Brake booster.....Whos got the best/cheapest one?

[ZookBronc]

I'm sure that this has been brought up before, but im curious who has the best set up for brake boosters and perhaps the lest expensive? Ive seem them on some websites but are they all the same manufacturer?

 

[SaddleUp]

A Hydroboost system out of the wrecking yard will both be the best setup and will be the cheapest. If you get one from a Ford then it will increase the chances of it being a direct bolt up as well but may cost a little more to buy. Mine came from about a 1999 Ford Power Stroke and bolted right up with the exception of drilling the four holes in the firewall for it. I.E. I didn't have to do any fancy brackets, trimming of the firewall, or shortening/lengthening of the brake push rod. It took me about 2 hours to bolt it up including changing the master cylinder. This setup may or may not work though since it is dependant upon whether you have enough clearance on your valve covers. If clearance is a problem then you will want one that has an angled bracket (Chevy Astro's seem popular, they require changing to a GM master cylinder though). At any rate they are much better than the vacuum setup.

 

[bannind]

Saddleup -

Any chance of getting a picture of the setup? I was just doing some searching on car-parts.com and there are a ton of available boosters in my area and my right leg sure would love a little assistance on the braking side. When I search - I locate a 'Power Brake Booster' will that cover what will be needed or are there the obligitory extras that are needed?

Thanks,
dan

 

[SaddleUp]

Saddleup -

Any chance of getting a picture of the setup? I was just doing some searching on car-parts.com and there are a ton of available boosters in my area and my right leg sure would love a little assistance on the braking side. When I search - I locate a 'Power Brake Booster' will that cover what will be needed or are there the obligitory extras that are needed?

Thanks,
dan

When running your search you can limit it to the F350 diesel since they were all hydroboost in 1999. The larger gas engines also had hydroboost. I just ran a search using 1999 F350 Super Duty and it then gave me the option of either hydroboost or vacuum. Prices started at $50 for the booster. For other options and vehicles that had them run a search here for Hydroboost and it will turn up a lot of information. In addition to mounting it you will need to decide how to put the lines in. There are 3. One goes from the PS pump to the booster. One from the booster to the steering gear. The third one is a return line that either goes into the PS pump or T's into the PS return line. If T'd in then it needs to be as close to the pump as possible to prevent backpressure. (Mine is about 2" from the pump) Here are a couple of pick of the booster itself.

 

[bannind]

Ty much for the pictures and info - no for one more stupid question from me.
Since, like alot of bronco owners, I have to somehow 'justify' my purchases through the wife - I have not yet finished the requisition process to get the disc brake conversion and I am still running factory drums. Will this work with the drums or would someone need to have the disc brake conversions in first? I know I need to do the disc change, but it is alittle tougher to get a 500$ purchase through than a 50-100$ purchase.

Thanks again,
dan

 

[SaddleUp]

Ty much for the pictures and info - no for one more stupid question from me.
Since, like alot of bronco owners, I have to somehow 'justify' my purchases through the wife - I have not yet finished the requisition process to get the disc brake conversion and I am still running factory drums. Will this work with the drums or would someone need to have the disc brake conversions in first? I know I need to do the disc change, but it is alittle tougher to get a 500$ purchase through than a 50-100$ purchase.

Thanks again,
dan

Yes, it will work with drum brakes. Just be sure the master cylinder is drum/drum. If you use a Ford setup then you can just use your current master cylinder.

 

[TOFIC]

Hydroboost for you!!

Followed this thread with interest. (needless to say)

What's the cheapest way to boosted brakes?? How does FREE sound?
I will admit mine was a fluke but thats what mine cost. Was it a bolt in? yes with the 302 no with the 351. eaisly cured though.
See my article on Hydroboost in the left column tech articles. Cost to install mine plumbed in and working was 60 bucks. cheap enough for ya??

Does it work with drum brakes YES YES YES and did I say YES!!!!
Hydroboost is the boosting system it is not the braking system. it will work with alldrum alldisc and disc/drum setups. The guys are right the only difference is the master cylinder. Read up on some of the threads on this.

The best donor is still the 70's Ford big car and Lincoln. Just like saddleups it is a bolt in without screwing around other than the holes. There are other considerations but the article covers this.

Hydroboost uses the PS pump pressure. Hope you have PS steering as you need it to get Hboost.

I noticed an earlier thread with some Astro van units. If your good at fabricating get one of them cheap.

To give you an idea how inexpensive you can make this, I went from vacuum power brakes on drums to 4 wheel disks with hydroboost for less than 200 bucks. Its just a case of looking around.

TOFIC