hello all my great ford people. i currently use my truck as an undercover vehicle at work and i been working on performance all around to keep up until backup arrives. been posting on here looking for performance handling etc . now my ?? is has anyone on here done a rear disc conversion? if so what vehicle from the junk yard was used and all components and how complicated? right now im starting to get good speed and handling so i think i need to stop better and by the way to all the people that have helped me just let my know if i stop ya and ill let ya slide lol thanks everyone

 

Not worth the time or money IMO.

8.8 Ford Rear Disc Brake Kit

8.8" 1984-96 Disc Brake Conv.


brakes! - The National Lightning Owners Club Inc

There are quite a few threads on this conversion on NLOC if you would like to search.

 

Why you say it isn't worth it?

 

These truck use mostly the front brakes anyway and the rear drums are pretty good on these trucks.

 

I like how my trucks brakes, but i think any improvement is good, unless it's too expensive for the gains.

 

Rear disks would help immensely on some of these trucks, I know mine sure could use it. The Explorer rear disk setup is probably the easiest and cheapest to install, and as far as I can tell the only thing you would need to do is drill the rotors for the larger 5x5.5" bolt pattern, otherwise it's a direct bolt-on.

 

Rear discs are really only effective for towing or heavy campers, to give that extra stopping power for 12k+ weight. Empty, drums are just fine, thank you.

Unloaded, the back brakes are mostly there to keep the truck straight and they provide maybe 20% at most of the braking power.

I would go with a performance brake linings on both ends and carefully turn the drums/rotors then carefully bed the brakes. My F250 with premium riveted linings can haul my truck down pretty easy so I know it has enough braking area for it's weight.

Just an opinion, mind you. YMMV.

Ray

 

Problem is your truck has a much larger front brake system than a 1/2 ton truck so it's not really a fair comparison.

 

Okay Paul, I will concede that point.

My 1/2 ton 1973 'Binder has the same linings and it's almost too easy to lock all four empty. Loaded to somewhere near full cap, it still stops well. Granted, it doesn't have RABS, though. In fact, it's kinda anti-anti lock brakes.

I still say you should try a premium lining, bedded in correctly first before doing a disc conversion.

Another thought would be to adapt a more powerful caliper to the front of an F150.

Ray

 

Yeah.. I'd like to have those twin piston calipers from an F250 like yours.. along wth the larger rotors. The other thing I notice with my current extended cab truck is there is a lot more weight on the rear axle compared to the reg cab I had before, I think rear disks would benefit these larger body styles more than the regular cabs.

 

The biggest advantage I'd see to rear discs is that I don't like messing with drums. But that isn't worth it, since I don't use my brakes for all that much. Spend more time clutching than braking. All these hills here would eat brakes alive otherwise.

 

I personally do not think a rear disc brake upgrade is really worth it. There is not much to be gained by it. If I could do it with Explorer parts for really cheap, I might consider it.

Here is a question though. If you have rear discs, then won't the RABS be disabled or not work correctly?

I agree, I don't like working on drum brakes that much either.

 

I don't see the RABS being affected by changing to disks since it is controlled seperately from the brakes.

 

I think it'd be worth it just to do away with the "self adjusting" drums
Pads are easier to change than shoes too.

 

To the original poster. If you want your truck to stop faster, loose the big wheels and go with 17s or something smaller. That would help with performance and braking.