I'm asking this question for my brother-in-law who's got a '59 F100 Custom Cab that he inherited from his dad and basically grew up with, you know the story - tricked it out, drove it all through his high school and college years - he absolutely loves it!, but the brakes just don't cut it for city driving here in Fort Worth where there are lots of people pulling out in front of you without looking. Also, the worm gear in his steering box is very worn so there is alot of slop in the steering wheel which really becomes a big problem when trying to compensate for the front wheels braking unevenly. He plans on replacing the worm gear eventually but the brakes are the top priority.

This truck has the original axles with manual drum brakes on all four wheels.

To do a regular brake job he says that he would have to buy new drums all the way around since these drums have been turned out to their maximum, but he also mentioned that he might like to get a disc brake conversion kit for the front brakes as that would make the truck stop even more quickly.

I've been searching the web for info about this conversion as well as other possible ways to upgrade his brakes (power brake master cylinder kits) and would love it if anyone has any suggestions about a particular course of action.

For instance:

1. Would a simple brake job with new drums, shoes, lines, etc... combined with one of those power master cylinders kits make a big difference in actual stopping ability?

2. How would this compare to putting disks on the front two wheels and leaving it manaul (is that possible?) or adding power to the disk setup as well.

3. Perhaps someone can share their experience with doing a disc brake conversion on a '59 (or thereabouts) vintage F100 and recommend the brand name of a disc brake coversion kit manufacturer and/or dealer, and maybe point me to a weblink and/or phone number/address ?

Also, any idea how much this kind of thing costs and are there ways to do it cheaper via junkyards?

He doesn't drive the truck very much so he doesn't want to spend a whole lot of money right now and he likes working on cars so he would be doing all the work himself.


Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

-Sam
samstepa(No Email Addresses In Posts!) <-my email
(i signed up using his email address so he will get notice of responses)

Note to Kenny:

His '59 looks alot like your dad's marroon one on your website.

 

After doing a little bit more searching I found a Disk Brake Conversion kit by ECI:

http://www.ecihotrodbrakes.com/5inch_boltcircle_discbrake_kits.html

Does anyone know if the GM Rotors they use have the same lug bolt array as the stock ford drums? I don't want him to have to buy new rims or anything.

Maybe it would be cheaper to buy the GM rotors and calipers locally and just get the basic kit which costs only $100 instead of $325.

Anybody done a disc brake conversion out there?

--Sam

 

the g m rotors are not the same bolt pattern as the ford. g m is 5 lug on 5 inch circle. ford p u is 5 lug on 5.5 inch circle. if you can find a bolt on kit that uses the g m rotor and caliper you can have the rotors drilled for the proper bolt pattern. the 58 i have is getting a front clip, so i get powersteering and disc brakes in the deal.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 17-Sep-02 AT 11:54&nbsp;PM (EST)]If you read the description, those kits use GM _calipers_, but "'73-93 Ford F100/F150 (2WD) rotors". So there's no problem with bolt patterns.

I plan on getting the basic kit, then buying the generic parts locally (to save shipping, duty, etc). And I just might take some accurate measurements of the adapter plate and bearing adapter doohickey before I install them.

 

Thanks jimbare, angus

I don't know how I missed that they were Ford rotors, man, it was right there in the ad! oh well :P


I'll call around tommorrow to price those rotors and the "'71-76 GM big car calipers" - probably a common part for a GM parts guy. I'll post the relevant part #s as I find em. I'm going to call ECI too to see if there's anything else I might need; they have all of these Metering, Proportioning, & Pressure valves they recommend.

He is going from 4-wheel drum to a drum/disc setup so I'm sure he'll need to do some tweaking.

I'll let y'all know what I find out.

Ah, I need to price some replacement drums for the back too.

Anyways, Thanks again for your responses!

--Sam

 

I've got the ECI disc kit for my '59 F100, I also got new hoses from them. After pricing out the rotors & calipers from my local parts houses, it came out just about the same as buying the entire ECI kit, so that's what I did. When you get the kit, you have to knock out the outer bearing race on the new rotors and install a new race supplied in the kit (why doesn't ECI do this themselves?). You'll also need to get a '68-'70 Mustang disc/drum master cylinder.

Here's a good webpage describing how to do it:
http://www.octm.com/dane/index29.htm

If the steering box is sloppy, you'd better check the rest of the front end. The drag link, tie rod ends, and kingpins probably need to be replaced. How are the springs? If they're okay, replacing the shackles & bushings will make a big difference, too.

I just picked up my axle from the shop who installed the kingpins, I'll be installing the brake kit, master cylinder, & new brake lines this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.

- Jay