I have a 98 V10 E350 that is SRW, meaning rear drum and no hydro boost

I haul right at the gvwr and I burn up pads and rotors.

Have any of y'all done the hydro boost swap?

What about a rear disc conversion and/or slotted rotors up front?

 

Slotted rotors on our heavy vans are a waste of money, drilled would be best but unavailable, get carbon metallic pads.
My 99 E-350 ext has disc brakes in the rear, stop rather well, I used to do quite a bit of towing, suggest in trailer brakes, it's usually mandatory in most states as it should be. The rear axles with the 4.10 gears I'm wanting have all been drum brakes, after disassemble of each side of mine in axle seal replacements, they look like the same tube the drum's are on, so I'm guessing they'd swap over. I'm hoping to acquire an axle with the preferred gears, once I do I'll swap the hardware over, go to the parts store and ask to see a rotor and a drum, measure the bearing surface diameter and depth.

 

I have trailer brakes and carbon metallic pads, but I am still have issues.
Is yours hydro boost?

So if I found a rear disc downer I could just swap it?

 

No hydro boost, vacuum type, I've only heard the hydro in diesel applications due to those engines producing no vacuum. I don't see why swapping would be an issue, other than it may require a different brake master cylinder.

 

Drilled rotors are a complete waste of money. Not only will they wear your pads faster but they also provide less contact area for the brake pads which means less friction.

 

I was hoping an increase with drilled, due to cooling, I'm feeling vibration when I apply the brake, Oreily rotors and Auto Zone pads, I'm hoping they have not caused uneven wear, looks like I'll be redoing them. Who carries carbon metallic, what are they listed under?

 

O'riellys has them for about $80.

 

Ouch, that is high for a set of pads, I got some from a guy dad knows for less than half that, put them on another van I had at the time, those suckers would put you through the windshield.
I did pads and rotors last time I did the front, I hope the rotors are OK but the what the van acts during braking, I'd swear there is a high spot, I need one of those clamp on gauges that checks the rotors. I think I have the Gold set from Auto Zone or Advance, I know it's supposed to be semi-mettalic, they suck, I just don't want to do them again.
Is that what you got and can you tell a difference?

 

I have wagner rotorsand pads.
same on the drums/shoes on the rear.

They are pretty good, but they still get hot too fast and fade with one normal stop from 70 at my GVWR of 10,000 pounds.

 

Can't say I've experienced fade from mine, must be the disc rear brakes that make the difference.

 

I bet so.

I want to do the drum to disc swap.
I have driven and F250 with 4 wheel disc, It is a big difference.

 

i did the drum to disc swap on my '95 E350 extended van. i used late model Ford E350 rotors that go over the hub and Eldorado calipers w/ p brake and purchased brackets from TSM Mfg '80 - '96 Ford Dana 60 & 70
one of the best purchases i have made! also did a limited slip w/ no change in gearing at the same time. i did the conversion to cure the self destructing, self adjusting (when set up correctly) drum brakes. i survived many years with the drum brakes by purposefully keeping the adjustment backed off. but i tired of the low pedal.

i also changed out my master cyl to one from a 4wheel disc van as the drum brake residual valve is internal in my master and was keeping the rear discs "on" ever so slightly. i snagged the booster as well because the mcyl mounting/sealing was different - i had to invent a booster by using the front half from the new booster and the back half from the original booster as i did not want to redrill the firewall for the new booster bolt pattern and also have to deal with the brake pedal to pushrod issues. $50 to my local booster o/h shop and the whole deal bolted right in. booster and mcyl combo was $40 from my favorite boneyard.

in my experience, drilled rotors tend to crack - in fact all the drilled rotors i have tried have cracked. of course they were all stock rotors that had been modified - even the pair Brembo sold me. and i am talking about front rotors as i have not tried drilled rears. IMHO, slotting is definately the way to go.

neil in san marcos

 

Thanks for the info and link.

You said late model E350 rotors, what year did they go to 4 wheel disc?

How is the E brake set up?

 

My 99 E350 has 4 wheel disc, think it started in 97 when the vans were upgraded, yet the previous axles were identical other than the disc upgrade, been looking into them due to wanting to swap my rear for one with 4.10 gears. I've been figuring the drum/disc would be a direct swap over from axle to axle, unless I go out on a limb and do a box van dually axle upgrade.

 

My 98 is rear drum, must have been 99.

I have been wanting to do a 4.10 LS swap to get away from my open diff 3.73s too.

I would love to do the D80 swap, but that is pricy...