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Hello, this is my first post here and I have a 73 Bronco that I am working on. I've been collecting parts as I go, it is currently getting an NP435 but will eventually get a overdrive auto/ 5.0
I am hunting for parts to upgrade the drum brake D44 to disc and have a question about parts interchange. There is a 78 supercab F150 about an hour away that is being parted out. The seller sent me some pictures and this is the model that has front leaf springs, and a horseshoe shaped steering arm on the top of the drivers side knuckle. That is connected to the steering box with a short drag link. If possible I would like to use these knuckles and caliper mounts on my drum D44, but will it work? I know that on the disc F150/ bronco that use radius arms, the tie rod stud taper is larger, and I have already sourced the adapter tie rod ends to use. I am wondering, if any of you know:
1: Is the horseshoe shaped steering arm removable?
2: Are the steering arms otherwise the same as a radius arm F150/bronco disc knuckle?
3: is there some other reason what I'm trying to do won't work?
And, Thanks to you all for making this a great resource to search through. I'm often able to answer questions just searching, this is the first time I've been stumped enough to have to ask.
SD
Welcome to FTE, I will try to answer the best I can. As far as your "parts" truck, are you/the owner sure it is a F150? Meaning 1/2 ton and each wheel/axle has 5 lug nuts. Because MOST F150's (1/2 ton) 4wd have a radius arm and coil spring front suspension. Unless...like ND said, if it is a SC then it can have front leaf spring suspension. And still be a 1/2 ton with a 5 lug Dana 44 axle.
Most common (I would say all, but I do not have a fire proof suit on) 4wd 3/4 ton F250's have front leaf spring suspension and a most common 8 lug Dana 44 axle. D44 has ball joint mounted steering knuckles, but the F250 can come with a not so common Dana 60, easily Id'd by kingpin mounts steering knuckles.
Also (all?) F150's have a Dana 44 and F250 4wd also have the more common Dana 44, or if you are lucky a Dana 60 is under you F250. But not an option on a F150. Also the F150 has the Y or T steering linkage set up. And that "horseshoe" shaped piece (steering arm) you are talking about is a F250 steering component. (Only?) It is held onto the top of the dvrs side steering knuckle by 3 long threaded into the steering knuckle studs and then 3 nuts. Bottom line, YES it comes off and people put a "steering block" in there as a cheap alternate to a drop pitman arm and adjustable steering link.
Pretty sure when I say it is not a F150 common steering linkage part. But if the truck is a SC then I will say I do not know what you might have going on.
Dana 44 info https://www.blueovaltrucks.com/tech-...id-front-axle/
1st 3 pics are a 8 lug Dana 44. Then a Dana 44 under 79 Bronco. And I know I have never seen a horseshoe shaped "steering arm" on any 1/2 ton 4wd front axle trucks or Bronco's. I have only ever seen ONE SC 1/2 ton 4wd with leafs in a JY, and it blew my mind.
So I am thinking you are wanting to get the steering knuckle out..(and all attached components) and make your drum brake front axle a disk brake conversion? A good question is to know for sure if your current spindle is a 5 or 6 bolt on set up. I know that matters for sure when doing that conversion.
Here is a early Bronco place to get some more help with that exact conversion. https://classicbroncos.com/
To answer your questions. 1. Yes it is removable 2. No I do not believe so on that axle you are looking at using for your conversion. 3. Different steering knuckle. And from what I have read and understand, if you can source a 78/79 Bronco Dana 44 front axle you can use those parts to do the disk brake conversion.
I found an old post in the classifieds of classicbroncos.com that detailed these knuckles. Yes it is a 5 lug, leaf spring Dana 44, and there are some other details that make these trucks very interesting. The 5 Lug 150 super cab used a leaf sprung d44, the 8 lug supercab used an 8 lug knuckles on the same D44! The steering box and frame were the same for 150 and 250.
I did learn that these knuckles and brakes will work fine after removing the high mount steering arm, the only other difference is that these steering arms are 1" higher than other 150 knuckles, which will work to my advantage.
Also, to answer other questions asked, my current axle has the 6 bolt knuckles. I will swap them out for these and use the larger thunderbird calipers.
Learn something new every day.
Also, I looked through the bronco forum here, it's pretty active and I'll be sure to contribute.
SD
Paul aka 1Tonbasecamp @1TonBasecamp is Early Bronco guru over at Wildhorses EB shop. http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/ And is on the Classic Bronco site also. And is better at EB stuff than Yoda is the force.
I don't know which taper the knuckle arms use, but it's probably the same as other F150s and larger than the small Bronco, as you suspect.
But the knuckles themselves are very desirable as they have the high arm location but without the outward curve of the '76/'77 Bronco knuckle's arms. The '78/'79 Bronco and standard coil spring F150's are also good, but have the lower location of the arms which moves the tie-rod lower.
You'll basically ignore the flat top where the s-shaped draglink steering arm was bolted. I don't know if this knuckle offsets the brakes at all, but I've never heard anyone say that they did.
This height difference does change how you finally end up with your parallel draglink and trackbar, but neither one is insurmountable. I have the coil spring F150 knuckles on my '71 Bronco and with minimal work have a very tidy steering setup.
The Super Cab knuckles with their higher tie-rod location are desirable from a ground clearance standpoint, but I don't know from experience what you would have to do when designing your steering and trackbar setup to get the proper angles.
So from all that, yes the Super Cab knuckles and brakes should work great. Just make sure the wheels are indeed the 5-lug with disc brakes, not the 8-lug F250 style before you pull the trigger, like Rich said.
You'll just leave the old curved draglink steering arm off and continue to utilize the standard Inverted-T (Bronco) style steering linkage design with your tapered sleeves, or upgrade to a larger steering linkage that fits the tapered holes as is.
Oh, and welcome too, to FTE unimogger!
You also over on classic? There's a discussion about just this setup over there right now too.
Paul
HA! That would be my post... but I wasn't getting much traction there, So I figured to try a truck forum, where some real truck guys knew the parts, and of course it worked.
Thanks for the info. This truck does have the 5 lug wheels and rotors. The seller wanted me to take the whole truck, but I have no use for it, as it is I'm taking the entire axle and leaf springs just to get the knuckles and brake stuff.
If its cheap and you have the room to store and the haul ability, get it and have parts on hand. Always nice to have parts on hand. Yes some of my "parts trucks" are rough, but it whats on the inside that counts. The old maroon SC LB has both Dana 60 axles....
