So I bought a set of powerstop brakes this week and installed them halfway. I made the mistake of not measuring them before I started the job, and figured out as I was reinstalling the caliper, that the new rotors are an inch bigger. I have 10 and something inch brakes, the new ones are 11 and something inches. I've been doing a little research since then and I found that the 4wd trucks can have 11 and something inch brakes, mine is a 2wd.

I'm a little annoyed that the parts were claimed to fit my exact setup, but they don't. I'm pretty sure I need to upgrade my calipers and bracket now, since I can't return my brakes..


Advice please?

 

OK so why won't they take unused parts back, parts they looked up and gave you incorrectly?

I think you might be in for more than a bracket. Have you looked at the caliper mount?

 

You've typed this question in the Ranger & B-Series (Bronco II) forum, so which is it, what year is it?

 

Sorry. 99 2.5 2WD.

 

I already greased them up and installed them. That's go I know they don't fit. And it does need a bigger caliper mount as it doesn't fit either.

 

So I did more web surfing today on this and I'm finding that I may need to do more than just calipers and brackets. *sigh* So this is becoming very disappointing. I've had a really tough time getting the exact info I need, and I would really appreciate the help from you all.


So from what I've read on the ranger forums website and some other one I can't remember, I'm in for a spindle upgrade, as well as steering knuckles. If that's the case, I'd rather go all the way and get 12" brakes. This is really bothering me as I thought I'd be able to just move up to 11.25 brake disc calipers and brackets and be done. I don't see why the spindles would need to be upgraded, the rotors fit just fine when I installed the wheels bearings.



This was not supposed to take this long or be this drawn out, and I need to get it done soon as the front brakes are on their last leg.

 

I'm guessing no one has experience on this topic?

 

Free bump but I only have very limited experience with this and not on this truck. I know on the 1999 Subaru 2.5RS's you could upgrade the front brakes to the slightly larger, WRX rotors by using new WRX rotors and caliper brackets. And that was it.

However, from some reading I've done, I don't believe it's that easy on these trucks. You can upgrade to the larger 13" Cobra brakes but I'm sure you already read/saw that here: How to: Front Cobra disc brake conversion - Ford Ranger Forum

But, outside of that I just really don't have any clue on these trucks.

EDIT: Ok, after looking at some pictures of the front brakes on these trucks, to even go up another inch in rotor swept area you would need new slightly larger caliper/pad brackets and new knuckles. But, I wonder what the difference is between the 2wd trucks that run the 261mm rotor and the 286mm rotor?

 

Front brakes are squealing now, am I gonna get any help on this or do I need to potentially waste more money figuring this out this week?

 

Put cheap pads in til you figure out the swap details for the bigger brakes.

I'd just put the stockers back in there, but ymmv.

Looks like you need different spindles. Don't your calipers bolt directly to the spindles?

99 Ranger Brake Diagram - Ranger-Forums - The Ultimate Ford Ranger Resource

 

They bolt to the steering knuckle. I'm thinking I need to search pull a part tomorrow and grab some knuckles from a 2001+ ranger. From what I've read, they use the same caliper, but the mounting bracket is different. But that was not what I was noticing. The spindles, I can't understand why they would need replacing, they fit just fine when installed the rotors to them last week. I've been driving the truck with the old brakes so it's not in pieces for me to study. But from my memory, I believe I'm correct. I think I'm just gonna get all the parts for the newer trucks with larger brakes, that way when it comes time to build this truck to pro stock level, I'll have the hardware for 12 inch brakes to be swapped in.