ford 9 inch disc brake conversion

Riddle

Riddle

Armed Infidel
Joined
May 12, 2009
Location
Walnut Cove, NC 27052
I have a nine inch under my ranger and I am wanting to convert it to disc brakes. I dont want to spend a bunch of money, but I want it done right. Anybody know of a "cheap" way to go about this? I looked at a couple kits and they were running 350-450 bucks (depending on the name). Any help would be greatly apprecieated. :beer:
 
I did mine cheap and it stops amazing. Parts i used are:

- BTF disc brake brackets 25
-77' chevy K10 calipers 17 each (cores are 20 each though if you have some to turn in)
-pads for a 77' K10 18
-89' bronco front rotors 32 each but they had cheaper ones.
- I had brake lines so I didnt have to spend anytbing on that but they would be cheap. Make sure you use a rubber or stainless flex hose at the caliper

Not super cheap but its done right. Cheap and good don't go together, especially with brakes and safety.
 
if you use f150 rotors, some 9" axle shafts will need to be turned down to clear.

suzuki sidekick rotors will slide right over the axle, but they are thinner so would require a smaller caliper or spacers.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
if you use f150 rotors, some 9" axle shafts will need to be turned down to clear.
Click to expand...
Yep, had to turn down my axle flanges over 1/8" on the radius. Started off by hand grinding but that took WAY too long. Had a friend turn them down. Supposedly rotors from a 4WD Ram 1500 should work also and you may or may not have to turn down the flanges. Those rotors have a larger ID to fit over the flange. I think the holes for the studs are different though, so new studs in the axle flanges may be required.

I got my brackets from aa-mfg.com about $15 i think.
 
Also keep in mind you won't have a parking brake. That may be an issue for your inspection. I've heard of some people trying to use a P-brake from a disc brake Ford 8.8 but never quite understood how it would work on a homemade 9in disc.
 
With the setup i mentioned before you indeed don't have a P-brake unless you get a hydro one. But there is no turning the rotor or axle. Fits right on, and you get a benefit of ventilated rear disc.
 
$16 for brackets at the race shop,$23 apiece for small metric GM calipers and $19 apiece 95 geo tracker front rotors...$100 just did mine
 
I have the same calipers frt and rear. Stock 76 Ford dana 44 units. EB's, Rangers, Full Size broncos all the same. Ford Lincoln Rotors. Same thickness and diameter, just turn the axle down a slight bit. two C shaped home made adapters that bolt in place of the factory Drum brake backing plate/bearing retainer on the nine inch. Two stock front caliper brackets from a disk front of the same era. If you got the parts cheap. Its all Ford if your a purist. Down side no parking brake.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
I have the same calipers frt and rear. Stock 76 Ford dana 44 units. EB's, Rangers, Full Size broncos all the same. Ford Lincoln Rotors. Same thickness and diameter, just turn the axle down a slight bit. two C shaped home made adapters that bolt in place of the factory Drum brake backing plate/bearing retainer on the nine inch. Two stock front caliper brackets from a disk front of the same era. If you got the parts cheap. Its all Ford if your a purist. Down side no parking brake.
Click to expand...

Have pictures of your brackets?
 
How I did mine: '01 Dodge ram 1500 front rotors (fit over any 9" axle shaft with no turning required), '01 Dodge 1500 wheel studs (have a raised neck area that are designed to fit snuggly into the rotors) Barnes4wd disc brake brackets, GM calipers and pads. Make sure to purchase new GM soft lines and banjo bolts.
 
THE guyrock said:
I did mine cheap and it stops amazing. Parts i used are:

- BTF disc brake brackets 25
-77' chevy K10 calipers 17 each (cores are 20 each though if you have some to turn in)
-pads for a 77' K10 18
-89' bronco front rotors 32 each but they had cheaper ones.
- I had brake lines so I didnt have to spend anytbing on that but they would be cheap. Make sure you use a rubber or stainless flex hose at the caliper

Not super cheap but its done right. Cheap and good don't go together, especially with brakes and safety.
Click to expand...

This sounds like what I did on mine.
 
I'm using junkyard Ford 8.8 rotors, brackets, backing plates and calipers from mid to late 90s explorers. You just have to drill out the rotors to 5 on 5.5 but they should work fine and you'll still have an e-brake. They don't stop as good as the k10 front caliper setup like the other guys said. They bolt right onto the ford 9" and only require re-drilled rotors (you can do that yourself) and a spacer for the shafts (see link below).

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/productsRE.aspx?id=3044
 
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