OK,
i have a full front end setup from a donor 1973 F100. What the best approach to upgrade to disk brakes -- just take the spindles and other parts and install them on my 65 with new kingpins or do the full front end swap?

Also, where do I pull the vacuum for the power brake booster? I have a I6 240 in my truck.

I'd like to hear from those of you who have done this upgrade.

 

I recommend the complete I-beams swap. I dropped the donor on the ground slid it over to my 66 and bolted it back in.

Should you ever need a part you don't have to try to remember which to get, 73 all the way.

Don't know about the 6 but I used the intake manifold on my FE.


John

 

Initially, I intended to follow John's method doing the complete swap, but then went the other route, keeping the '66 I-beams, radius arms and springs, and swapping out only the spindles (and of course, used the steering linkage parts for disc brakes such as the tie rods and drag link). I did it this way for a couple of reasons, mostly due to the donor truck's condition.

I bought the rusted-out 1978 F-150 donor truck and drove it around for a while to make sure everything worked right. When I went to remove the donor parts, it had an obviously bent I-beam. Now it steered and drove just fine - but would a bent I-beam on my '66 cause problems with the geometry? Such as caster or camber? Possibly toe?
In researching this swap I learned that sometimes a suspension direct swap won't direct swap, and has to be undone, reinstalling the original I-beams and springs - but no one could figure out why. Since my '66 had excellent steering and alignment and I didn't want to risk problems with it, I decided to just change out the spindles in order to preserve the '66 suspension geometry.

As part of the upgrade, I committed to new king pins even if not really needed. Turns out I had to take the '78 I-beams to a shop to press the old king pins out and remove the spindles - 20 tons worth of pressure. The king pins were rusted almost solid into the '78 I-beams. For considering future repairs, I could never have removed them with the '78 I-beams installed on either truck.
The '78 brass bushings inside the spindles, though, were in perfect shape. The '66 I-beams were clean, and the king pins slid out without much effort, so it was a no-brainer to put the disc brake spindles on my '66 I-beams. I swapped them out in less than 2 hours - but the other work, such a new lines, the power booster etc, took a weekend.

John's method is certainly easier and quicker, and I know others have made that swap very successfully. It was my caution and the condition of the donor parts that made me change my mind.

In short, I think the condition of the parts, both your truck and the donor truck may hold the answer to the best method for you to follow.

Hope this helps, and best of luck!


John

PS - You will love the way the truck stops with the disc brakes! Oh, and sorry, but I know nothing about the 240 engines. Most intake manifolds come with a threaded plug that can be used as a vacuum source. Perhaps yours has one?

 

In addition to Banjo's information I am posting link to believe ddavidv site, 3rd topic down has to do w/ front disc. may find helpful?? Keep in mind there's a number of variations for the front disc. upgrade. If using a donor make sure to take the MC bracket that mounts to the firewall, and the brake distributor/proportion valve. Recommend touring the site, IMO, some good info. In addition, seem to recall in FTE 'article' forum there's more information on the topic?
Ford

 

I did that to my 66 took the hole beams and tie rods because it was easier to do the only thing I had to do was cut the springs down because they were a lot taller than the original springs for the 66