Hi i am new to this site. I have a 1955 f100 and want to convert the front drums to disc brakes. Has anyone used the disc brake kit from speedway and the power brake booster from performance on line? And is power brakes needed on this truck? I am going to use the stock front axle. And need advice on a good kit. And if I can use a new master or replace it with power brakes. Thanks for any advice you all can give me.

Jerryst

 

IMO you gotta make it stop before you can make it go. Safety first.
This is where I got my kit. It was a complete bolt on to my 51.

Classic Ford Truck Parts-1948-1964 Parts. The Finest in Suspension, Brakes, Steering and Accessories.

 

Also, don't forget if you are changing to disc brakes you'll have to upgrade your brake servo as well to one designed to work with disc brakes - this can form a significant part of the upgrade cost

 

Never used speedway but there are a few companies that sell the kits made by CPP. I bought my stuff from Hot Rods in Ohio and was very happy. Couple of things to keep in mind - The complete kits are VERY heavy and can cost a small fortune in shipping. I bought the basic kit which is just brackets and spacers, purchased the calipers and rotors locally from Autozone and bought my dual master cylinder from oldirishdave on ebay. All told buy buying separately and some things locally I saved $220 over buying the whole complete kit online.

Personally I think these trucks should be updated. The single master cylinder is simply not safe anymore. The addition of disc fronts makes them more reliable and safe. I have had the old drum brakes jam up all the time and makes life miserable. You can't go wrong with the upgrade.

 

Welcome to the forum, Jerry. Whether or not power brakes on these trucks is necessary is highly debatable. They've stopped fine, as is, for years. The problem mostly lies with today's drivers accustomed to all of the creature comforts and driver aids we've gotten used to on modern cars. To jump out of your Camry and into your old truck will take some getting used to. Adding things like power brakes and steering helps the transition.

The next issue is cost. If you have to rebuild your front drum brakes, you can easily add up parts expenses equaling or exceeding the cost of the PDB conversion. So if you're going to spend $300-500 on the stock stuff, why not step up to something better for the same cash outlay.

 

hi teardropty
what rotors and calipers did you use. and dont i have to change bearings hoses and seals? also if I change to a power booster and a two stage master do you have suggestions for the booster. and what hoses, and bearings did you use. I have to make sure I can stop before i can go. also is there a valve I need for adjusting the balance between disc and drums? thanks for the information.

jerryst

 

Hey Jerryst,

The exact rotors and calipers are listed on the bracket kit instructions but from memory it is a late 70's Ford 1/2 ton truck rotor and a mid 80's GMC 1/2 ton truck caliper. The pads are the ones that fit the mid-80's GMC caliper. The bearings that came installed on my Ford rotor where the ones that where required so I didn't have to change there. The hoses are the ones that fit the 80's caliper and since I ran all new brake lines (safety first) it was no issues there.

Here is the kit I bought:
Disc Brake Conversion Kit 1948-1956 5.5

Here is the master/booster setup that I use and can highly recommend the seller for his customer service and help:
Power brakes FORD TRUCK 53,54,55,56 Auto OR Std trans | eBay

Yes, you will have to add an inline prop. valve and residual valves to the system. Check out piratejack on ebay, he has some great deals on the whole valve kits (2 residuals 2 lb & 10 lb. and the prop valve).

Feel free to ask any other questions.

If you need the Rotor and Caliper Part numbers let me know and I will look them up.

 

Thanks for all the information. I drive cars with power disc brakes and have to agree disc and drums stop better. Now to look up all the info on rotors and such and price it out. Now I just have to figure how much overtime to work. Money hard to make easy to spend.

Jerryst

 

Keep in mind if you need to save a few bucks you can always find some used parts at pull aparts too. Also, when buying new calipers most autoparts places will want cores otherwise they will charge the core fees. My autozone took 2 calipers I had laying around and didn't seem to care what they came off of. Also, if you have the Autozone rewards card you get 1 point for every $20 spent. With 5 points you get $20 free. It took me 5 separate trips but I got $20 free stuff. Every day after work I would buy one piece (most of the items are around $25) to get the point, after the week I had some free stuff coming. My whole brake system included $60 worth of free stuff from AZ. I am cheap and love free stuff. Your mileage may vary.

Check out CPP website and they have the PDF installation sheet for their kits. It has a list of what you need for parts and pieces. Again, my experience has been that the wheel bearings that you need are already installed on the rotors so you won't need additional bearings but you will need the seals. Good luck.

 

If you get the 5x4.5" kit from CPP there is STILL a typo on their parts list. The bearing seals are #94065 NOT 9406S. I emailed them about this several years ago, and they don't seem interested in fixing it. The kit itself is pretty easy...If you get the bearing adapters hot enough. Agree with everyone else about buying the basic kit and sourcing the heavy parts locally. If you have Advance Auto Parts near you use discount code P20 at checkout for 20% off your entire order and free shipping/in store pickup.

 

Good point Goobzilla. The kit I referenced above is the 5 lug X 5.5 bolt pattern. I wanted to stay with the original bolt pattern size found on the F100. You can use almost any F100, F150 or E150 from 54-96. Changing over to 5X4.5 ends up creating other issues (different rims, etc). The kits for the 5X5.5 have good fit and my spacers slide right on the stock spindles without any heating, trimming, etc. In the past CPP did have spacer issues but they seem to have fixed that recently. I've had good experiences with the 5 kits I have installed over the last 2 years.

 

I just priced out the parts for my disc brake swap. The Speed way kit with shipping is 350 dollars. If I just get the bracket kit and purchase the rest from chain auto stores. it comes out to 330 dollars. I have checked the parts list on this forum, and I may have to go junkyard shopping for rotors and calipers. Maybe I will luck out on craigslist. The list calls for mid 70s ford 1/2 truck rotors. And mid 80s gm calipers 1/2 truck. Andyone have any other suggestions or list of parts.

jerrryst