I see a lot of discussion for rear brake conversions, but can't find anything for Front Brake conversions for 1996 F150.
I'm not looking for a big brake kit. I need to do a brake job and would like to just convert to front discs if possible and with as little expense as possible. Would prefer to just use Ford parts from other F150 years if possible.
Would this require new front spindles? I think that I would need a brake booster(?).
Thanks

 

A 1996 F150 did not come from the factory equipped with front drum brakes. They all left the factory with disc brakes in the front.

If your truck has drums in the front it is because someone swapped them in. If the truck a 4x4 I would expect they swapped in an older axle setup whole.

 

A very old axle. I would think mid 70's. Is it a solid axle or still twin I beam/TTB?

 

not sure what year they switched the F-100's front brake system(72 maybe) but every single f150 ever made had disk brakes

i doubt if somebody swapped in a straight axle they woulda used a drum system your looking an axle that would have been set up for leaf springs only
where as its very common to put in a mid-late 70's dana 44 into 1980-1996 f150's due to they are all ready set up for coils and radius arms (and always ran disk brakes as far as i know

so i assume you want better braking power you can upgrade to bigger rotors/calibers i'm sure there are kits out there but you change the front you would have to change the rear to disks of the same size (to keep braking even front to back) then you would most likely have to upgrade the rim size as well to accommodate the the bigger rotors

i would highly suggest looking under your truck before you ask any more questions
ill take a stab in the dark you that you havent own many F-series in the past

at the end of the day i think somebody who would ask this question should just take their truck to a brake/muffler shop and get a complete brake job done

and keep in mind trucks are trucks and will never stop on dime like a car even after a complete brake job

 

Front disc brakes introduced: 1973 F100 2WD; 1975 F150 2WD; 1976 F100/150 4WD

 

good to know the actual years even for my own knowledge and thanks on the 75 f150 4x4 info i really woulda never guest it
i was taking my best educated that it happen around the 5th and 6th gen. change up


like i said the the oldest fords i had were 76 and f100 rwd (my 1st truck) and an f150 4x4 (79 grill set square lights) both had disk/drum set

 

Ok, I have to admit now that I'm a total dumb a**. I have owned that truck for 15 years and used it to haul everything imaginable (manure, rocks, etc). I have abused it and really not taken good care of it. It has to be pissed off at me for the neglect that it gets relative to our other vehicles. So, I was only guessing that it had drums on the front. I have never taken off the wheels - any new tires were installed at the local tire shop while I read the paper.

In the future I'll try to make intelligent comments - thanks guys.

 

i'm sure we had no intent to be-little your intelligence we were just perplexed on how your truck would have drum/drum set up but we are also here to help and guide each other too so we had to get to bottom of your question

take this as a learning exp. i sure there are hundreds of "dumb" questions on this forum so beat yourself up over

i have stated things on these forums that came off a little "dumb" but i when got corrected i felt alittle stupid at 1st but really at the end of the day im glad i can walk away with right info

keep posting, keep reading and keep learning we all had to start somewhere

i have learned a lot in the last yr or so from here and i keep coming back for more

there has been some good insight posted on the thread even if it came off as critical
hope you figure out what you want to do to help your beast slow down better
we are here to help!

good luck

 

No problem guys - I certainly took no offense at all. I appreciate the feedback.

I do a lot of work on a couple of my cars, but have been neglecting the truck. I was figuring out that if i were going to do a brake job on drum brakes that I might just check to see who has converted to disc brakes.

Last night I pulled off a wheel to take a look at the brakes. Somewhat rusty, but the pads aren't completely worn and the rotors are surprisingly in good shape. I'll just take them apart some weekend to replace the pads, check the lines, etc. I only looked at the left one so I don't know if the right rotor is good or not. I don't depend on it for daily driving, so if I have it on jack stands for a couple of weeks, it's no issue.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Seriously.

 

I'm kind of dumbfounded that you haven't had a wheel off in 15 years to check, well, anything.

There are better rotors and pads available to help shorten stopping distances if that's what your after.

 

Thanks. 15 years and only about 15K miles. Used only for hauling.