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Ford Dual Piston or GM large calipers?

1K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Grendel 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm setting up my next generation of axles, and the possibility of going to eight lug is pretty good, but I'm in no need of 60's or 14 bolts with my 2.5L and 35's which may grow to 37's. I've got a Waggy Dana 44 and EB Ford 9" now, but will be swapping to less than full-width-more-than-waggy-width this winter. I scored a '78 F-250 HP Dana 44, and I'll be cutting down a full-size 9" and converting to full floater with the same hubs, spindles, calipers, rotors, etc. front and rear. I'm currently using GM large calipers up front, nothing in the rear for now, but the plan up until this weekend was to use GM large calipers all the way around, with 5 on 5.5 hubs on early Chevy spindles, then, when I switch to eight lug, I can just swap to the larger bearing spindle, larger caliper mount, and eight lug hubs. That was before I took a good look at the dual piston calipers that came with my '78 F-250 front axle. Those things look so cool I want to use them, but are tehy worth it? I heard that 15" rims can be made to fit, and I've heard otherwise, so that will be a major factor. Assuming that 15 inchers can be fitted, my dilema is with the brakes and my options, I've got the parts for almost everything, and can get the rest, so what would work best.

1.) Use my existing GM knuckles, GM Large calipers and Chevy spindles and just stick with the GM stuff that I've got lots of spare parts for, and run GM large calipers on all four corners, five lug or eight lug.

2.) Get my Ford Flat-top knuckles drilled and tapped for my existing hysteer arms and switch to Ford five bolt spindles and wedge style (ugh) calipers with 1/2 ton hubs on all four, then switch to 3/4 ton spindles and hubs with the dual pistons on all four.

3.) Use some mix and match of GM Large in the rear and Ford duals in the front, but I'd rather keep it all the same.

The only reason I'm worried about this now is because I need to get the rear housing ends machined in either a Chevy six bolt spindle pattern, or a Ford five bolt spindle pattern.

Obviously I will be upgrading to a properly sized and proportioned master cylinder and prop valve for either of these systems.
 
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#2 ·
I say go with the easier stuff to fit. Especially if you already have a ton of spare parts.
 
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