Rear disk break conversion
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Rear disk break conversion
I thought that i had read on here somewhere that someone has convereted the read drum breaks into disk breaks. I was wondering if i read right and if so how does one go about doing this?
Postmaster
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Ellensburg, Washington
Yep, you read right. TjBeggs has the rear drum to disk conversion on his truck and I have heard nothing but good about the swap. Im sure he'll chime in here but you can do a thread search for "Disk brake conversion" and you should be able to find his thread about this swap. Good luck
Cowboy Steve
Cowboy Steve
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Silver Lake Dunes, MI
Here is most of the info you need. ask if you have questions!
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-are-here.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...-are-here.html
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Taylorsville, KY
I know that these all of these trucks are DRW but has anybody thought about the brakes from the F-superduty (obs version of F450). some of them had 4 wheel disc brakes. I am not sure what kind of work it would need but it seems like that could be a possibility.
just my .02
Franklin
just my .02
Franklin
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 12,835
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From: Silver Lake Dunes, MI
Yes the F-Superduties do have rear disc but the biggest problem with those to retro fit is how they mount. the calipers use the wedge slides to mount the caliper to the backing plate. That design would be very difficult to fab up. It would need to be fabbed up as the F-SD uses a Dana rear end so the backing plate wouldn't bolt up to the sterling axle.
For those interested I am toying with idea of using Superduty (99-03) rear calipers. I probably won't switch my truck over but I think it is very possible to do as the van rotors that I used are the same dimensions as the supderduty truck rotor with exception to the bolt pattern.
The chevy caliper just provide the easiest mounting with the lowest cost. The caliper I bought ran me $100 for the set (both sides). The rear calipers for a superduty will run me close to $150 per wheel. so they are triple the cost. And you still won't have any parking/e-brake.
For those interested I am toying with idea of using Superduty (99-03) rear calipers. I probably won't switch my truck over but I think it is very possible to do as the van rotors that I used are the same dimensions as the supderduty truck rotor with exception to the bolt pattern.
The chevy caliper just provide the easiest mounting with the lowest cost. The caliper I bought ran me $100 for the set (both sides). The rear calipers for a superduty will run me close to $150 per wheel. so they are triple the cost. And you still won't have any parking/e-brake.
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Taylorsville, KY
would it be possible to modify our original e brake cables to work with the small parking brake shoes used in the hat of the superduty (99+) rotors. I have never really payed attention to how those shoes are set up but I do know that they use a regular cable like ours do. just wandering because I have an entire donor axle from an 00 F350 srw that I could work with. I would just replace the entire axle but it has different gears and I dont feel like swapping differentials.
Franklin
Franklin
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 12,835
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From: Silver Lake Dunes, MI
you could make it work I think. But the SD's have different end on the cables. The parking brakes would need a new backing plate fabbed up. Honestly if I had a Superduty axle I would swap the gears. You would probably be about even cost wise but way ahead in your time. If you did that you need a new ring and pinion though cause the pinion won't interchange. Though I still can't remember if the hubs interchange or not. Shoot thats the biggest hurdle.
One thing you could do is get some 8x170mm to 8x6.5 spacers and fix two problems (botl pattern and track width) at the same time. but they are usually about $200 a set. Ouch!
One thing you could do is get some 8x170mm to 8x6.5 spacers and fix two problems (botl pattern and track width) at the same time. but they are usually about $200 a set. Ouch!
Last edited by tjbeggs; Oct 10, 2007 at 04:29 PM.