F-350 - 88' Bronc Brake Swap

[Cowpens]

Has anyone tried the F-350 to Bronc brake swap posted on Brian Soderblum's web site? The brakes on my 88' suck and I really dont want to go through the expense of a rear drum to disc swap. Are there any other brake upgrades that I could try? :-B

 

[Broncoholics]

Wouldn't you need 16" rims then? 16's don't work well off road, you will pop beads if you air down. I would think its cheaper to get a disc brake set up out of the junk yard off an explorer or Lincoln. Wait do you have a 9"? Or the dreded 8.8? Check around most junk yards can sell you a cheap disc setup instead of paying for new rims. There are many kits you can modify to fit your set up if you are good with metal fab. Do a search online and you will find lots of articles and web sites.

 

[Natron]

I've owned an '84 and a '95 Bronco, and I agree that the brakes suck. The guilty suspect is the rotors. What I've learned the hard way is keep as much mass as you can - in other words, don't turn the discs and replace the pads well before they wear out. More mass deals with the heat better. If you have to turn the discs, replace them. Aslo, I highly recommend the new ceramic pads. Very quite and no dust, which are easy on the rotors. I've seen several places which sell upgraded front discs: Bronco Grave Yard and JC Whitneys. These are slotted discs and I will try these next time I have to replace the discs. Another great pad is Bendix. I tow my boat (19'), drive off road, use to live in San Francisco (hills everywhere), so I've replaced pads and discs. Good luck.

 

[Broncoholics]

No that I think about it I used Police issue discs to help me stop in my 89 with 35" tires. They eat the rotors up but they sure work well.