Rear disc or not

[G's Baja Bronco]

I ran 35's on my old ramcharger for years with a 318 CID 2 barrel and 3.25 gears. It was fine on the street and fwy, off road/sand I would drop it into low.

when I swapped in the 440 and 4.10 gears it was a beast, I ran 39" TSL's on it and it would smoke them
, LOW became seldom used. I used it to crawl up things carefully and to make sure it worked, the rear dana 60 had a posi and I also seldom used the front axle.

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

By the way, do I need 16" wheels or bigger to fit the explorer rear discs?

 

[gddyap]

I fit them with 15" wheels.

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

Thanks Gddyap, what size tires, gears trans and engine?

is your e-brake good?

 

[Broncobowsher]

Update:

picked up the rotors and drums from the fabricator that was going to drill them to 5 x 5.5 and open the center hole to match my axle shafts.

well, it turns out I have 10" drums NOT 11".

does this mean I might as well do the disc dance?

or get some 11" from the bone-yard, drum, internals and backing plate?

what can I pull them from, a full size Bronco, f150 van, 9" or 8.8"?

or since I have every thing for the discs, do the disc dance and have sucky e-brakes. I plan on using 33" tires since I have 4:10 gears, AOD w/4R70w internals and cobra headed 5.0 efi.

but I have a 3.5 Suspension lift and 2" BL, hope the 33 do not look bad, and wil have to go with 35's and gear change to 4.56's.

The 10" and 11" brakes also have a different axle housing. The 10" is a small bearing housing, the 11" is a big bearing housing. The bearing/axle retaining plate/brake backing plate pattern and size is all different between the two.

 

[Viperwolf1]

The 10" and 11" brakes also have a different axle housing. The 10" is a small bearing housing, the 11" is a big bearing housing. The bearing/axle retaining plate/brake backing plate pattern and size is all different between the two.

X2. The axle length is different too.

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

hummm, I thought I had the big bearing, judging from the mounting plate measurements. do you guys have any drawings of those measurements?

because if it is a small bearing, the explorer discs will not fit or the spacer I bought from WH.

Since it does not have posi, I wanted to add a locker, maybe I should look for a whole axle, with locker, and 11" drums, or ideally discs already.

 

[Viperwolf1]

hummm, I thought I had the big bearing, judging from the mounting plate measurements. do you guys have any drawings of those measurements?

because if it is a small bearing, the explorer discs will not fit or the spacer I bought from WH.

Since it does not have posi, I wanted to add a locker, maybe I should look for a whole axle, with locker, and 11" drums, or ideally discs already.

Axle chart.

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

Thanks VIper, I will re-measure, but I think I have the medium duty because I measured before and was certain the explorer discs would fit, but it has been a few months and a lot of other areas of work on the EB

 

[RIDER68]

i just put the explorer disc brakes on mine and i love it thing stops instantly i would recommend doing it its not that expensive just go to the local u pull it yard and get the parts for pretty cheap!! havn't hooked up my e-brake yet but that is what im doing tomorrow!

 

[G's Baja Bronco]

Thanks Rider, I have all the parts already, let me know what size tires you have and how the e-brake feel like afterwards.

Viper, I do have the Medium Duty big bearing, I measured the 3 and 9/16 across

 

[RIDER68]

im just running 35s for now

 

[Oatmeal]

I put a Warn full floater on my Bronco when they first came out and regretted not buying the caliper brackets when they were still avaiable.
Then I found somebody on here that had a set for sale and I can tell you that after doing a Hydroboost install (already had front discs) I was totally impressed but, then I added the rear discs and was blown away!
Four wheel discs work so much better off road especially after submerging the wheels and not having to wait for the brakes to respond (you guys know what I'm talking about!) and they seem more controllable when descending loose surfaces.
I think rear discs are a worthwhile modification but, it's important to use the correct master cylinder and to properly bias the front and back pressures or they won't work any better than the drums you're replacing.
The best part though, is the ease of maintenance....I hated changing rear brake shoes.---------Hans