Rear disc brake conversion

[towcat]

Here's a suggestion. Think '99 and up E350/450. they had the SRW and DRW options. factory discs on either with parking brake on the axle. Not a drop in deal since the axles are dana 70's.
food for thought.

 

[Agnem]

Seems to me a driveline brake would do the trick, or possibly use one of those brake line fluid locks to keep the calipers camped.

 

[82fordtruck]

Here's a suggestion. Think '99 and up E350/450. they had the SRW and DRW options. factory discs on either with parking brake on the axle. Not a drop in deal since the axles are dana 70's.
food for thought.

I have thought about this too - but they are expensive and hard to find.

 

[adrianspeeder]

Sweet! Thing with Dana 70 bits though, there were so many different variations ya need OCD to keep it all straight.

Crazed over on FSB is the big dana guru. Good reading here...

http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90760

Adrianspeeder

 

[snatchal]

Did you have to do anything in terms of a proportioning valve? I'm curious as to how they compensate for the increase in rear braking. I've seen this (in more extreme cases) make the rear of the vehicle swing out when trail braking while in a turn.

This company does sell a proportioning valve for $50. When I asked to purchase one the salesman told me I did not need it because my truck has anti-lock rear brakes. I was skeptical at first, but he must be right because everthing seems to be working as it should, with no problems.

Last night I towed my tandem axle trailor home loaded with 2 full cords of green firewood. That's approximately 8000 pounds. No brakes on the trailer.
While stopping I could hardly tell the load was back there.

The kit I purchased cost $510. That included the Chevy truck calipers with no parking brake. They do offer Eldorado calipers with a parking brake for $200 extra. The original parking brake has been froze up on my truck since I bought it. I never use one anyway so didn't want to spend the extra cash. If I stumble across a good deal on a pair of caddy calipers they can always be added later.

Yes it would be easy to duplicate the mounting brackets. They are just flat 3/8 th inch steel. The problem is that the rotors are not off-the-shelf. They are custom built for this application. Total cost for rotors and brackets is $340. You probably could not find a machine shop to duplicate them for much less. You may be able to save a few bucks scrounging up some cheaper or junk yard calipers. I decided to buy everything from the same place so there would be no issues about compatability. The way I look at it is that these guys took the time and spent the money to develop this product so I would purchase it the same way if I had it to do again. (And I probably will as I just found a 93 f350 4x4 to buy)
This kit is a breeze to install. It took about 2 hours to complete. It was really easy for me because I had already removed my flatbed to do some other work on the truck.

 

[82fordtruck]

anyone know what the difference between the mounting plate for the drum brakes and the hub face is? I still wonder about using chevy parts or parts from a 99 and up van.

 

[Ironman03R]

Is this kit for DRW's? Most kits only work on single wheel trucks. The only way around that is to go 19.5" rims.

 

[towcat]

here's a pic on a E350 SRW witht discs. rotors are a slip-off to the axle. they also come in DRW too Pricey? yup. figure the cost for a axle before mods is going to be $500-$700. But the parts availability is good for the peace of mind when having to work on it.

 

[tractorman86]

i have often wondered how hard it would be to mount a set of front calipers on the back instead of the chittys. (to avoid failior of course)

 

[subway]

be careful about the line lock idea, i thought about this on my jeep because i put cheby calipers back there on my 44 without the built in e-brake when i saw the price. i was told by an inspection mechanic that the e-brake is there incase your hydrolics fail. so if your hydrolics fail your line lock is S.O.L. so i abandoned that idea. i and he know it is not real likely but its the law according to him.

i would also be intersted in a custom bracket and can offer auto cad or solid works 3-d to draw it up. i might have to pull my rear wheel to see how my junk front rotors fit on the back.....

 

[82fordtruck]

I can do the AutoCAD too. I have a few concerns -

1) Time. I'm too busy already
2) Liability. What if this fails and someone gets killed?

That's about it. Does anyone have any old E350 rotors and calipers? I'll pay for shipping.

 

[riotwarrior]

here's a pic on a E350 SRW witht discs. rotors are a slip-off to the axle. they also come in DRW too Pricey? yup. figure the cost for a axle before mods is going to be $500-$700. But the parts availability is good for the peace of mind when having to work on it.

From what I see it looks to me that that is a semi floating rear axle and not a full floater. Am I correct?

 

[82fordtruck]

From what I see it looks to me that that is a semi floating rear axle and not a full floater. Am I correct?

I noticed that too - I believe the vans only used semi floating axles, but could be wrong.

 

[towcat]

the srw's are semi floats. the drw's are full's. We know the rims are the same between the vanner and the pickup, so the fitment is not the issue. I'm not suggesting using the whole axle, just the brake parts. problem is, I don't know of a single full service wrecking yard that will part out a perfectly good axle.

 

[tonkadoctor]

We know the rims are the same between the vanner and the pickup, so the fitment is not the issue.

Just wanted to clarify that this applies to the Old body style trucks in case somebody doesn't catch / know that or misinterperets it.

The '99 up F series Superduty has a different 8 x 170 mm bolt pattern.