I have F250 flat top knuckles on a d44 and I thought I'd see if the 3/4 ton brakes would work with my 1/2 ton rotor. This would be so I could use up the tires on the wheels that I already had on my CJ. I just bolted it up and the 16" wheels don't rub anywhere.
However, every time I search this subject it says you have to use 8 lug rotors and hubs with the big brakes. Why is this? I know the 8 lug rotors are a larger diameter, but less than 7/16" per side. Since I will be having excess pad instead of the other way around I dont' see that this would be a problem.
Anyone tried it or know of a reason it won't work?
Any help would be really appreciated before I shell out the $$ for new calipers... Thanks
The pads will overhang the rotor considerably. I have two rotors that could work for you!
Here is what I did:
1990 F250 Twin Piston Calipers & mounts
2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Rotor turned down to 12.6" and hole opened-up to fit over your hub.
Wheel spacers
I ran them briefly on my front 609 which was 5 on 5 1/2 and they worked great. You may have to work with spacing some, but I have rotors for you for a song since I went to 8 lug stuff.
Compare Rotors:
The stock F250 rotor (won't work as it's 8 on 6 1/2 and the hole in the hat is to big):
Diameter:12.56"
Height:3.23"
Thickness When New:1.25"
Ford Dana 44 rotor:
Diameter:11.72"
Height:2.54"
Thickness When New:1.03"
You get a little bit bigger rotor but the biggest increase in braking comes from the larger 3/4 ton twin piston calipers and larger pads. There is more surface contact between the pad and rotor and the big twin piston F250 stuff works with the 02 Dodge rotor.
The pads fit this rotor great once it is machined down.
The caliper offset to the outside looks like crap here. I took the pic after installation, before even touching the brake pedal and as the pads wear the caliper will travel inward.
This pic shows the offset of the caliper in the bracket better.
My hubs, which are different than your standard D44 (D60 hubs turned down and reworked for 5 on 5.5) You can see the spacer on it. D44 hubs probably won't require a spacer since the rotors are very close in height, don't know if the hole in the rotors would need to be opened-up to fit over your hubs.
Sleeving the lug bolts is key to retaining the stock lugs. it is necessary to take-up the space as the Dodger rotors are drilled bigger for larger lug bolts. This pic is of the lug nuts for my old set-up. I found I needed larger bushings to fit the Dodge rotors and found them at Ace hardware, this pic shows the concept though. I had to cut them down to fit You don't want the rotor to have any slop on the hub so use the spacers and make sure the hole that slips over the hub is a tight fit. It is possible to go with larger lugs and nuts.
You setup looks good, only problem is I have 78 F-250 stuff with the old style brake brackets that have the spring and keeper that slides in with a bolt holding it in place. They switched to the rubber pins after that...
You might also look at using Tbird calipers on the stock D44 rotors. Many have done this on 78-79 Broncos along with a booster/MC from an F350. The tbirds have a larger piston than the stockers and fit the rotor just fine. You'll just need an adapter for your lines since the tbird doesn't use a banjo fitting.
x2 on using tbird calipers on the ford 5-lug brackets. it'll be way easier to put new rotors on in the future. you can buy the braided lines with banjo fittings for those rotors from bcbroncos.com
Do the Tbirds clear the F-250 knuckles? That's what I'm using for the flat top/high steer. If so, I think I'll go that route next time. I want to see how well these twin pistons stop a YJ though. As much trouble as it is I think I'll go with off the shelf parts if I do it over again
I reamed the holes in the 1/2 ton dana 44 hub (.639") to accept 2002 dodge ram 1/2 ton wheel studs (9/16" threads)
The next day I used the lathe at http://nalinoffroad.com/ to put the 82* taper on the wheel studs so they will fit tight against the chamfered holes of the dodge rotor:
you want to do this just so you can use smaller wheels? aren't smaller wheels going to hit the caliper before they hit the rotor? i'm confused on why you want to use smaller rotors now.
Flat top knuckles = no 1/2 ton brakes = dual piston brake caliper = larger rotor = 2002 dodge rotor machined down to 3/4 ton ford diameter = 5 lug wheels which I already had
You were soooo right! Now when I drive the jeep, then go get in the ol 99 ram 1500 I nearly run the first stop sign because the YJ stops so much faster! :laughing:
Thanks man! You're idea on turning the dodge rotors was key to making it all work. I would still like to buy yours if u don't want them. Pm me your paypal address.
I will gt you a PM with paypal, please get me your address back.
Also please take and post pics of your progress. Did you have to use a wheel spacer to get the caliper centered on the rotor like I had to do with my 5 0n 5 1/2 D60 hub?
Also, I did upgrade from a 1 1/6" bore, half ton, master to an F350 1 3/8" bore master and matching booster. I had to do so, not because of the front brakes, but when I added a Sterling with rear disks there was not enough fluid volume with the stock master and the brake pedal was mushy. I was running stock drums on a Ford 9" and the little wheel cylinders for drums do not take as great a volume of fluid as do calipers.
I run 3/4 ton Chevy calipers on the rear and did not need a proportion valve I bought.
Again good work! To bad the same old shit arises when you think outside the box..................Sure the Thunderbird calipers work, it's been done, but this is much more heavy dutier and more better.
I pulled one from a 1500 ram, 98 or so. Cost 10$ and works great! Stuck the push bolt in a drill and ground bout 1/8" off and rounded it. Then ran the bolt all the way in. Other than that its pretty much a bolt on
Bringing this one back from the dead. Do you have any pics of this setup and how you did this? I am trying to do the same thing as you just wanting some input and pictures. thanks for the help!
I do not have access to a lathe at the moment to take care of the wheel lug issue. Do you have any advice on this/other options perhaps? i do have access to a brake machine to take the rotor down. did you have to run any kinda of spacer between the rotor and the hub to get the correct dimension on the brake caliper? or is it close enough? Thanks for the fast response.
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