When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So, I set out this morning to go to the local parts yards to see if perhaps I could find one of these 1987-97 F-450 Superdutys with the right hydroboost in it for conversion. I didn't expect to find any as most of these places don't keep trucks older than a few years and even then they strip them and crush them pretty quick. I figured before I went I'd stop at the parts store to see what new would cost, just in case. A new unit is about $320 plus core give or take. I could try the 2001 version that goes down to about $240. So with this in mind I headed out to the salvage yard strip. First place I stop they don't have any, but tell me that this place a mile and a half away has 2 2001 units. So I go the mile and a half and stop in. I tell the guy what I'm looking for and he says "follow me". He happens to have not just one of these 1997 F-superduty's but 2 of them. Both with hydroboosts intact. One of them had the hoses hacked already so I go to the other and they look good. after taking out the unit i see that the hoses seem to be a little dried and the o-rings are shot, but oh well. I got my hydroboost with MC for $75 out the door. I told him I will be back friday for the other one since I've got 2 of these dents. I started the process to get this together when I got home. Took the snap ring and nut off the front, ground out the locating lug, knocked out the studs and elongated the holes... Then because I'm kind of ****, I lined the plate up made a mark and then used the mig to make a new locating lug. Easy peasey. Now I read that you can just put it in and the pedal will be a little higher. But, I think I may just have a spacer made to properly set the pin length. By my measurements the hydroboost units pin is about 2" longer than stock from the front of the firewall to center pin. I'll have some more time this weekend to work on it. Hoping to get this in and mounted. I just finished the transmission rebuild and I'm dieing to get it installed and get the front clip back on. Hopefully. I've got a few bugs to work out with the borgeson power steering pump and the serpentine belt set-up. I'd love to put pics up but since the photobucket changes I haven't tried.
You can load pictures up onto this site, no third party host necessary. Just click on the square box above where you type your replys, should say "image" when you hover your cursor over it. Click "Browse your device" if you are getting the picture from your computer.
I've been thinking about doing the hydroboost too. I got a unit from a 2001 f-350, but I'm going to keep my eyes open for an earlier one when the weather gets nicer.
Is there much difference in the units from the obs to the super duty bodies.? There doesn't seem to be many pull a part yard in Ia but I could probably find something in TX before I go back north.
A spacer plate is easy to make since you have a TIG. All you need is two pieces of plate, a hole saw, and a grinder. I needed 1 1/4", so I took a piece of 1 1/4" strap and welded that to the plates. Here is a fancy spacer plate and mine.
I have run HB with the oe ford p/s pump, and it gets 'lazy' in parking situations. I'm not switching to a Saginaw unit that came on a 1976 LTD wagon with a 460 and HB. You can see how wide it is across the top of the canister to hold greater volume. The dual return lines are important to maintain proper flow. Another thing to consider: With the master bolted on these are pretty long. Some manufacturers installed a brace from the bolt that holds the master to the HB, and ran it to the inside fender, or where ever.
Ok if anyone was reading along in the main hydroboost thread, I ran into some issues getting the HB rod to connect to the pedal. The stock Vacuum booster has a drop loop on its rod that looks like this.
However, the Hydro boost rod looks like this.
The problem I ran into was that if you don't build an offset bracket there is no way to connect that rod. It will sit just above the pedal pin and you can't push it down enough to get it to go onto the pedal. I came up with a couple solutions. Whichever worked first was what I planned to use. oh... more pics. This is the pin as seen through the firewall. Pay attention to the bolt locations relative to the pin.
Ok, well that's a bad angle on the hydroboost. that eyelet sits above the pin and needs to come down a good inch. So to do this you have to drop the back part of your bracket, or figure out the angle to tip the master cylinder up to drop the back end of the hydrobooster down. I did a little of both. I found that the small metal nose cone has to touch the bottom of the firewall to just make it. but I think it's an ugly angle for putting lots of pressure on the hydro boost. I think more tilt would make the pedal swing more linear to the boost unit and not put so much pressure on that joint. Heres some pics of the bracket.... it was a lot prettier until I had to hack it up by trial and error. I have it set to get the nose cone to the bottom and it also has a little bit of lift to the front of the Master cylinder. It's very slight as you don't have to lift it much in the front to make a big difference in the back.
It seems to work, but I'm going to tinker with it more to maybe lift the front more to get some of that angle out of the rod. Here's the rod inside.
Pic of the flexible joint.
So. If anyone has a better idea so I don't have to re-invent the wheel I'd appreciate it.
Good grief this forum suck to post on an iPhone. Anyways, I cut off the old straight shaft and ran a die over it. A coupling nut joins the two and gives a little adjustment while also keeping heat off of the hydroboost when you weld the bolt to the arm.
Did you bolt straight to firewall or set it off with a bracket?
My truck is a 79 half ton. I used the vacuum booster brackets but turned them around so the firewall side of the brackets became the hydroboost side. The brackets still angle up and I reused the upper holes and drilled out the bottoms to match the firewall. My reason for this was to be able to fit the bracket inside the hydroboost studs and have a plate with 9 holes adapting the two. Pictures may explain this better
This is not my current setup though, I have my hydroboost upside down so I could reuse my original (new) pump to steering gear line as my booster to steering gear line. Same concept but the adaptor needed to be remade. I’m using a Bendix from a 78 Lincoln town car, so I’m not sure how the studs compare to the later models. The bolts holding the adaptor plate to the brackets are countersunk so the booster can sit flush
edit: I scrolled through some text messages and found some better pictures
Well, I got my hydroboost unit in and Master cylinder. Install was a breeze. I got the unit from sweeting performance. It comes with the booster unit and several different rods to fit the brake pedal. Install was really easy, and the rod popped right onto the brake pedal. The MC is for a chevy, not sure which one, as Matt Sweeting helped me match it up to the fluid needed for my front and rear calipers. I got the stainless lines made up at a local hotrod shop, they cost about $40 each. I made up stainless braid brake lines for the 4 corners and I also had a stainless braid made up for the back axle splitter so I don't have any rubber lines in the system. I need to make the hard lines down to the distribution block. I'll work on that this weekend. Some pics.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
