Explorer rear discs (Med bearing 74-75)

[chuzie]

So I have been researching doing the Explorer rear disc swap on my 75 med bearing axle.

I picked up all the brake parts from the rear of a 97 Explorer for about $150.

Going to have the rotors redrilled to 5x5.5 and enlarge the hub slightly.

Since this is the med bearing bolt pattern (3-9/16" x 2"), it should be bolt on, right?

Nothing else I am missing parts wise here, correct?

I should be able to remove my old drum stuff and basically slap on the Explorer brakes, plumb some lines and be done, right?

This seems too easy.

What am I missing?

I have read about a 0.20" spacer but am not sure if that is necessary to the medium duty housing.

 

[StnePny]

Did you get the eccentric ring, that goes on the center of the backing plate ?

And it was a simple bolt on my '74

 

[chuzie]

The what? Was it attached to the brake assembly or the axle? I am pretty sure the only thing I left on the axle was the welded flange.

 

[1sicbronconut]

So I have been researching doing the Explorer rear disc swap on my 75 med bearing axle.

I picked up all the brake parts from the rear of a 97 Explorer for about $150.

Going to have the rotors redrilled to 5x5.5 and enlarge the hub slightly.

Since this is the med bearing bolt pattern (3-9/16" x 2"), it should be bolt on, right?

Nothing else I am missing parts wise here, correct?

I should be able to remove my old drum stuff and basically slap on the Explorer brakes, plumb some lines and be done, right?

This seems too easy.

What am I missing?

I have read about a 0.20" spacer but am not sure if that is necessary to the medium duty housing.

Yes you need the spacer I made mine out of a old bearing or you can buy them from Currie. After I had my rotors machined I found out I could have bought new ones from Currie for around the same price or cheaper.

 

[chuzie]

So these...
http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/products4x4.aspx?id=3044

 

[chuzie]

Currie is telling me I need these spacers regardless of the fact I'm 75 axle since it has nothing to do with torino flange but rather backing plate thickness and axle movement.

Still confused.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

 

[KyleQ]

So being that I've got two 74's with medium bearing axles I can easily grab Explorer disk brakes and put them on with spacers? Awesome! Sounds cheap!

 

[chuzie]

Ordered the Currie rings.

So I am supposed to remove the axle bearing retainer and place this .020 spacer ring between the retainer and the bearing. This is supposed to move the retainer back towards the axle housing to make up for the difference in thickness between the thin Bronco backing plate and the thicker Explorer backing plate.

Here is my question...

Why the heck don't we just put the friggin spacer ring on the other side of the bearing retainer? Having to take the retainer off is stupid and does not help for spares on the trail.

Thoughts?

 

[snipes243]

need the spacer I have a set im not using

 

[thegreatjustino]

Ordered the Currie rings.

So I am supposed to remove the axle bearing retainer and place this .020 spacer ring between the retainer and the bearing. This is supposed to move the retainer back towards the axle housing to make up for the difference in thickness between the thin Bronco backing plate and the thicker Explorer backing plate.

Here is my question...

Why the heck don't we just put the friggin spacer ring on the other side of the bearing retainer? Having to take the retainer off is stupid and does not help for spares on the trail.

Thoughts?

Unless I'm misunderstanding, if you place the spacer between the bearing and the retainer, that's going to space your axle out of the housing farther. If you put the spacer between the retainer and the axle flange, you're just putting an extra piece of metal on your Bronco. It's not relocating or re-spacing anything.

You can get aftermarket retainers that are notched which can be installed and removed to your heart's content without removing the bearing:

http://www.tomsbroncoparts.com/product/rear-axle-bearing-retainer-10-drum-3-18-bearing

 

[KyleQ]

^^^

Ooh, good info.