Anyone done Crown Vic Rear Brakes

[cougarmandan]

I was curious if anyone has the specifics on putting the crown vic rear disc brakes on a a small bearing rear end. Other than drilling the rotors to the new bolt 5.5" pattern, is there anything else I need to know. Is it just bolt on?

I am wanting to keep all Ford parts on the Bronco so if there is another option out there, I am would be interested to know.

 

[Broncobowsher]

There are more axle housing bearing ends then I can keep track of. Every time I turn around I find another. Don't expect the caliper bracket to simply bolt on.

 

[cougarmandan]

Well, if its something as simple as elongating a couple bolt holes, I can handle that, but I was reading that on some of the conversions, the axle flange is bigger than the inside of the rotor and that would be a problem that I couldn't fix.

 

[Bronco73]

There use to be a guy on ebay selling spacers to use these disk brakes. I use to snag the disk brake set ups from the cars at the yard I use to go to back in Ohio but I never got to install a set myself. I think they fit the medium size flange?

 

[marty]

what year crown vic are you getting this setup off of and to work on what year 9" trucks. mine is a '69 which i believe is a small bearing correct.

 

[Oatmeal]

The Crown Vic stuff is kinda weird in that, the left and right calipers are identicle so that one mounts in front of the axle and the other behind it. Not really a big issue but, if you plan on using the e-brakes, it'll require some creative cable routing. When I swapped discs onto my XJ's (Jeep ) rear D44 I looked at the Crown Vic stuff (it was a direct bolt on.....requiring only a .230" spacer between the retainer and bearing) but, decided to go with Explorer stuff instead. I really like the symmetry of the caliper locations of the Explorer stuff better, not to mention the easier cable routing and yes, I did have to fill and redrill the hole patterns as well as fab a spacer. However, both vehicles are plentiful in the bone yards. And as far as the axle flange index being bigger than the rotor's, if it's just slight (as it was with my Jeep) a couple of minutes with a drill press mounted sanding drum will open up the hole in the rotor---------Hans

 

[cougarmandan]

Mine is a 68 Bronco with small bearing. Small v/s Large bearing requires measuring your drums. I can't remember exactly, but I think its 10 by 2.5 drums are small and 11 by 2 is large bearing. The flanges are spaced a little different. I think the large bearing was also part of the HD option when you do the data plate decoding.

Anyways, I read somewhere that the 99-01 Crown vic had a disc brake setup that would easily adapt to the small beaing housing. I haven't got a setup yet. That's why I was asking so I know what to get, what not to get, or if there is something better. I was thinking about the explorer setup as well. All I know is I don't want GM parts on my bronco if I can help it. So the main thing is trying to figure out si if Ford makes something simple to convert. Not something like a 73 Thunderbird rear disc that nobody has, anywhere, but something more plentiful. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Oatmeal]

Here is some good info: http://www.wildhorses4x4.com/category/rear_axle I was told that the Explorer brakes will bolt onto the Torino style axle ends.....not sure of those dimensions. It might be easier to modify the hole pattern on the axle ends to match brakes you decide to use. What front discs are you using? There's nothing wrong with the GM stuff.......I put Chevy brakes on the front of my Bronco about 23 yrs ago (before it became popular) because, that was about the only bolt on thing out there. I've got a Warn FF'r on the back and I'll be putting (you guessed it) GM (actually Caddy) calipers on the back to match the fronts and this will be stopped by an Astro Van (GM) hydroboost.....yikes! The sacrilege --------- Hans

 

[cougarmandan]

I'm using a 76 D44 Disc Front axle rebuilt to stock specs with rebuilt calipers, new rotors and pads, new ball joints etc. I was considering using stock rear drum brakes, but when I was checking the brakes out, I see that the wheel must have came off at one time and the backing plate ground the poor old thing to a stop. It was working fine but its missing a huge chunk off the bottom of the backing plate, besides needing new shoes and wheel cylinders. Then I found a cheap Super Duty hydroboost. That's when I got to thinking about upgrading the rears. I like to keep my Ford pure Ford if possible. If GM made all around better stuff, I would probably would consider putting it on there, but it seems like it all has pros and cons and the GM stuff isn't cheap so why not make it all Ford. Ford Racing has the Explorer setups for the Torino flange brand new for $350 so that had been something to think about. However, I don't think the Torino flange came around until the 70's sometime. I do think i read somewhere the axle offset is right for the small bearing. Back to the crown vic, I thought the emergency brake was seperate from the caliper. The one I played with had an internal mini drum brake built into the rotor. I had an 03 Marauder that was that way, but I messed with an 01 I believe that was the same way. I could see if that setup is the same that it would cause some problems routing the brake cable.

 

[Oatmeal]

I'm using a 76 D44 Disc Front axle rebuilt to stock specs with rebuilt calipers, new rotors and pads, new ball joints etc. I was considering using stock rear drum brakes, but when I was checking the brakes out, I see that the wheel must have came off at one time and the backing plate ground the poor old thing to a stop. It was working fine but its missing a huge chunk off the bottom of the backing plate, besides needing new shoes and wheel cylinders. Then I found a cheap Super Duty hydroboost. That's when I got to thinking about upgrading the rears. I like to keep my Ford pure Ford if possible. If GM made all around better stuff, I would probably would consider putting it on there, but it seems like it all has pros and cons and the GM stuff isn't cheap so why not make it all Ford. Ford Racing has the Explorer setups for the Torino flange brand new for $350 so that had been something to think about. However, I don't think the Torino flange came around until the 70's sometime. I do think i read somewhere the axle offset is right for the small bearing. Back to the crown vic, I thought the emergency brake was seperate from the caliper. The one I played with had an internal mini drum brake built into the rotor. I had an 03 Marauder that was that way, but I messed with an 01 I believe that was the same way. I could see if that setup is the same that it would cause some problems routing the brake cable.

Yes, you're right the e-brake's a drum type inside the rotor. I guess I should have said that the calipers AND the brackets are identicle left and right and that's why one faces forward and the other towards the back. Some people flip the one side over so that both calipers are behind (or in front of) the axle but, then you end up with one bleeder screw on the bottom (requiring you to remove that caliper to bleed the air) and one brake cable above and the other below the axle where it's more apt to get snagged out on the trail.......not to mention it just looks hokey%) And as for expense, I pulled everything out of the boneyard. How much cheaper could that be! ----------Hans

 

[cougarmandan]

I see what you mean. That makes sense now. I am looking more and more at the explorer brakes. The question I keep asking myself is maybe a whole explorer rear end redrilled to 5 on 5.5". Then reality sets in and I remember how many other things would have to be changed to accommodate the explorer setup so it would just be easier to convert the brakes. So anyone done explorer brakes?

 

[Oatmeal]

I see what you mean. That makes sense now. I am looking more and more at the explorer brakes. The question I keep asking myself is maybe a whole explorer rear end redrilled to 5 on 5.5". Then reality sets in and I remember how many other things would have to be changed to accommodate the explorer setup so it would just be easier to convert the brakes. So anyone done explorer brakes?

I know I mentioned this earlier but, you should look into filling and redrilling your axle ends to accomodate the Explorer stuff, it'd be alot less work than modifying the caliper brackets (trust me on this ).........come to think of it, that's what I should have done when I did my Jeep.....doh! That way, if you should ever have to replace something, it'd be a pure bolt on! Anyway, just throwing out ideas--------Hans

 

[cougarmandan]

The only thing holding me up on getting some explorer brakes is the backspace. Any idea on the flange spacing? I was thinking it was the same as the explorer setup, but I didn't know where to find that info.

 

[Oatmeal]

The only thing holding me up on getting some explorer brakes is the backspace. Any idea on the flange spacing? I was thinking it was the same as the explorer setup, but I didn't know where to find that info.

Yeah, that's a good point. If you're into junkyard scrounging, find an Explorer and take a measurement from the axle flange face to the caliper bracket/backing plate and compare it to your axle's. That should tell you if it'll work. Good luck!-------Hans

 

[DirtDonk]

Did you search here for that info? I'm pretty sure that within the last few weeks someone posted up a couple of diagrams with the axle flange measurements of several vehicles, along with the bearing info for the 9" as well.

Try the search and I'll see if I saved any of that info.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, didn't come up with anything other than a chart showing the different brands of rear axles and their flange bolt patterns. No accompanying offset measurements unfortunately.

Pau