performance brake calipers?

[Zeus78]

Okay, so I threw some chromoly axle shafts in over the weekend and I found one of my warn lockouts wouldn’t release. So I put a nice set of Mile Markers on.
This Bronco has sat for many years, it's in great shape, but things like brakes usually act up when a truck sits for that long.
Now, I have upgraded my booster and MC to F350 stuff (not much of an upgrade really), but I feel like there has to be some performance calipers out there that might clamp tighter and hold up better. Anyone have any experience with higher end binders?
Additionally, the bleeders are seized on these calipers, so I have to bleed from the brake line fittings, but it’s just a matter of time before I can no longer do that.
I'm seeing some more expensive calipers out there from Raybestos and Centric, but are they just simply more expensive because of the name or some window dressing?
I'm going to check to see if Baer, Widwood and/or EBC make any for the 78/79's.

 

[NotaVegetarian]

Good question, I’m still running stock on all my Bronco’s. Easy to find and replace as needed. But I’m following this to see what others have to say.

 

[Skitter302]

try doing a search for T-bird caliper upgrade.

I don't know much on it but heard it can be done.

 

[OX1]

T-bird calipers and 93 F350 booster with 86 mustang SVO MC (which is 1.25" dia).
That 79 F350 upgrade ***** really, not worth it (I tried it first, like
most do). If you had stock MC, those stock lines would have bolted up to 86 SVO MC.
SVO MC bolts right to 93 booster.

That booster/MC is a poor mans hydroboost. Really wakes up even a stock brake setup.
Will need to make some simple brackets out of 2 x 2 square tube to get 93 booster in.

Just to give you an idea, here is 93 F350 booster, 85 F150/bronco booster, and 79 F150/Bronco booster on right.
You can see Ford doubled the booster swept area in early 80's, by making it dual diaphragm, even though 80+ brake
sizes were pretty much the same as 78/79. They realized 78/79 boosters were woefully undersized.



Some pics of the conversion. These are the brackets you need to make. You also have to grind booster rod a bit, near mount hole as shown.







Here are some pics of the "setup" brackets I slapped together first time I installed one of these.
Should help you some, build you own.

Index of /GREEN_DILYSI/93 F350 BOOSTER/DIMENSIONS

 

[Tiha]

Great info OX! Thanks for posting.

I will add regarding Master cylinders.

Smaller bore, easier to push, longer pedal travel.

So 1 1/4" Easy to push but will travel farther than
Like 1 3/8" bore. It would be less pedal travel and harder to push.

So achieving a pedal feel and travel you desire takes some playing but there are plenty of options out there.

 

[OX1]

Great info OX! Thanks for posting.

I will add regarding Master cylinders.

Smaller bore, easier to push, longer pedal travel.

So 1 1/4" Easy to push but will travel farther than
Like 1 3/8" bore. It would be less pedal travel and harder to push.

So achieving a pedal feel and travel you desire takes some playing but there are plenty of options out there.

Right, For info, SVO MC is 1-1/8 bore, not sure where I came up with 1-1/4.
It is still larger than stock, 1" or 79 F350 MC, 1-1/16". It is harder to push than either of
those two, hence why you need big booster.

I prefer short travel, easy to push brakes. So I like big MC bores AND big boosters
(favorite being hydroboost). It is a preference thing, some call what I like "touchy".
In addition to feel, I figure at 60+ MPH, the extra 1/2 a second it takes to actuate long
travel brake pedals, you cover a lot more distance.

 

[johnnyreb]

T-bird calipers and 93 F350 booster with 86 mustang SVO MC (which is 1.25" dia).
That 79 F350 upgrade ***** really, not worth it (I tried it first, like
most do). If you had stock MC, those stock lines would have bolted up to 86 SVO MC.
SVO MC bolts right to 93 booster.

That booster/MC is a poor mans hydroboost. Really wakes up even a stock brake setup.
Will need to make some simple brackets out of 2 x 2 square tube to get 93 booster in.

Just to give you an idea, here is 93 F350 booster, 85 F150/bronco booster, and 79 F150/Bronco booster on right.
You can see Ford doubled the booster swept area in early 80's, by making it dual diaphragm, even though 80+ brake
sizes were pretty much the same as 78/79. They realized 78/79 boosters were woefully undersized.

View attachment 28377

Some pics of the conversion. These are the brackets you need to make. You also have to grind booster rod a bit, near mount hole as shown.

View attachment 28378

View attachment 28379

View attachment 28380View attachment 28381

Here are some pics of the "setup" brackets I slapped together first time I installed one of these.
Should help you some, build you own.

Index of /GREEN_DILYSI/93 F350 BOOSTER/DIMENSIONS

With the bigger brake booster. It looks like it would have to be removed. To take a valve cover off. Unless a person took some metal off the lower lip of the valve cover. Before adding the brake booster. Then the problem of a valve cover leaking all the time. I,ve never had any trouble with the original brake booster with 31.5.but maybe your talking about a bigger tire.

 

[Zeus78]

Oh hey, I now have a spare set of brand new calipers if anyone needs a set. I ordered them from amazon, then saw it would be a month before they came in. I bought a set from O-Reiley's on a whim, then the Amazon set came in before I could cancel the order.

I'll post these in the correct room, but I figured I'd bring it up here since my old caliper thread popped back up.

 

[mrsocks]

If you still have those calipers, I am about to order some and can put them to good use.
Thanks.

 

[Zeus78]

T-bird calipers and 93 F350 booster with 86 mustang SVO MC (which is 1.25" dia).
That 79 F350 upgrade ***** really, not worth it (I tried it first, like
most do). If you had stock MC, those stock lines would have bolted up to 86 SVO MC.
SVO MC bolts right to 93 booster.

That booster/MC is a poor mans hydroboost. Really wakes up even a stock brake setup.
Will need to make some simple brackets out of 2 x 2 square tube to get 93 booster in.

Just to give you an idea, here is 93 F350 booster, 85 F150/bronco booster, and 79 F150/Bronco booster on right.
You can see Ford doubled the booster swept area in early 80's, by making it dual diaphragm, even though 80+ brake
sizes were pretty much the same as 78/79. They realized 78/79 boosters were woefully undersized.

View attachment 28377

Some pics of the conversion. These are the brackets you need to make. You also have to grind booster rod a bit, near mount hole as shown.

View attachment 28378

View attachment 28379

View attachment 28380View attachment 28381

Here are some pics of the "setup" brackets I slapped together first time I installed one of these.
Should help you some, build you own.

Index of /GREEN_DILYSI/93 F350 BOOSTER/DIMENSIONS

Hey @OX1 , I've been reading up on this swap. A lot of guys are saying the SVO MC will cause a hard pedal feel if you have rear drum brakes, so they use MC's out of mid 80's lincoln's with great success. Do you know anything about those MC's? Will they bolt up to that '93 booster? Do you have rear drums and a hard pedal?
I'm starting to lean towards the Lincoln Master cylinder.
I have a different issue now to further complicate things. I'm not able to get the air to bleed out of my new calipers, so I'm just ready to tear into the booster/MC setup again. That '79 F350 booster isn't much of an upgrade anyway, like you said. I'm ready for some good brakes. Too many steep downgrades where I live.

 

[Zeus78]

T-bird calipers and 93 F350 booster with 86 mustang SVO MC (which is 1.25" dia).
That 79 F350 upgrade ***** really, not worth it (I tried it first, like
most do). If you had stock MC, those stock lines would have bolted up to 86 SVO MC.
SVO MC bolts right to 93 booster.

That booster/MC is a poor mans hydroboost. Really wakes up even a stock brake setup.
Will need to make some simple brackets out of 2 x 2 square tube to get 93 booster in.

Just to give you an idea, here is 93 F350 booster, 85 F150/bronco booster, and 79 F150/Bronco booster on right.
You can see Ford doubled the booster swept area in early 80's, by making it dual diaphragm, even though 80+ brake
sizes were pretty much the same as 78/79. They realized 78/79 boosters were woefully undersized.

View attachment 28377

Some pics of the conversion. These are the brackets you need to make. You also have to grind booster rod a bit, near mount hole as shown.

View attachment 28378

View attachment 28379

View attachment 28380View attachment 28381

Here are some pics of the "setup" brackets I slapped together first time I installed one of these.
Should help you some, build you own.

Index of /GREEN_DILYSI/93 F350 BOOSTER/DIMENSIONS

Hey @OX1
So I finally dug into this brake upgrade yesterday and I have a couple things that I want to put in this thread so others have more information if they try this conversion:
1) I think 1.5" square tube might be a better size for this instead of 2" tube. 2" tube pushes the booster out a little too far, it makes the brake pedal sit a bit lower than stock and it also means the brake light switch doesn’t reach its pad.

2) The eye hole on the end of the booster rod is much bigger than the stock booster eyelet. If you don't sleeve that, you will end up with a serious amount of play in your brake pedal. I didn't sleeve it, so I need to go back in and do that. (Edit: I took the booster back off and sleeved the eyelet, works good)

3) the stock brake line fitting for the rear brakes, is way too small to fit the '86 SVO master cylinder port. The front brake line fitting is correct, but anyone tring this, will need to put a 7/16 fitting on the rear brake line to fit the master cylinder port, but not a big deal.

This '93 F350 booster is definitely a beast. It’s large and will probably need to be removed if I ever need to take the valve cover off, but it’s really easy to do, so not a big deal.

I'm anxious to see how well this upgrade works. I have a 460 and 37" tires, so extra braking power will be a nice upgrade.

Thanks for all your detailed notes on this and I hope others that try this upgrade, find this post helpful.

 

[johnnyreb]

Hey @OX1 , I've been reading up on this swap. A lot of guys are saying the SVO MC will cause a hard pedal feel if you have rear drum brakes, so they use MC's out of mid 80's lincoln's with great success. Do you know anything about those MC's? Will they bolt up to that '93 booster? Do you have rear drums and a hard pedal?
I'm starting to lean towards the Lincoln Master cylinder.
I have a different issue now to further complicate things. I'm not able to get the air to bleed out of my new calipers, so I'm just ready to tear into the booster/MC setup again. That '79 F350 booster isn't much of an upgrade anyway, like you said. I'm ready for some good brakes. Too many steep downgrades where I live.

In 78 and 79 model Ford trucks. Did they make any with manual brakes? I,m sure they did.

 

[Zeus78]

In 78 and 79 model Ford trucks. Did they make any with manual brakes? I,m sure they did.

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[johnnyreb]

Not that I'm aware of.

Hello Zeus and welcome back. Hope your doing good. Did you sale your parts?

 

[Zeus78]

Hello Zeus and welcome back. Hope your doing good. Did you sale your parts?

I still have a C6 transmission I'd like to get rid of.
Got a bunch of power sreering parts that can go.
I got rid of that garbage cardone pump and went with a Saginaw. Awesome upgrade.
Any truck I ever get that has a Cardone, is immediately getting the pump swapped out with a Saginaw.

 

[Zeus78]

Okay, so I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out here, because I have no brakes.
I did this upgrade, I know the booster is good and the mc is a reman unit (cardone).
A little back story. I changed the calipers out about 8 months ago and really had a hard time getting good pedal feel, but eventually I got it to be at least satisfactory. But now, I have nothing, pedal goes to the floor.
I bench bled the MC, I used a vac pump and got all the air our at the caliper bleeders and the rear bleeders, had the wife run the brake pedal and manually did all 4 weels, no dice.
Then, I hooked clear hoses to both drivers side bleeders and ran the hoses to the front and rear mc chambers to create a vacuum to force any and all air out of the mc and the lines and STILL, no dice. Can the mc be bad, even though it pushed fluid through those tubes and is pushing fluid out of all 4 wheels?
Also, I do have the correct calipers on the correct wheels. I have bled brake systems many times in my life and never had an issue until now.
Thoughts?

 

[L\Bronco]

Okay, so I'm hoping someone can help me figure this out here, because I have no brakes.
I did this upgrade, I know the booster is good and the mc is a reman unit (cardone).
A little back story. I changed the calipers out about 8 months ago and really had a hard time getting good pedal feel, but eventually I got it to be at least satisfactory. But now, I have nothing, pedal goes to the floor.
I bench bled the MC, I used a vac pump and got all the air our at the caliper bleeders and the rear bleeders, had the wife run the brake pedal and manually did all 4 weels, no dice.
Then, I hooked clear hoses to both drivers side bleeders and ran the hoses to the front and rear mc chambers to create a vacuum to force any and all air out of the mc and the lines and STILL, no dice. Can the mc be bad, even though it pushed fluid through those tubes and is pushing fluid out of all 4 wheels?
Also, I do have the correct calipers on the correct wheels. I have bled brake systems many times in my life and never had an issue until now.
Thoughts?

Hey Zeus78
If I understand you correctly, you get fluid at all 4 wheels when you bleed, but no pedal during brake apply.
If that is the case, it sounds like a primary cup seal in the master cyl tore and it bypasses internally when it tries to make pressure.
Did you do the upgrade from earlier in this thread?
could be a pedal travel issue as well. Did you ever get a pedal after the upgrade? or is this all new?
Need a bit more info
Cheers

 

[Zeus78]

Hey Zeus78
If I understand you correctly, you get fluid at all 4 wheels when you bleed, but no pedal during brake apply.
If that is the case, it sounds like a primary cup seal in the master cyl tore and it bypasses internally when it tries to make pressure.
Did you do the upgrade from earlier in this thread?
could be a pedal travel issue as well. Did you ever get a pedal after the upgrade? or is this all new?
Need a bit more info
Cheers

I was able to get the old system to pressurize, not to 100%, but good enough to stop it.
The pedal travel on the new set up is a little shorter, but not by much.
It's weird how it is able to push fluid to all 4 corners, then push it through another 20' of clear line (from the back wheel). However, I really had to work the pedal to get enough push to move the fluid through the clear lines.
Hopefully it's just a master cylinder.

 

[Zeus78]

I installed another master cylinder, I now have pressure, but the pedal is soft. Looks like I need to adjust the rear brakes. I'll do that tonight.
But I can already tell this upgrade is well worth it. Even with a mushy pedal, it grabs harder. I can't wait until I get the pedal firmed up.

 

[Zeus78]

Final update:
After adjusting the rear brakes, I'm good, I've got really good pedal feel and the truck stops like it's as light as a feather.
I'm probably going to change out the booster mount brackets from 2" tube to 1.5" tube to raise the brake pedal a bit more.
It's a good upgrade. Maybe I'll consider the T-bird caliper upgrade some day.