More Powerful Brakes Ideas Anyone?

[Subzero]

With all the Hampton Roads crazy drivers around here having good brakes is a must and I'm sure thankful I have power brakes in the old bump. I need to replace my MC, replace two lines, and re-paint my booster anyway while the engine is out so I thought a cheap upgrade might be in store. Anyone know if a more powerful booster or master cylinder is a direct bolt up or requires little modification?

[tnlprt]

Better brakes

Rear disc brake setup

81 ford bronco front rotors

Weld on caliper brackets

GM metric calipers

stainless brake lines

All can be done for around 200 dollars

If you or a buddy can weld

And if you can afford to lose your parking brake

[guhfluh]

Of course there's always upgrading front drums to disks if you haven't already. It's cheap and easy with dentside parts. They sell upgraded rotors that are a direct swap too.

Then you can upgrade your smaller single diaphragm booster to a dual diaphragm booster, or a larger single diaphragm at least.

Changing master cylinder bore diameters can give you more brake force, with an increase in pedal throw.

[Subzero]

Then you can upgrade your smaller single diaphragm booster to a dual diaphragm booster, or a larger single diaphragm at least.

How would I do this and where to find parts? I would like to do disk conversion later on possibly but the truck isn't exactly in a place where I want to do something like that, it's in a dirt lot behind the engine shop.

[guhfluh]

Later model F350's were equipped with dual diaphragm boosters as an option, but which sizes came on which year and model specifically, I couldn't say. I would just start searching parts houses online, like rockauto.com for different years and heavier duty trucks and see what they list. Then you can know what to look for in a junkyard if that's where you want to get one from. The booster should be a direct swap for yours, unless you have a small booster now and non-cantilever style booster bracket and a v8, and you're wanting to swap to a large diameter booster, then you may have a clearance problem with the engine and need to change to a cantilever style booster bracket to clear. Sorry I can't be of more help. I know there are others on here that know more about exactly what year and model to look for. Hopefully they can answer.

[ultraranger]

This is the exact brake booster I have on my '69 F100;

http://m.oreillyauto.com/mt/www.oreilly ... &ppt=C0066

I pulled the booster and brackets off of a 1975 F350 and traded the booster in as a core for a newly rebuilt booster. It's a Bendix 8-3/4" diameter dual-diaphragm unit.

Since you already have a (single diaphragm) booster on your truck, you wouldn't need the firewall-to-booster brackets from a Dentside 1-ton truck. You can use your existing brackets since they are exactly the same as the F350 booster brackets and they have the same stud/bolt spacing. --Put simply, the dual-diaphragm booster would be a direct bolt-on to your existing brackets.

The bell crank (cantilever) mounted style booster has the same stud spacing as your current booster, and the stud mount spacing as the 1-ton boosters, and is larger in diameter [around 11"] and flatter than the dual-diaphragm booster but, the (flat) bell crank input rod of the bell crank assembly will probably not line up with your existing brake pedal pin and the bell crank brackets are different than your current brackets, due to the bell crank assembly.

While the 11" booster is larger in diameter than the 8-3/4" booster, the 11" booster is a single diaphragm unit. If you were to combine the total surface area of the F350's dual-diaphragms into a single, large diaphragm, you would have a single diaphragm booster that's 17-1/2" in diameter. That would be a massive booster!

I'm not sure if you currently have drums all the way around (?). I currently have drums all the way around on my truck and have had the F350 booster on there for over 2 years now. The stock F350 donor booster still had the MC attached when I pulled it from the 1-ton. The bore diameter on it was a very large 1-1/4". When I put the booster on my truck, I installed a new, smaller 1" bore diameter MC. It can be sensitive to sudden/hard brake applications but I've grown used to how much foot pressure to put on the pedal. I suspect much of this will diminish when I remove the front drums and install the discs/I-beams from a '77 F100 donor.

If, after the front disc swap, it seems the brakes are still a little overly sensitive with the 1.00" bore MC, I'll install a more modern (aluminum body/plastic reservoir) 1-1/16" MC for a '95-2001 Ford Explorer. --it's designed for 4-wheel discs but, eventually, I'll have discs all the way around.

http://m.oreillyauto.com/mt/www.oreilly ... &ppt=C0066

[BrockGrimes]

Have the drums drilled it'll stop better. It's an old racing trick.

[nevrenufhp]

Better brakes

Rear disc brake setup

81 ford bronco front rotors

Weld on caliper brackets

GM metric calipers

stainless brake lines

All can be done for around 200 dollars

If you or a buddy can weld

And if you can afford to lose your parking brake

This is brilliant. Wish I would have seen this a couple years ago, I would have converted long ago.
Just to make sure, those metric calipers are from a late 80s-90s GM half ton pickup? I remember reading a few years ago about Caddy Eldorado rear calipers that are about that big, and have the Ebrake levers integrated. I looked on Summit, and they have the weld on bracket, calipers, pads, and rotors. Any direction for the hoses?
My setup is just starting: Dentside front brakes(with slotted rotors), and hydrobooost from an Astro van. Going from scary (non-power assist) 4 wheel drums.

[motzingg]

if the rotors haven't been turned in a while, if the pads are badly glazed, or if the automatic adjusters aren't working well, it can severely reduce braking efficiency.

with a power booster you should be able to lock your wheels pretty easy, if you cant lock your wheels something needs to be tuned up.

[jreb333]

Have the drums drilled it'll stop better. It's an old racing trick.

Drilling only helps for venting and cooling which will help keep the brakes from overheating longer. So if your towing an rv thru the rockies it may help but at the cost of turning your drums into dirt collectors.

Of course hot brakes are a concern on a race track and for such short times dirt really isnt so i can see how this would be a good thing for racing but a bad idea for a highway truck

[jreb333]

If you want to get really ambitious install a hydroboost setup. Then you wont have to do it when you drop a cummins or a 'stroke in it

[ultraranger]

Have the drums drilled it'll stop better. It's an old racing trick.

Drilling only helps for venting and cooling which will help keep the brakes from overheating longer. So if your towing an rv thru the rockies it may help but at the cost of turning your drums into dirt collectors.

Of course hot brakes are a concern on a race track and for such short times dirt really isn't so i can see how this would be a good thing for racing but a bad idea for a highway truck

Drilling may help with venting/cooling, as you mentioned but, the mass of a brake drum (disc brake rotor too) is a heat sink. The more mass the drum/rotor has, the more ability it has to absorb the heat induced into it. This would make these items resist fading longer. If the drum (or rotor) is drilled, material is being taken away from the heat sink. This means the ability to absorb heat will be reduced. The reduction of the heat sink would mean the drum would actually heat up faster than if the drum was solid.

Cross - drilled disc brake rotors, on a road race car, are to reduce unsprung suspension weight. Lighter suspension parts make a race car handle and steer better. Drilled rotors are also more prone to cracking between the holes but on a race car, I guess that's not such a big deal since those components would be inspected and replaced often.

As you had stated, in a street application, drilled drums would make it very easy for water and debris to get inside the drum assemblies. Regular street driven vehicles probably don't get near the attention a race car does --particularly when it comes to most vehicles brakes. Holes in street driven drums would likely have more cons than pros.