Disc Brake Conversion Question

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Nov 4, 2014 | 12:28 PM

Big_Red_Brute

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Tuned

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From: Virginia

Disc Brake Conversion Question

I want to do a rear disc brake conversion on my truck (1990 F-150). It has the 8.8 rear end. I have found 2 kits for the swap. In my search I also found several kits for trucks with the 9" axle and they are cheaper. So here's what I want to know, could a kit for the 9" axle be made to fit the 8.8 fairly easy or not? I'm no fabricator, if I were I would do the Explorer swap instead of buying a prefab kit.

Nov 4, 2014 | 02:51 PM

Freightrain

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From: Ohio

The 8.8 end is different due to the fact it uses C clips to retain the axle. A 9" uses a bolt on flange behind the bearing. The spacing and location is different.

Nov 4, 2014 | 04:55 PM

Conanski

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From: Ottawa, Ontario

Ford put rear disks on the E150 vans around 2005 and those truck with the 4.6 still had the 8.8 axle with the same 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern.

Nov 4, 2014 | 05:09 PM

Big_Red_Brute

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From: Virginia

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freightrain

The 8.8 end is different due to the fact it uses C clips to retain the axle. A 9" uses a bolt on flange behind the bearing. The spacing and location is different.

The 'C' clip has nothing to do with it as it is located in the differential, not on the outer end of the axle.

Some kits I am seeing (Teraflex for one) say their kit will fit either the 9" or the 8.8, but others only say they fit the 9" only or 8.8.

Nov 4, 2014 | 06:11 PM

Big_Red_Brute

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Tuned

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From: Virginia

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conanski

Ford put rear disks on the E150 vans around 2005 and those truck with the 4.6 still had the 8.8 axle with the same 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern.

Conanski, do you know of anyone who has done a disc brake conversion using the E-150 parts? I have heard of the "idea" of using the parts from a newer E-150, but have not found any information as to whether or not it does work. If I knew it could be done with no major modification, I would certainly track down an axle assembly from one to rob the parts off of.

I had thought about using newer F-150 parts to do the conversion, but after some research I found that Ford changed the outer axle housing (shape/size) in 1997 and the parts will not fit the older housings. Also, all 1997 and up F-150's had the new metric (5x135mm I believe) lug pattern no matter what engine they had.