I'm baffled.

I got a 1987 Ford Ranger with a Dana 44 and a sterling 10.25 in the rear i got 39" IROKS and I can't lock my front brakes up for nothing.

I've got new pads, new rotors, new brake booster, new shoes. new wheel cylinders, new springs, new rubber lines, new calipers.

I got an adjustable proportioning valve set up for the rear brakes.
I got a master cylinder and Brake booster out of a 88 F350.
The F350 has the same brakes as does my truck. so the master cylinder is designed for this brake set up.

I can adjust the proportioning valve to where there is the least amount of fluid to the rear axle. Then get going 10 MPH let my front tires cross into gravel and TRY to lock up the brakes. Yet I still can't manage to lock up the front. When the rear reaches the gravel the rear will lock up.

The front brakes work VERY LITTLE. The majority of the brakeing force is comming from the rear.

And there is no air in the lines

Anybody got any suggestions.

Your 44 has one ton brakes??

I would just assume that the front brakes aren't enough to stop a tire that big that quick. The rear is probably a 13 inch drum, correct? With no wieght over it to speak of, should lock up pretty easily;)

Last I checked, F-350's didn't come from the factory with 39's ;) That's a pretty big tire. Other than not locking up the tires, how does it stop?

Originally posted by 1uglyranger
Your 44 has one ton brakes??

I would just assume that the front brakes aren't enough to stop a tire that big that quick. The rear is probably a 13 inch drum, correct? With no wieght over it to speak of, should lock up pretty easily;)

Yep, HD dana 44's have dual piston calipers same as on the F350's

no weight to speak of... I disagree
i have a 59/41 weight split and weight in a 5280 with me in the truck. There is a decent amount of weight back there.

Remember these brakes were designed to Stop an F350 why won't they stop my freakin Ranger that weights less?

Originally posted by Nobody
Last I checked, F-350's didn't come from the factory with 39's ;) That's a pretty big tire. Other than not locking up the tires, how does it stop?

True but F350's also weight a lot more than 5280 Lbs too.

It stops OKAY with the back receiveing as much fluid as possible.
BUT the FRONT BRAKES ARE NOT DOING MUCH

It stops but i get on it hard and the rear end locks up...
and i got a proprotioning valve to reduce that and it don't help

do you have the braklines switched around on the master cylinder. the front brakes go to the back hole, and the rear brakes go to the front. also the new rotors do not still have the silicone coating on them right. and you are not putting the anti sqeak between the rotors and break pads?:p sorry but with a lot of the bum threads in these sections lately I have to ask.

A one ton braking system wasn't dewsigned to stop a 39" tire. That's ALOT of rotating mass, more than likely there's nothing wrong with your setup except that it doesn't have enough, for lack of a better word, brute force to overcome all that extra leverage.

Originally posted by Wildjon300ci
A one ton braking system wasn't dewsigned to stop a 39" tire. That's ALOT of rotating mass, more than likely there's nothing wrong with your setup except that it doesn't have enough, for lack of a better word, brute force to overcome all that extra leverage.

well the brakes were designed to stop a 7000+ lbs vehicle
and your going to tell me that having 39" on my vehicle (which with tires and me it weights 5280 lbs) the inertia of the tires makes up for the more than 1500 lb differance in weight?

Originally posted by NOODLES
do you have the braklines switched around on the master cylinder. the front brakes go to the back hole, and the rear brakes go to the front. also the new rotors do not still have the silicone coating on them right. and you are not putting the anti sqeak between the rotors and break pads?:p sorry but with a lot of the bum threads in these sections lately I have to ask.

got the front brakes in the back hole and the rear brakes in the front hole. I don't buy anti sqeak. and no silicone and i understand about the bum threads....

I drive an F350 every day its my DD and i have yet to lock up the front brakes even in hard stops avoiding people, and it has 32 in tires.

Originally posted by John Deere Ranger
got the front brakes in the back hole and the rear brakes in the front hole.

Well, there you go. What year M/C is this?

psst... he's being sarcastic :rolleyes:

...couple things.
with your weight split, upon braking there is alot of that rear weight that is going to transfer to the frt, so weight distribution at "rest" doesn't tell much.
Take my Suburban for instance, it has 116,000 miles on it and still has the original rear shoes on it but I'm on the third set of frt pads. When I stand on the pedal the rears lock up but the fronts won't. Weight transfers to the front and the rears lock up. Not because of some poor design....just weight transfer in motion.
What I would look at if you suspect M.C. and all the other components are in good shape is the leverage factor in your brake pedal linkage. Different vehicles will have a different ratio in th elinkage and that may be affecting the force that you're actually applying to the MC piston. There's a pretty good write-up on www.fordtrucks.com[/url] Anyway, the article goes into the pedal linkage ratio and how that affects applied pressure to different master cyls.
Hope you get the results you're looking for.
Louis
Just checked and it is under the Tech section...look at the 2001 articles and it's titled.....upgrading 78-79 Ford Bronco brakes.

Originally posted by Wildjon300ci
psst... he's being sarcastic :rolleyes:

no I wasn't

the Front brakes go in the hole closest to the Power Brake booster.

The Rear Brakes go to the hole farthest from the Power Brake booster

I have a Dana 44 on my Ford with 38.5's and it stops fine. It isn't the tire causing the problem.

try backing up in the gravel and skidding the front brakes if they don't skid in that direction you got a serious problem

Mine is almost 5100 lbs and I can lock up 35s on pavement with the half-ton brake system (actually only the brakes themselves are half-ton (D44), the M/C and the rest is stock).
Theres no reason a ONE-ton brake system shouldn't be able to lock up 39s in GRAVEL on a similar weight vehicle.

I would look into that linkage thing Cumminsbronco mentioned.
Also, maybe look into a bigger vacuum booster (its not bottoming the piston in the M/C is it? You should be able to feel it if it does)

it should be able to lock them up in gravel with ease..
But like what was said, with the height your at, you are getting alot of weight transfer.

My F-150 with half ton junk stops great with 35's on it, but if I put it in first, idle along, then stand on the gas and brake as hard as I can, the front brakes wont hold it back. It will squeal the tires some, but just over power the front brakes.

I'm thinking maybe your master cylinder has issuers? it is used afterall.