

Adjustments Because Autoadjusters don't. P.I.A. Every other oil change after they are worn in. Rust belt makes it worse, but, do you stop hard enough often enough in reverse for the adjusters to even hope to work? We are talking nearly "unload the pickup in reverse by slamming brakes hard."

The only disadvantage to disk brakes on the rear is they eat the water and dust mist thrown off the front wheels. So bad dust shield design *cough* 99-2004 and rare 2005 hybrid pickup GM 1/2 tons *cough* can wear them out fast. (2005 GM 1/2 ton pickups went back to rear drum in part because GM couldn't figure out how to make a reliable parking brake with 4 wheel disc let alone it's not an emergency brake anymore. The 2005 hybrid 1/2ton pickups sold in CA and other limited places still had 4 wheel disc.) After driving in the rain the wet rear brakes can catch you by suprise. Again dust shield design may be an exclusive GM problem for both wet rears and fast wear. Slotted rotors do dry quicker than standard rotors.

ALOT more 1500's than that had 4 wheel disc's. The Denali's got them, the vortec maxx truck's got 4 wheel disc, most of the 1500's with the aluminum block 5.3l got 4 wheel disc, and all suv's retained 4 wheel disc's.