[Basque1]

Has anyone installed a bolt on kit to their 1992-96 Bronco a rear disc brake conversion. Wildwood does not have it, I spoke to them already. Saw this kit on ebay Ford Bronco Truck 8.8 rear disc brake conversion kit 5 ON 5.5 | eBay but I am not sure about its reliability. Any thoughts?

 

[MS88Bronc]

This is the one I have.

Ford 8.8 Disc Brake Conversion Kit for 1980 to 1996 Bronco - Broncograveyard.com

Convert the rear brakes to disc brakes in your 1980 to 1996 Bronco or F150 with this Ford 8.8 disc brake conversion kit from Bronco Graveyard. Shop now.

shop.broncograveyard.com

You also have to get a different master cylinder meant for 4 wheel discs. I used a 2001 Lightning MC.

IMO, it’s not really worth it. Keep it simple and stick with drums - my 2¢.

 

[CrazyBRONCOguy]

I will agree with the above, with the exception that if you wheel a lot in sand or mud, the disc's do not get packed full like I have had the drums do. This means overall less maintenance.
From a brake performance stand point, not gonna really gain a lot tho. Saying that, both my Broncos and my ranger are running disc's in the rear.

 

[Basque1]

This is the one I have.

Ford 8.8 Disc Brake Conversion Kit for 1980 to 1996 Bronco - Broncograveyard.com

Convert the rear brakes to disc brakes in your 1980 to 1996 Bronco or F150 with this Ford 8.8 disc brake conversion kit from Bronco Graveyard. Shop now.

shop.broncograveyard.com

You also have to get a different master cylinder meant for 4 wheel discs. I used a 2001 Lightning MC.

IMO, it’s not really worth it. Keep it simple and stick with drums - my 2¢.

Tks for your input, I saw this one before but I am not enamored of frankestining it with other car parts. I think that at the end of the day I will leave it as is. I was just trying to make maintenance a bit easier at the time of changing the pads.
Tks
Lou

 

[Basque1]

I will agree with the above, with the exception that if you wheel a lot in sand or mud, the disc's do not get packed full like I have had the drums do. This means overall less maintenance.
From a brake performance stand point, not gonna really gain a lot tho. Saying that, both my Broncos and my ranger are running disc's in the rear.

This truck doesn’t go to sand or mud it is a show king and garage kept. I was just trying to make maintenance a bit simpler. Tks Lou

 

[familybroncoman]

$350 seems reasonable for a kit that includes calipers and hoses. My main concern would be caliper quality, I've heard horror stories of troubleshooting brand new brake kits only to find both Chinese calipers to be bad.

 

[Basque1]

$350 seems reasonable for a kit that includes calipers and hoses. My main concern would be caliper quality, I've heard horror stories of troubleshooting brand new brake kits only to find both Chinese calipers to be bad.

My concerns exactly

 

[miesk5]

Yo Lou,
For your reading pleasure; Disc Brake:
Front & Rear Installation Info & pics in a 95 (part of Mark's Dana44 SAS-D60FF Swap)
Source: by member Shadofax (TheJuice, The Juice, Mark Z) at SuperMotors.net

Rear Conversion in a 90 Source: by muffinman944 at FSB Rear Conversion, Explorer info & pics in a 96 Source: by bossind (boss, Steve) at FSB ​

Rear Conversion, 10.25 inch, Sterling (must register to view pics) Source: by Traveler (Centurion) at fourdoorbronco.com​

Rear Conversion, 10.25 inch, Sterling in a 94 Source: by Damon H (Plug Ugly) at FSB Rear Conversion, pics in a 95 Source: by allcruisen at SuperMotors.net ​

 

[Burntoutaccountant]

I looked into it and like others have said, the consensus is it isn’t worth it.

my opinion is keep it stocks drums. It’s simpler.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Tks for your input, I saw this one before but I am not enamored of frankestining it with other car parts. I think that at the end of the day I will leave it as is. I was just trying to make maintenance a bit easier at the time of changing the pads.
Tks
Lou

Dont look at my bronco then... Ive got old ford thunderbird, econoline, f250, f350, f-superduty, chevy, dodge, and toyota parts on it.

The kit you posted may use the same calipers as needed for the bronco graveyard kit. I would rather use the JBG kit where the calipers are readily available at the parts store.

 

[robbz28]

I have used a similar kit in the past on another project, but it was for a car. You don't always get what's in the picture either. I ordered a front disc brake conversion kit for my mustang i had, it came with adapter plates and calipers off an 80's S-10...did it work? Yes but it wasn't what the kit stated or showed in the picture, then i read the fine print that stated the fact that "kits vary". The really janky thing about that kit that bugged me most was it came with one of those needle valve type proportioning valves, so i had to plumb that inline and get it adjusted properly.
I agree with the consensus, the drums are A-O-K in fact they probably stop better than those small discs, you get a lot of surface contact. I will state that the only benefit that you probably wouldn't even be able to notice is that you'd have less drag with the disc brakes as drums always have that slight bit of contact at all times.

 

[Kingfish999]

an issue i have assumed is needing to keep the rotors centric on the axles. they either need the wheel stud holes to be very tight so the rotor will stay perfectly centered. of the hub bore needs to match the axleshaft. or you mount it to the backside of the axle shaft.
the first one seems to be pretty popular as they usually jsut drill a new lug pattern into the rotors. i have never seen the second one done by the aftermarket. the third option lets you use stock bronco front rotors but required removing the axle shaft to replace. even the JBG kit says that it uses custom rotors

another issue is that you loose parking brake ability. unless you spend money on the e-brake capable calipers.

you dont really NEED a disc/drum MC. you can just add a adjustable proportioning valve which is what i do to my trucks to fine tune the brake bias

You also have to get a different master cylinder meant for 4 wheel discs. I used a 2001 Lightning MC.

thats a 1-1/4" bore MC. that would make your brake pedal pretty stiff. stock bore is only 1-1/16" and most F250/350 are 1-1/8" and they use a larger booster

too bad Ruffstuff does not sell an 8.8" kit. i use there 10.25" kit on a few of my axles and love it. 350$ complete. they do have a universal 9" weld on kit that can be used probably

 

[MS88Bronc]

thats a 1-1/4" bore MC. that would make your brake pedal pretty stiff. stock bore is only 1-1/16" and most F250/350 are 1-1/8" and they use a larger booster

Yes, it is a hard pedal. It is better than what I had before though, which was a stock MC meant for rear drums. Perhaps a larger booster would help with that? I don't know much about brakes, honestly. Hey @Kingfish999 these are the F350 boosters for 1996 - would one of these lighten up my stiff pedal since I have the 2001 F150 MC?

 

[reptillikus]

It doesnt really matter, Ford used the same booster on all F250/F350 from 87-97, regardless of what motor they got. (Except for the hydroboost trucks of course).


When you increase bore size on a master cylinder it moves more fluid, which means more braking power. But it also makes the pedal harder to push since youre now trying to move more fluid. The brake booster is a torque multiplier for your foot. The bigger the booster, the more it multiplies your own input force. So if you have a pedal thats hard to push you put a bigger booster in, and the pedal will get easier (aka 'softer') to push down.

 

[Basque1]

It doesnt really matter, Ford used the same booster on all F250/F350 from 87-97, regardless of what motor they got. (Except for the hydroboost trucks of course).


When you increase bore size on a master cylinder it moves more fluid, which means more braking power. But it also makes the pedal harder to push since youre now trying to move more fluid. The brake booster is a torque multiplier for your foot. The bigger the booster, the more it multiplies your own input force. So if you have a pedal thats hard to push you put a bigger booster in, and the pedal will get easier (aka 'softer') to push down.

I decide to leave the drum brakes after all tks for your input.

 

[Lone Ace]

My buddy replaced his drums with disc in order to get better braking for towing his boat up and down some steep roads to a canyon lake. The braking worked fine, but when he backed in to launch his boat the hot rotors would warp when they hit the water. Since I had a brake lathe, I didn't mind turning them for a fishing trip. I'm all about performance, but in this case I think he should have stuck with the drum brakes.

 

[para]

A rear disk conversion is a solution looking for a problem. I contemplated the conversion too BTW....
Does it stop like a ferrari, no. But for what it is (a btruck) it stops pretty good

After all that what do you do when it needs brake pads or a brake caliper or rotors? Go back to ebay?
What about the E-brake conversion? Will the work the same? Master Cyl.?.....Alot of work

 

[Kingfish999]

My buddy replaced his drums with disc in order to get better braking for towing his boat up and down some steep roads to a canyon lake. The braking worked fine, but when he backed in to launch his boat the hot rotors would warp when they hit the water. Since I had a brake lathe, I didn't mind turning them for a fishing trip. I'm all about performance, but in this case I think he should have stuck with the drum brakes.

he probably didnt add a proportioning valve so the rear brakes were doing more work than they should. they shouldnt get that hot unless there was an issue

A rear disk conversion is a solution looking for a problem. I contemplated the conversion too BTW....
Does it stop like a ferrari, no. But for what it is (a btruck) it stops pretty good

After all that what do you do when it needs brake pads or a brake caliper or rotors? Go back to ebay?
What about the E-brake conversion? Will the work the same? Master Cyl.?.....Alot of work

most disc conversion do not have an e-brake. the option for the ebrake is alot more expensive and requires work. most just live without.
because the brake parts are super common chevy parts, they are actually significantly cheaper and more common for calipers n pads. but depending on the kit rotors can be an issue.
you can use the same MC but adding a proportioning valve is highly recommended or else the rear brakes will lockup easy

as i said i have done the rear disc conversion to all my 10.25" axles and im very happy with them. but they use a standard rotor and not custom rotors like most 8.8" kits use. otherwise i love them. the adjustable proportioning valve alows to fine tune the brake bias for towing or daily driving. my F250 is using its stock MC and booster which is the same as f150/bronco use

 

[Basque1]

an issue i have assumed is needing to keep the rotors centric on the axles. they either need the wheel stud holes to be very tight so the rotor will stay perfectly centered. of the hub bore needs to match the axleshaft. or you mount it to the backside of the axle shaft.
the first one seems to be pretty popular as they usually jsut drill a new lug pattern into the rotors. i have never seen the second one done by the aftermarket. the third option lets you use stock bronco front rotors but required removing the axle shaft to replace. even the JBG kit says that it uses custom rotors

another issue is that you loose parking brake ability. unless you spend money on the e-brake capable calipers.

you dont really NEED a disc/drum MC. you can just add a adjustable proportioning valve which is what i do to my trucks to fine tune the brake bias


thats a 1-1/4" bore MC. that would make your brake pedal pretty stiff. stock bore is only 1-1/16" and most F250/350 are 1-1/8" and they use a larger booster

too bad Ruffstuff does not sell an 8.8" kit. i use there 10.25" kit on a few of my axles and love it. 350$ complete. they do have a universal 9" weld on kit that can be used probably

an issue i have assumed is needing to keep the rotors centric on the axles. they either need the wheel stud holes to be very tight so the rotor will stay perfectly centered. of the hub bore needs to match the axleshaft. or you mount it to the backside of the axle shaft.
the first one seems to be pretty popular as they usually jsut drill a new lug pattern into the rotors. i have never seen the second one done by the aftermarket. the third option lets you use stock bronco front rotors but required removing the axle shaft to replace. even the JBG kit says that it uses custom rotors

another issue is that you loose parking brake ability. unless you spend money on the e-brake capable calipers.

you dont really NEED a disc/drum MC. you can just add a adjustable proportioning valve which is what i do to my trucks to fine tune the brake bias


thats a 1-1/4" bore MC. that would make your brake pedal pretty stiff. stock bore is only 1-1/16" and most F250/350 are 1-1/8" and they use a larger booster

too bad Ruffstuff does not sell an 8.8" kit. i use there 10.25" kit on a few of my axles and love it. 350$ complete. they do have a universal 9" weld on kit that can be used probably

I decided to leave the drum brakes after all tks for your input.