About ten months ago I bought a 1955 F250. When I was looking at it and hoping for a Dana 60 in the back I saw a Ford 9" instead but the price seemed ok and I knew I could change it back to be what I wanted which was an F250.

A look under the front hubcaps also revealed that three studs were missing (5 bolt wheels)

So I bought the truck and started searching the internet for 8 bolt front hubs and/an axle. There was of course nothing available. A few days after the purchase of the truck was the Monroe, WA swap meet and by some sort of miracle there was a guy there who just happen to have two F250 hubs for $10. He did not have the backing plates or drums otherwise I would not have converted to discs.

So I took the front axle apart only to find the hubs would not fit the axle like they should, further investigation revealed that the hubs had not been switched instead a 57era axle had been installed with the two drag links welded together in the middle!

Here is the truck when I got it with the "new" 1972 F250 Dana 60 already in the back.

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Here is what I saw when I removed the backing plate not an 1955 axle. Sorry blurry picture.


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I was able to locate a "correct" axle and began mocking up my own custom disc brake setup.

I did initially look at the kit sold online but did not like the way it mounted and that it used chevy parts. That and the price was up there and it did not even come with the calipers or rotors.

As I too wanted F250 sized brakes I made many trips to the O'Reilly's where I looked at rotors and callipers for Ford trucks from the 1980's to the newest ones around. After looking at them all it seemed like the rotors used from the 1970's to 1998 or so was going to be the best option. They mount behind the rotors and the studs pull through from behind.

For the calipers I never liked the ones from the 70's and 80's which had rubber with two steel pieces that the caliper floated on. I have always liked the calipers that float on bolts with rubber boots. So I went with 1995 F250 calipers. These calipers also mount with two 5/8 sized metric bolts.

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Now that I had all the parts I wanted to use it was time to start mocking things up with cardboard and plywood. I mocked up some shapes for holding the caliper about where I thought it should be.

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I do not have too many pictures of the mock-up stages.

I purchased some 3/8 steel plate which is probably overkill but at least I never worry when I push on the brake pedal. I cut all the plate on my rockwell bandsaw which some of you may know took forever! The piece of webbing in between the two pieces of 3/8 plate is only 1/4 but should still be plenty strong for the forces involved.

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For anyone that can fabricate well and is confident in their welding this should not be a big chalange.

I used two pieces of 3/8 plate. One mounts where the backing plate used to mount and the other is cut to the shape of the caliper mounting.

The spacer piece was made of 1/4 plate 2" wide which almost gave a perfect caliper center on the rotor. It would have been best to be 1/8" narrower but as that would have taken some time to do and I am lazy I just used a washer to space the caliper back out a bit. In reality this would not have been necessary as the caliper will self center.

The brake hoses were the standard ones for a 1995 F250, I had to flip the left and right sides as the I think the calipers mount to the rear of the axle on those trucks.

There were no modifications done to the axle or truck itself to handle this braking setup. It stops great, just no ABS so it is of course possible to lock up the wheels.

I fully welded both sides inside and out which is probably not necessary if you can stick/arc weld that would be good enough. I TIG welded mine because I have the ability though I am not certified in anyway.

If you wanted to have someone else make it you could even make yourself some mockups out of 3/8" plywood and have them made.

The other option people have done apart from buying the kit that uses chevy parts. Buy the caliper mounts for the 70's Ford trucks and fill in the existing mounting holes and drill new ones. I believe there are posts about that method.

I did this because I wanted a newer style of caliper.

Good luck

 

Very cool! It's always more fun to build it than buy it. Besides, what you can build is usually better and cheaper than what can be bought!

Sam

 

Very nice build thread and looks great.

 

Great how to thread, not sure I would want to take that on for my skill level however.

Thanks for posting it !

 

Nice work,I was a little unclear on something though.It looks like origional hubs with rotors mounts in behind with the studs pressed in back,or was a newer set of hubs?I have a 89 f250 as a donor and was planning on a swap like this with my 56 f250.1200 miles so far this summer and a heavy truck.

 

Nice Build, looks a lot beefier than any bolt on kit

 

Yes. I used the original type hubs from a 1955 F250. On these hubs the drum goes on from the outside and is screwed to the hub, it is also then sandwiched between the hub and wheel.

The newer rotor like your 89 F250 is supposed to have the studs pass thru the rotor and be pressed into the hub. So I did it like it would have been done on a newer truck and the studs go thru the rotor and press into the hub. The hub is clamped between the rotor and the wheel.

I hope that answers your question.

 

I did not really make any templates. I just fitted all the parts together.
I would say to start by making the 3/8" plate that fits in place if the old backing plate. I think I made that plate about 1/2" bigger all the way around. This has to clear the rotor so it is a good idea to have ask the parts when you start.
Next I bent up the piece of 2"x1/4" plate that is the webbing between the two 3/8"thick plates. This has to hug pretty close to the axle flange because the caliper comes really close and it almost just barely fit. I think I had to grind/bevel the able flange for my wells because it was that close. I would say you don't need to weld the inside there.
Next you make up the caliper holding bracket out of 3/8" plate. When you look at the caliper mounting bracket you can see my bracket ended up with the mounting points being angled outward there are some massing angles for the bracket to engage.
I used a wedge to jam the caliper on the rotor while it was all assembled on the axle to position the caliper. I set the caliper so the edge of the brake pad was about 1/8" in from the outside of the rotor as this seemed about right.
Now to bring the caliper perfectly centered on its range of motion I put a 1/8" washer between my bracket and the caliper.

Sorry I do not have dimensions. I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants fabricator.

 

I just was showing this to my dad, who would be helping me with a similar swap on my truck and he had a concern. Did you machine/true the back side of that hub piece? If not, the concern was about premature brake wear because the rotor wouldn't be against a flat surface and would wobble back and forth, acting a lot like warped rotors.

 

I did not machine any of it. You could if you wanted to but there is no need. Even if it was off a little the caliper system allows the caliper and pads to float in there. I have seen brakes where the pads tilted when everything was flat and true.

I have also been driving it for about a year and have no warping or other problems.

 

can you just take the completed front axles from an F-250 and put the onto an F-150 frame of similar year model ? and will the rear swap over springs and all from same.... F-250 onto F-150 frame?