Wedge style caliper to slide pin caliper conversion?

[pocketlock]

Curious if anyone has done this before. Working on my full width swap. My full width has the wedge to lock the caliper on it. My current 44 uses the 2 slide pins. I would rather use the 2 slide pins. Should I be able to swap the caliper bracket only over and get it to work? Or do I need to swap the entire setup over to use the slide pin style calipers? Or is this not possible with a full width f-150 Dana 44? Thanks in advance!

 

[DirtDonk]

Should be a straight swap. But you have to swap everything over, from the knuckles out.
You can’t just put your brackets on the original Ford disc brake knuckles because they have the wrong bolt pattern.
The slide pins are the General Motors product, that use a 6 bolt spindle. The other type is factory original Ford, with five bolt spindles.

You’ll have to redo the steering linkage slightly, or resize the tapered holes in the knuckles to suit your steering linkage.
Different brake hoses for the different types of calipers, of course, but not a big obstacle either.
But it’ll work.

 

[pocketlock]

Should be a straight swap. But you have to swap everything over, from the knuckles out.
You can’t just put your brackets on the original Ford disc brake knuckles because they have the wrong bolt pattern.
The slide pins are the General Motors product, that use a 6 bolt spindle. The other type is factory original Ford, with five bolt spindles.

You’ll have to redo the steering linkage slightly, or resize the tapered holes in the knuckles to suit your steering linkage.
Different brake hoses for the different types of calipers, of course, but not a big obstacle either.
But it’ll work.

Well dang, not really what I was hoping for haha. I’ve already drilled out my full width knuckles for the TRO inserts and have all my bearings and rotors for my new setup. Now that I’m looking at the “original” 44, I see it has bolts for the spindle instead of studs telling me right away something ain’t right. Wondering if this 44 had an aftermarket disc brake system swapped onto it at some point. Oh well. I have a set of calipers coming into the local parts store tomorrow so I guess I’ll just keep on with that line of thought. Thanks!

 

[DirtDonk]

Why don’t you post up some pictures of it and let us take a look at it. Sounds interesting.

 

[pocketlock]

Had to update my contributor status. Couldn’t figure out why I was unable to upload photos when I started the thread. Here’s some photos of what I’m working with. Looks like the “old” 44 is a 5 bolt setup, but the spindle threads into the knuckle vs sliding on studs like my full width does. An odd setup for sure. I may end up stripping it down just to look at it since I was planning to reuse the warn hubs on my new 44.

 

[DirtDonk]

Looks like the standard GM conversion. The Ford 5-bolt is standard fare on '76-'79 Broncos/F150's, as we figured.
The other one could be something from a Jeep or other, but it's looking like a standard conversion on stock drum brake knuckles from here.

Meaning, as mentioned previously, you can simply swap everything from the knuckles/ball-joints outward.
The rotor and hub is standard Ford on both. Even the bearings interchange if I'm not mistaken.
Knuckles are standard Ford drum brake.
Only the calipers, caliper brackets, spindles and hoses are GM-based.
Ball-joints are the same for both.

So you have just about everything you need, if you decide you still want to swap the brakes over.
Personally, I prefer the Ford design. But the GM calipers use larger pistons, which is a distinct advantage for some. The pads and parts are ubiquitous. The pin design is more common and more popular with some. I just never had any issue with the sliders, as long as they were maintained (and all of mine have always been) and have seen just as many issues pop up with the pin design as the other.

Paul

 

[SteveL]

Or if you want to stay ford with bigger pistons go with the t-bird calipers. I think the also require a different brake line to the caliper.