Here are some photos of the disc brake conversion for my F4. I am using rotors and calipers from a 2005-2016 Ford F450- F550.







The rotor is 14 1/2" diameter and 1 1/2" thick. The caliper bracket is 1" thick plate. I still have to machine the plate to bolt the rotor to the hub.
Mark

 

I think you could stand it up on the front wheels on a hard stop! Very nicely done.

 

When do you plan to start production on these parts?

 

VERY nice! Looking forward to seeing the master cyl and booster side of things.

Scott

 

Thank you, Ross. This truck is considerably lighter than the new F450-550 trucks so I think the brakes should be good.

 

Joe, I want to make sure mine works correctly first, but that is something I might consider if there is any interest. I don't know if there would be any DOT regs or anything else that I would have to comply with.
Thanks, Mark

 

Thank you, Scott. I have the booster and master cylinder that I am going to use. It is from a 2012 F450-550. I still have to build the bracket to hang it under the cab. It is a lot larger than the original so, it will have to mount farther toward the rear of the truck. I will probably cut an access hole in the cab floor in front of the fuel tank. I will have to adjust the seat all the way forward to fill the master cylinder. I'm still considering mounting the reservoir either under the seat or on the firewall and connect it to the MC with hoses.

 

Mark, I think that there would be at least a handful. Some guys may not be willing to spend that kind of money, but I am sure some will consider it a good investment. Ray already changed the rear in his F4 to get rid of the widowmakers, so a front change might be a good fit. I think that if it could be done with an 8 lug instead of 10 it might be better received, (easier to match a rear end to it) but it's better than the dead end of no drums available. If I did that I might even entertain the idea of a rear end swap to match, and get a little higher gear.
For somebody like me, I could get 10 lug 19.5 wheels and keep my tires and help offset the cost by selling my 'good' drums as well as the shoes, backing plates, wheel cylinders etc. Of course I would probably be forced to change the master cylinder too.

 

I may be interested in the conversion. My drums are good and my brakes work well but I would like to have the option of eight lug wheels on the front to match what I have on the rear of my F4.

 

I'm interested in one for my F4. I was planning to put an F3 axle under it so I could convert to disc brakes but an F4 conversion would be better.

 

Joe, I am keeping the original 5 hole pattern as I already have a set of 19.5 wheels. I am using the 10 hole rotor so the bolts for the rotor won't interfere with the 5 bolts that bolt the drum to the hub. I will use the drum mounting holes to bolt on the spacer that the rotor will bolt on to. If I had realized earlier that my front drums were not turnable, I probably would have changed the rear axle to a '70s 1 ton axle and modified the front to use 8 hole hubs and disc brakes from a late '70s 1 ton also. Then I could have used 16" tubeless wheels and tires. Although, adding the cost of changing the rear axle, I may not have saved any money going to the 8 hole wheel. I know I would have had a similar amount of machine time modifying the front for the 1 ton brakes.
Mark

 

Ray, The caliper bracket for an 8 hole conversion on your truck would be very similar to the one I made but probably a little smaller. We could use a late '70s or early '80s 1 ton hub and rotor assembly and modify the caliper bracket design to fit the 1 ton caliper. There is a new member that posted in Oct or Nov on the build thread section, a couple of photos of a conversion just like this on a '48 F5.
Thank you, Mark

 

Steve, Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will have my front brake conversion finished. I will try to get what the cost might be. I could machine the caliper bracket, rotor spacer and the banjo fitting to adapt the brake hose to the caliper and supply a parts list for the brake parts to be sourced locally or at Rock Auto.
Thanks, Mark

 

I don't know that I would ever do this on my F4, but I'm sure going to watch how you do it.

 

Subscribing- this is a nice option for our bigger trucks.