Hi all. I have a 1980 F100 with manual brakes. I've been towing a single axle trailer to pick up and deliver lawn tractors and it's not the best on braking (duh).

I'm wondering about upgrades. Did Ford make different size front rotors? Front semi-metallic pads are for sale for two rotor sizes. I am leaning towards semi-metallic pads and shoes.

Power brakes would make the foot pedal pressure easier, but I still want quality pads offering strong grabbing force. Maybe I'll upgrade to a power booster later, but I'm looking at upgrading pads and maybe shoes for now.

 

Electric brakes on the trailer would be the best.
Look at https://www.etrailer.com/ for trailer brake assy. and controller for inside the truck.

I do not know of larger size brakes than what you have on it now but also did not go looking for any.
edit: there is not a lot of room between rotor / dust shield & wheel to fit larger brakes when looking at my setup.
Below is what I have come across on my project (non-power) & parts truck (power) to make as one.

My 81 F100 also had non-power brakes and the rear drums are 11" power is 10". What I found on the wheel cly is both look to be 15/16" between the 2 sizes but I do not know what the stroke is and I think they list 2 different part numbers between them. I did not look that deep into it other than bore size and had different part numbers so thinking stroke size.

Front pads, rotors and calipers measure the same size but do not interchange. The beams / king pins on out are different so I found out the hard way.
Wheel bolt patterns are also different between power & non-power and what started the beams / king pin show above.

If you are going to swap a booster in from the same year(s) trucks you need to get the booster, master, and the pedal assy, as the pin for the pedal to master rod is in a different location between non-power & power.
If you get a pedal assy. from a newer hyd. clutch truck you will need to swap the clutch pedal over as the ends for rod / clutch master are different.

What I think I have also found is the F250 uses the same non-power brake wheel parts but with a power booster. I did not look if the booster & master are the same part numbers or not.

Now I am guessing your brake system has not been touched since new. Wheel cly. and calipers could be stiff / frozen to move and why it is hard to stop. Old fluid in the system is not good either and should be flushed out. If you go that far a new master and replace the rubber brake lines may be good also. Other than the master (I think) the rest you should be able to reuse when you do the power booster swap.

BTW I am using all new non-power wheel end brake parts, new rubber hoses and the power brake pedal assy., booster & master.
I had to replace a new leaking wheel cly. (never drove the truck since install a year ago) and have a low brake pedal. I don't know why yet as I am still rebuilding the truck and in no rush to drive it. I may need to adjust the pedal to master push rod?
Hope that helps
Dave ----

 

I would find a f150 and buy the whole truck or get all the parts. I am assuming you have the small car pattern wheels? If you do, the f150 will have the larger lug pattern wheels, larger brakes etc. Being f100, you rearend ratio may be for fuel mileage and not the best for towing. If it is, the rearend from the f150 may be a better ratio, and will also give the large pattern in the rear for the f150 wheels. And it will have the proper master cylinder and brake booster and pedals, the pedals are probably different from a power brake system to a manual system. I would rather go this route than spend a lot of money on aftermarket parts from magazines and the internet vendors.

You would swap out the complete rear axle, both complete front axles, and anything else you needed from the donor. If you are really ambitious, you could get a 4x4 donor and change your truck to 4x4. The effort and work would be the same, except you would have to swap out the transmission and transfer case. It's all a bolt in deal.

 

Dave F., the F100 came either way on the wheel bolt pattern as I have 1 of both.
Also if like mine my non-power brake truck has the larger wheel pattern & rear brakes but he should measure his to make sure.
Dave - - - -

 

Dave / fuzzface, give me some credit! Original brake equipment on my truck .... pff! I replaced most of the system 3 or so years ago upon purchase. Good to know about the swap incompatibilities. After readjusting the rear shoes and flushing new fluid down the lines yesterday, the braking system feels much better. I'll keep it manual. Sounds like your conversion put you through the ringer.

Dave F, definitely a highway gear on this truck - 2.75:1. I have a T-18 to swap in later this year when business slows a bit. I work for myself as a lawn and garden mechanic and it's busy season. The T-18 will offer great 1st and reverse ratios for towing. I also have the larger wheel bolt pattern.

Did some research on the 4 brake pad friction materials: organic, semi-metallic, metallic, and ceramic. I'm going to go with semi-metallic pads and stick with cleaning my wheels to compensate. Saw on this forum someone stripped the clearcoat off their aluminum Alcoa's and they came out great. I have wheels from a circa mid-90's Eddie Bauer F150 edition or something. They have the rivet pattern just in from the outer lip. Fancy circles.

Thanks for the input, all. Weird how many different configurations these were built with. My rotors look to be 11 1/32" from the kingpin side with a tape measure. I see pads for sale for a 10" rotor as well.

 

I thought both the rotor were the same size? I will have to measure them to make sure. You sure the 10" & 11" is not for the drum brake shoes?
I do know the caliper mounts are different and so are the metal part of the disc pads but again thought the pad that touches the rotor it's self were the same size? Going to have to measure them too I guess.

My swap issue started because of frozen kingpins. Then I went to install the front wheels and found the patterns different. So thinking "just swap disc / hob" and found spindles are different and so on.......
Digging deeper I found the kingpins different sizes so cant swap spindles. So rebuilt my old suspension and went to install the parts truck calipers, they were already installed with the smaller pattern suspension, and found the calipers different and the new pad would not fit the right size calipers.
You learn a lot when rebuilding a truck LOL.

Good to hear your brakes are better after a little work.
What trany does the truck have in it now? Guessing the SROD that has over drive.
FYI If so when you install the T18, in 4th gear the T18 will be like driving it 3rd with what you have now.
Dave ----

 

Lots of little things pop up in "custom" jobs. Makes it fun, doesn't it? Or at least ... what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Character builders, those kind of unforeseen problems.

3 spd column shift. Very tall 1st gear and in reverse @ idle it's just ridiculous. Really looking forward to the shorter / lower ratio creeper 1st and lower reverse ratio. I did all the gear calculations and with the tall rear end, it should be a really good combo.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...swap-idea.html