if you want to see the largest brake upgrade you can do (like adding a turbo/super charger to an engine type of upgrade - no smoke) look into the hydroboost conversion.it basically,converts your vacuum brakes to work hydraulically off the power steering pump,using complete off the shelf/bolt on parts that came on the f450's of the era.nothing else you can do to your brakes will be it's equivalent.the best part? it probably costs less than a disc convert and only takes a Saturday afternoon.the skill level involved on a scale from 1- to 10 with 10 being the most difficult is probably just a 3 or 4.

converting to rear disc may be handy for those who don't like replacing shoes every 70-80k miles but for those who want a major upgrade in stopping power,it's the hydro conversion.

 

Depends on how you do it, and how you're going to use it. If you're going to put car brakes on a 3/4 ton truck and expect them to work like 1 ton brakes, then no, you are likely downgrading your braking ability.

If you're going to put 1 ton disk brakes on a 3/4 ton, then yes, you are probably going to get a little better braking performance. Is it worth the cost? That's up to you, but it isn't for most of us. And as FORDF250HDXLT said, there are cheaper ways to get more braking improvement.

Having said that, another reason to go to disk brakes is to reduce unsprung weight. Not a factor for most of us, but it is to some.

Disks might also deal with heat better than drums. Again, this will depend on the brakes. Car disk brakes probably are still a step down from 3/4 ton drums. But newer truck disk brakes will likely have less fade than older drums.

 

I searched and found your thread on this conversion... very interested! This is my kind of upgrade!! I see you have a diesel truck, do you know if this conversion can be done to a big block? Just heading out the door so only read the first page of your project.

 

engine type doesn't matter.the f450 460 gas jobs had hydroboost too.

 

I think the bigger problem is that guys are tired of beating the old drums off, spring retainers, and problamatic AM brake cables that never fit and work correctly. I've rebuilt 4-5 of these trucks rear drums and am no stranger to these and how they work. I'm sure there are guys that have done 100 of these and know all the little tricks to make the parking brakes/cables work correctly... I'm not one of them. I can get them to work ok but have never got the parking brake cables to work like they did new/OEM. Let's face it... Nobody wants to do drum brakes when changing pads is quicker and easier. It's one of the reasons I have a 02 F250SD now. No more drum brakes, mower power, etc.

 

the reason for that is the non replaceable part.the brake cable arm gets bent by people pressing harder and harder on the e-brake as the shoes ware.this bends the arm.remove it and bend it a little more straight with a 3lb hammer and the e-brake pedal doesn't need to go down so far anymore.do this to both sides as needed and just like new again.very strong e-brake will full shoe to drum force.

(yes,i spent hours scratching my head and not giving up figuring it out.i had another axle beside the truck to help compare parts with too.i never give up.i knew it had to originally work correctly,so i kept at it until it did again.)

another tip;
when you replace the hardware,you need to insure the self adjusters lever is bent inward as well.when new those are straight.you need to make sure the star wheel can't free spin loose.all it takes is removing the star wheel/adjuster.pressing firmly inward on the self locking arm and then it will catch hard against the arm and can't free wheel loose.this way every time you back up,they tighten and will remain adjusted.i just recently learned the error of my ways on this one.i figured,well it's all new it should be good.yeah,that's rarely the case with aftermarket parts.

 

If people would use their parking brake more than once a year, or have their drums off more than once a year (meaning during inspection time) the drums wouldn't be stuck on, hardware wouldn't be rotted, and things would generally be in better shape.
I say maintain your truck better if you're having that much trouble.

The eldorado caliper should be bought new, not taken from a junkyard (unless you're talking about a core) so availability is easy to get a new one, it's called go to the store and order it...

Cutting the backing plate off a van d60 and getting it onto the 10.25 is a lot of work, why not just use a 10.5 and redrill the hub and then use the van rotors... I haven't looked into it, but with a little measuring the 10.25 hub may work on the 10.5. They are nearly identical axles.

The hydroboost is a great upgrade.
Also I've heard about using f350 rear wheel cylinders in the 8.8 drum brake setup for extra braking.

 

Nope, I already knew that. My problem is the AM brake cables are never "even" where the merge the two drum cables into the the one cable going forward to the brake pedal. Had the same problem with 3 different brands from three different part houses. At this point I really could care less about these brakes b/c I have down-graded the 88 F250 to plow and wood hauling duties only. Don't really need parking brake for that... It probably won't be long before I get a blade for the tractor, upgrade the 02 F250 to something newer/better condition, and reduce the truck fleet down to just one or two. Chainsaw shop has been busy year round and we're planning to have kids soon so that cuts into my time for old truck maintenance.

 

Nobody I know has time to pull their drums once a year... Most trucks this age aren't daily drivers so why would anyone think check pads once a year. Mine get 3k/year if they are lucky. I do plenty of preventative maintenance but most people are lazier than me and I don't pull drums if I don't have to.

Like i said the cheapest option... buying an entire 10.5 axle up here costs $400+ pretty easily. Add in new van rotors, machining and new parts/fluids, etc and you're heading toward $600-$800 for a disk brake change. Considering I see high mileage 99-03 F250SD's around here for $3-$4K... Doesn't make economical sense to spend that much.

I wouldn't cut the flange off a D60... It's just mild plate steel and I know fabricators/CNC guys that could make me a set in a few minutes with an outline drawing. You can draw the flange when you pull the hardware, and $20 in beer to my CNC buddy gets me a pair of new flanges. $80 at the yard for all the D60 outer hardware, $75 for pads/turned rotors/brake hardware kits, etc. Time with the welder and grinder is free for me but $10 for grinding wheels and such. $20 for new alxe lube.

$205 total for a basic disk brake swap out my way. Like I said above it would be a cheap way for someone that has the tool availability. I'm honestly shocked that some of the 4x4 websites don't have an D60 axle flange kit with all the hardware for disk conversions for broncos and other off road rigs that use/could use cheap 10.25 sterlings axles.

 

oh i see.you need to take the slack up in one of them a bit,so that the shoes spread evenly on each side of the truck.insuring both work equally.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/151474337238?lpid=82

that's cool.there are loads of people reading wishing their oem kits worked well just the same.so they'll benefit for the tips/tweaks/info.
by far most readers of this thread will make use of the info,more than they will make use of converting to rear disc brakes.
cus like you say,there isn't any decent practical affordable options for most of us to do that.

 

Axle here in pa at a junkyard, complete, is under 200 bucks.
One place quoted me 155 complete if I took it out.

Drilling the hubs is pretty easy. Stick the rotor on, use a transfer punch to get new hole locations, then spot drill and drill. Really not that difficult.

As far as cost, you're buying new rotors and calipers no matter which axle you purchase, so that cost is the same. It's only the price of the housing you need to pay for extra.

We all do jobs differently. There's no right or wrong. Lots of people don't have the skills to weld on new brackets, lots of people don't have access to cnc machines, some people don't have good junkyards... Point is, as long as the job is done safely, who cares how you got from point a to point b.

 

For that much, hell yea I would have cut 3 off and done all my older trucks by now. Do the 10.5's have the small inner drums for parking brake capability?

 

Yeah, internal drum parking brake.