Making the change over to Hydroboost.

jwsfarrier

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Makes sense, thanks man. I just need to wrap my head around these things, there seems to be such a stigma about drum brakes. It seems ,for our vintage of trucks,a properly installed and adjusted set of drum brakes do as good if not better than disc.
 

Clb

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That company appears to stock the ever hard to come by pushrod....
They should be added in the hydroboost sticky
 

IDIBRONCO

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Jwsfarrier, maybe not better, but I don't feel that the rear discs are needed unless you're towing heavy fairly often. Some people do almost nothing with their truck(s) except for towing. For them, I think that the rear discs are a good thing. I'm on the other end of the scale. I don't tow very often at all. My trucks almost never see anything besides pavement. I don't feel that the extra effort to convert to rear disc brakes would be justified.
 

Clb

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Devils advocate time...:sorry:

Once upon a time in a century long ago an instructor at Fort Knox regaled us on the joys of being able to STOP an 80k# load...
Not once was power discussed beyond getting rolling.
Just cuz you got it to move don't mean you can handle nor stop it!
Witness the guys launching in 4 low to get rolling!:dunno
Ymmv

The swap over is the #1 best thing I've done to my towpig!
 

jwsfarrier

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Thanks idibronco,Im definitely closer to your end of the scale. Mostly on pavement and nothing super heavy. Well said Clb, Just because you can tow it doesnt mean you should!
 

u2slow

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Well adjusted drums work darn good. They were a bigger pain to maintain before they were slide-off style.

One of my big hesitations with rear disc is the pathetic parking brake.
 

jwsfarrier

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I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the 2004 Motorcraft Hydroboost unit. I'm assumming there will be some modifications to have it fit. Also need to source the MC. What years went to the larger bore? The one for the 2004 is 1 3/8, would like to find the 1 1/2 if possible. Thanks all !
 

ifrythings

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I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the 2004 Motorcraft Hydroboost unit. I'm assumming there will be some modifications to have it fit. Also need to source the MC. What years went to the larger bore? The one for the 2004 is 1 3/8, would like to find the 1 1/2 if possible. Thanks all !
2005 is when they went with the 1-1/2” master cylinder, I don’t believe it will fit on a 2004 hydroboost though. I know 1-1/2” mc doesn’t fit the 90s hydroboost and is why I bought an 08 hydroboost.
 

jwsfarrier

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Thanks for the info. I see u2slow notched his MC . Maybe he could chime in. I'm not necessarily against using the the MC that fits that particular hydroboost year, but also not afraid to modify something that might be better. Either way ,still an upgrade. ifrythings, did you have to modify the pedal pushrod to install the 2008 hydroboost?
 

u2slow

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Thanks for the info. I see u2slow notched his MC . Maybe he could chime in. I'm not necessarily against using the the MC that fits that particular hydroboost year, but also not afraid to modify something that might be better. Either way ,still an upgrade. ifrythings, did you have to modify the pedal pushrod to install the 2008 hydroboost?
I notched my 95 f350 master to fit a 95ish F-superduty booster (motorcraft). I don't know the piston diameters.
 

jwsfarrier

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Quick update: While I pulled the trigger on the 04 hydroboost unit, I got a little worried on how to retro-fit it for my 91. I knew the pedal pushrod would have to be differnt and really didnt want to deal with that. I ended up going with a unit from power brakes, the company Old Goat came across from Sacramento,CA. I talked to Mark and he set me up with a unit made for my year. I really liked the fact they were a second gen family owned business with knowledgeable people to talk to. Worth checking out if you are in the market .
 

ifrythings

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ifrythings, did you have to modify the pedal pushrod to install the 2008 hydroboost?
I swapped the mounting plate and rod over from my 90s unit to the 08 unit, one can easily modify the 08 mounting plate and shorten the pushrod to make it work.
 

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