So I put the new flat top F250 knuckle on, all ready to go, then I realise that the single piston caliper will NOT go on. The big piston doesn't clear with the flat top..

What are my options? I'm only with single piston because that's how I got the axles - 5x5.5 bolt pattern on front/rear, and i want to keep it that way.

Grinding is not an option...

Could I get a new brake bracket, put it on, and run the 2 piston calipers? Or do the 2 piston calipers fit on the existing bracket?

I read the tech on pirate and it says what rotors to use with 5x5.5, but says nothing about the calipers??

Help.

Thanks guys

Hey spawn :flipoff2: ,
try the chevy caliper brackets and piston calipers. The chevys are thinner than the ford caliper mounts.

The problem is.. the chevy/jeep stuff uses 6 (edited: originally put 8, doh, brain fart..) stud knuckles (NOT the wheel studs, but the knuckle studs), and my ford stuff is 5... i wouldn't feel fuzzy redrilling it either though unless that's the only thing to do?

:flipoff2:

If your going to try using the chevy caliper brackets ya might as well use the chevy outer knuckle also. Hell, in my book 6 is better than 5, 99% of the time. Dont the 70ish Cevy truck run the flat tops. How about the Dodge. I know it would be a last resort. But they can be used. How much longer ya got on your Ban?

about 2 weeks.

problem is that if i go with chevy outers then i'm going to need to get new knuckles and i already bought the flat tops..

there's gotta be a way to use 5 stud ford stuff and 5 lug outer... :(

about 2 weeks.

problem is that if i go with chevy outers then i'm going to need to get new knuckles and i already bought the flat tops..

there's gotta be a way to use 5 stud ford stuff and 5 lug outer... :(
Only way to keep your F250 knuckles and use Ford F150 hubs is to make a custom brake bracket and use Bear dual piston brakes. Good luck!

Check my article for the pictuer of teh closed knuckle showing disk brakes, he figured out a way, I'm sure you can. Now, do you trusts your skills enough with your life?

thank you for your reply, i'll have to check the pictures when i go home..

i trust my skills, but it depends on what exactly is being done. hopefully its not too much of a pita to make the brackets, if it is then i guess i'll put my flat toppers up for sale....

Thanks again.

lemme know how much ya might want fer them. I might buy them and use them later on my buggy. Right now I don't have plan for high steer. But I might later.

fawkin scavenger. :flipoff2:

http://www.buff4lo.com/dana_44.htm
... "You can use Chevy knuckles, but the ones we found came off of a J10 pickup. The Wagoneer and Chevy axles also use a 6 bolt lug nut pattern and we wanted to stay with the 5 on 5 1/2 CJ bolt pattern. To do this we would need to use the spindles and rotors from a Ford Dana 44. We purchased the hub and rotors new from the local parts house (85 Ford Bronco), but you should be able to find the spindles at the salvage yard. There are two types of spindles for a Dana 44: the difference is in the inside diameter of the inner wheel bearing - you want the smaller diameter. Our spindles came off of a late model Ford Bronco (full size) and a Jeep J10. We took the 'flat top' knuckles, the steering linkage and the spindles and headed home."

Ok, I guess now I look for knuckles off a J10 and full size bronco spindles..

The custom brake bracket - i couldn't get a pic of the bear 2 piston calipers so i am clueless what it will take to make it work....

Only way to Pull this off is to go buy the F-250 Calliper brackets. I do take it that the flat-tops came off a f-250 right ?

that's correct. f250 caliper brackets.. gotcha.. but will the 5 lug spindle still go on..?

http://www.buff4lo.com/dana_44.htm
... "You can use Chevy knuckles, but the ones we found came off of a J10 pickup.
Chevy and Jeep use the same style, Chevy 706135x and Jeep 706135.

To do this we would need to use the spindles and rotors from a Ford Dana 44. We purchased the hub and rotors new from the local parts house (85 Ford Bronco),
Careful, the Hub and rotor is what is from Ford.


There are two types of spindles for a Dana 44: the difference is in the inside diameter of the inner wheel bearing - you want the smaller diameter. Our spindles came off of a late model Ford Bronco (full size) and a Jeep J10.
There are a LOT more than two type of spindles in this era.

Ok, I guess now I look for knuckles off a J10 and full size bronco spindles..
The custom brake bracket - i couldn't get a pic of the bear 2 piston calipers so i am clueless what it will take to make it work....
Nope. Unless you know the exact reason why, Always keep the Knuckle, Spindle and inner axle shaft from the same vehicle. This is all from my sig link.


Below, notice drums and dixk bracket.
http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/images/dana44/dana44hdlargeclosedknuckle6small.jpg

Thanks Mr. N. Re-read your page and a several old posts on pirate, and I see what you mean. Guess I wasn't searching for the right stuff before...


In one of the threads someone mentioned making a custom brake setup with corvette calipers and that got me thinking about how hard it would be to come up with a setup like that..

In theory the brake mounting plate could just be 3/8ths steel, and no welding needed - kind of how the rear disc brake conversions work.. Just make a template, cut it out, and mount the brakes. Getting it to clear inside my 15" rim might take some work/testing, but I think that's the way to go.

To me that would be a lot easier than to sell the ford knuckles and basically rebuild my axle (new shafts, etc.) with chevy stuff...

I searched and searched and couldn't find a pic of an f250 brake caliper. if anyone has it, post away....

Thanks guys.

you can put your hubs and rotors on Chevy knuckles and spindles. You don't need every thing else.

In theory the brake mounting plate could just be 3/8ths steel, and no welding needed - kind of how the rear disc brake conversions work.. Just make a template, cut it out, and mount the brakes. Getting it to clear inside my 15" rim might take some work/testing, but I think that's the way to go.

What about that little s shape bend that you must have in order for the bracket to bolt up to the 5 lug on the knuckle itself ? I dont get it when you say you wont have to weld the calliper brachets on ? Please explane !

What about that little s shape bend that you must have in order for the bracket to bolt up to the 5 lug on the knuckle itself ? I dont get it when you say you wont have to weld the calliper brachets on ? Please explane !

let me check my knuckles/axle and get back to you on that... if my memory served me right, the brake bracket can be a flat piece.. let me check.


Nick, you sure? everywhere i searched/read said the outers have to be chevy, and basically i would have to change out my outer shafts as well so i could use the chevy spindle..

fawk, that's confusing...

check the thread about the 9" ff. Its says to use chevy spindles and ford hubs. So it has to work.

ok, so i can mix and match that.. gotcha..

new question:

does the chevy/waggy/whatever spindle fit the ford 44 outer shafts??

Do you have the f-250 caliper brackets on the flat-tops? or do you have the F-150 caliper brackets on the flat-tops ? Funny thing is there is no diff. between the f-150 Calipers and the f-250 calipers . I checked at Adv. Auto and AutoZone and they are the same. Question is is ter a diff between the
f-150 caliper brackets and the f-250 caliper brackets ?

Do you have the f-250 caliper brackets on the flat-tops? or do you have the F-150 caliper brackets on the flat-tops ? Funny thing is there is no diff. between the f-150 Calipers and the f-250 calipers . I checked at Adv. Auto and AutoZone and they are the same. Question is is ter a diff between the
f-150 caliper brackets and the f-250 caliper brackets ?

impossible.. there is a single piston caliper setup and a dual piston caliper setup. is there a diff between the brackets? that i am not sure - i have Yet to see a pic of the dual piston calipers.. My guess is the caliper bracket would have to be different.

do i have the f-250 caliper brackets? No, i don't.. i only have the f250 flat tops.. FIY, the flat tops are not installed. After we put one on, we found out the brakes don't fit, and had to put the old one back...

What would you like pics of, or for me to measure, Spawn? I've got new lockouts coming tomorrow so I could even pull shit the rest of the way apart and measure up my spindle if it would help ya. My axle is a low pinion 8 lug, 5 bolt (spindle) D44HD from a '77 F250 with twin piston calipers and big external lockouts.

The HD may give me a larger spindle diameter so I'm not sure about the spindle bolt pattern (and therefore the bolt pattern on the spindle - but I doubt it changes since there's so much clearance from the actual bore to the bolts). I know it gives me a much larger hub for this particular set of years.....

If you get back to me before 15:00ET tomorrow (Fri) I should be able to get anything you want. After that it's hit/miss, but I might not get to the until Saturday, so lemme know if I can help ya out.

if you could snap some pics of the actual calipers / caliper plate that would be great.. any pics would help, i seem to have trouble finding them :(

thanks dude.

I didn't get to my lockouts today, so I didn't have the front apart at all (not that I actually need to take the front apart at all to do my lockouts, but let's not get picky). Take a look at the 51st through 55th or so posts in my build thread - there's pictures of mounted twin piston calipers there. There's also a pic of the spindles and caliper brackets off the knuckle in post 87.

separated spindles (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3097845&postcount=87)
the 5 posts with brake pictures (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=267639&page=11&pp=5)

if you want anything more that that, you'll have to get a bit more specific. You might get a decent idea of size remembering that these are 16.5" rims, coming just about flush with the back of the caliper.

That's EXACTLY what i needed.. i now see the 2 piston calipers are somewhat of the same design as single pistons - they kind of "slide" in the caliper mount, so making something will be a real challange.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Good luck!

there is a big difference between the calipers size so the bracket would be different too. if you go with the single piston stock bronco calipers, you can upgrade to thunderbird calipers. they have bigger pistons than the bronco does. the D44 from an f250 & the D60 have the same dual piston calipers. this may be old news, but hope it helps

MR. Mindless:

You dont remember what the factory rim size for the F-250's were do ya ? 15 or 16?

No idea - I never met either of my donor trucks. All I can tell ya is that the humvee rims I'm running are a very, very tight fit around those twin piston calipers - and they really don't fit around the steering knuckles (I don't get to keep boots on my tie rod ends).