I just bought a 72 F100, and it's my first "classic" truck. I wanted to do somewhat of an introduction here and ask a question that has likely been covered but I'm also new to this forum. I'm living in the city and the current drum brakes will not cut it with city driving and hauling my current bike around so I'm looking to convert to disc brakes. I did a little research and I know there is the Master Power kit and I know you can swap in the brake setup from a 73-79 when disc brakes became standard equipment. However, I'm wondering if there is a more affordable kit out there with the MP one being almost 1400. I would rather use new parts so I'm leaning towards a conversion kit but if there isn't a cheaper option I'll go the other route.

Anyway here's a couple pictures of my truck.

 

I am pretty sure you could get everything you
would need from a salvage yard donor truck.
If needed replace the calipers and rotors with
new old stock from any parts store. Than what
you will have is all Ford and can be bought anywhere.

 

1973/79 F100 2WD came standard equipment with disc brakes, but manual disc brakes were standard equipment, power disc brakes were optional.

1975/79 F150 2WD's came with power disc brakes as standard equipment.

F250/350 disc brakes will not work on an F100.

 

That's what I was thinking, so is the breaking power difference between the manual and power disc brakes significant enough to only seek out a truck with that setup?

 

BeerNBikes Welcome to and the Bumpside Forum.

It is if you like bolt hole swap.


John

 

Just a presenting an option instead of using really old, used, and rusty parts:

Scarebird LLC brake caliper brackets $189
Useable 90s GM half-ton truck calipers $25
Early 80s Camaro hoses $40
78-96 F150 4x4 rotors $70
Wheel studs (1/4-inch longer): $40
Machine shop $80

Your drum hubs need to be turned down to fit inside of the 4x4 rotors. Have the shop press-in the slightly longer wheel studs too.

In this scenario, there is no need to replace or remove kingpins or even alter the alignment. Not even new wheel bearings.... and that stuff adds time and money.

https://scarebird.com/index.php?rout...product_id=149

 

Welcome to FTE.

Over the last several months, I've made a number of changes to my truck ('69 F100 short bed Ranger). One of those changes was switching from front drums to disc brakes. I pulled the I-beams, radius arms and discs off of a ' 77 F100.

After working on my truck for 5 months (various component changes), I finally got to drive my truck this week. BIG improvement!

I could have gone the aftermarket route and it sounds tempting to buy a 'kit' that bolts on and that doesn't even disturb the alignment and so forth. However, the new brakes are only going to work as good as the suspension components they are attached to.

When I went to pull my drum brake suspension out, to make way for the Dentside disc brake setup, it was scary how worn out my kingpins, radius arm bushings and I-beam pivot bushings were! If I had elected to just go with a kit, none of these things would have been seen or corrected and could have turned into something really ugly.

If I had to do it all over again, I would jump on another complete disc brake/I-beam setup from a '73-'79 Dentside F100/F150.

The following link is my thread on my disc brake and other component changes on my truck.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ont-drums.html

Something I noticed in your photos ...not that it couldn't have been changed but, your '72 has a '71 grille.

 

This is pretty interesting, are the rotors any bigger in diameter then the factory ones on my truck now?
I got the title today and it turns out it is a '71, he just had it wrong in the add. I found a '78 at a local salvage yard and I'm hoping to make it there to check it out Wednesday before work. Hopefully it has power steering too so I can grab everything at once. I'll definitely be using your thread for assistance.

I appreciate all the assistance and thanks for the warm welcome, I can't wait to get this project rolling.

 

Depending on how much component appearance/cleanliness means to you will have a factor in how quickly things progress along.

If dirty doesn't bother you, the swap will go much faster. If dirty does bother you, it will just be dependent on what tools you have at your disposal as to how quick the salvage yard parts will get cleaned and installed. I like a clean, factory-fresh look so, my progress was not fast (but the components look really good on the truck and they work really good too).

I would not advise using the rotors, pads, caliper hoses or the brake master cylinder from the donor truck (you may need to rob the brake line fittings off the MC, etc., but, I wouldn't re-use the MC itself).

The main components you need are the I-beams, spindles, dust shields, radius arms and calipers (turn the old calipers in as cores for newly rebuilt calipers). If your truck is a '71, it may not need the front brake caliper flexible brake hose-to-frame brackets --you would just have to compare your brackets to the ones on the potential donor truck.

The current pressure differential brake valve on your truck is designed for all-wheel drums. This will need to be changed for a disc/drum combination brake valve. The one on the donor truck (or from some other donor truck) may work --could be good, could be bad. You may have to buy a new aftermarket one. I found an NOS Ford truck disc/drum brake valve on ebay and installed it on my truck, when I swapped my truck to front discs.

If you don't currently have power steering but want power steering and find a donor Dentside w/PS, you'll need the shorter length steering column to be compatible in your truck with a Saginaw PS gear box. If your truck currently doesn't have PS, the existing column will be too long for a Saginaw PS gear box. --you could cut your present steering column down to fit but, swapping to one that's already the correct length would be easier --turn signal/steering column wiring and connectors between a Dentside column and a Bumpside is different. I show in my thread (the link I previously provided) how I installed my '78 F150 tilt column in my truck without cutting ANY of the wires on my '69 F100's main wiring harness.

Also, if changing to PS with Dentside parts, you'll need the drag link, if it's good. The PS pitman arm on the Saginaw box is specific to the PS setup too. Your current manual steering gear box pitman arm will not be compatible on a Saginaw PS gear box.

 

The cleanliness/condition of everything is important to me and I don't have too much at my disposal in terms of space and time. I've got a friend at a local machine shop so that will help, but it will be a Fairly slow going project. I do want to drive the truck while I'm gathering parts and getting everything ready so I'm considering replacing the shoes, springs, hardware, and anything else I need to and using the drum brakes or now. I may also add a brake booster; do you have any input on power vs manual drum brakes?

I did do a good bit of research on the power steering side and I'm going to take a weekend as so both projects at once as far a installation.

Once again thanks for the input!

 

Like ALL Bumpside F100s, mine came with front drums (manual brakes). 2 days into ownership of my truck (April, 2011), the right rear wheel cylinder blew out on the way home from work and I lost the rear brakes. I also discovered brake fluid leaking out the back of the MC and into the cab of the truck. Fluid was running down the firewall behind the firewall padding.

I stripped all the brake hardware off and replaced everything except the drums. They were still good, I just had them turned. About a year later, I added a dual-diaphragm brake booster from a '75 F350 1-ton truck., but still running all-wheel drums with a (new) 1.00" bore conventional style cast iron MC.

The dual-diaphragm booster is very strong (output-wise) and with a 1.00" diameter MC, I had to be careful how much pressure I applied to the brake pedal or, it would easily lock the brakes up.

When I recently switched to discs on the front, I went a little different route. I installed a 'modern' cylindrical aluminum bodied MC (for a 1995 Ford Explorer) with a plastic reservoir that has a 1.062" (1-1/16") bore diameter. This MC doesn't have SAE standard inverted flare brake fittings on the ports. It has ISO metric bubble flare ports. I have metric bubble flare and SAE double flaring tools and tubing benders so, making my own lines wasn't a problem for this setup.

This MC/booster combination seems to be about the perfect match for my setup. It isn't overly sensitive anymore. It just quickly slows the truck down from speed (although I've only driven the truck twice since I've made all the changes to it --still waiting to get the front end aligned).

 

I can't believe my eyes, I have been coming to this site for a while now, and read that a guy willing to work on his ol truck is concerned about getting dirty. That's part of the the fun, cleaning the grease from your fingers and applying band aids to the cuts.

BnB Get your truck drivable, and don't do anything for 6 weeks or more until you get to know your truck. You may or may not like the engine, or the transmission. After you have a better idea of the direction that you want to go then buy your donor truck and get all of the parts needed not just some of them.

I don't say that you need to do this but I have done this several times. I buy my donor truck, sell parts that I don't use for more than I paid, making my upgrade -0- in cost. I get an engineered system to use in my truck not a mismatched set, that can haunt you later.

Have some fun get dirty, enjoy your project.


John

 

IF your reference about "a guy" being concerned about getting dirty while working on the truck was in reference to me, you totally misread what I was saying.

I was saying if I'm installing (wrecking yard) parts on my truck, I want THEM (the parts) to be clean when they go on. The object in upgraded parts is to also make the vehicle look better. Rusty, dusty, crusty old parts installed, as-is, don't accomplish a good look.

 

Power drum brakes were optional for all 1965/72 F100's.

 

(accidental double post)