D44hp brake swap

[Quad3]

I have a D44hp with ford knuckles i've already done the high steer cross over new spindles a axleshafts the whole works and i'm not ready for a D60 yet.

Question is i want to get rid of the dual piston ford brakes and convert to the single piston chevy calipers so i have the same brakes the way around. I've found lots of websites showing the conversion bracket for the D60 axle but not for the D44 ford axle. I could convert to chevy outers but i would have to replace the knuckles spindles hub axles outers and thats a lot of money to replace brand new stuff.
Anybody got a link to somebody that sells them? anybody done this conversion or have any info they would like to share?

[KWTMECH]

Chevy knucles, small bearing spindle, chevy caliper support, chevy outer stub shaft

[Bubba_Jeep]

If I recall correctly, the dual-piston brakes on a Ford HP D44 only came on the 3/4-ton trucks. If I'm correct, you must replace the knuckles, outer shafts, etc, to convert to single-piston calipers. The calipers you want will not clear the 3/4-ton knuckles. Exactly which D44 do you have?

[Quad3]

d44hp from a 77ish f250, i got an extra axle laying around guess i'll take a peek at fabbing sometghing up. was just hoping to find a pre engineered bracket is all yeah just looking for the lazy route is all.

[apeters89]

what's wrong with using different brakes f/r

[Quad3]

well the front brakes have never stopped very good from the begining and i have never had a problem with the chevy calipers on other trucks. the fact that they would match is an added bonus.
I'm not looking to get flamed here just asking a legitamate question.

[oldrivers]

I thought the dual piston brakes on the 3/4 ton 44s were the same as the dual piston brakes on the 1 tons 60s.

[YJTypeR]

Originally Posted by Quad3

well the front brakes have never stopped very good from the begining and i have never had a problem with the chevy calipers on other trucks. the fact that they would match is an added bonus.
I'm not looking to get flamed here just asking a legitamate question.

Do you have the proper Master Cylinder for your setup? Could be alot cheaper to get that setup correctly and still have better braking than the Chevy's would offer.

[Quad3]

Mastercylinder is out of a 2003 dodge 1 ton if memory serves me right its a 1 1/4in bore. I have so much braking power on the rear that i had to put in a proportioning valve to keep the rear from locking when i breath on the brake pedal but the front doesnt do nearly as much as it should. I even thought i might have had the brake lines backwards on the master cylinder so i switched them also and still nothing noticble changed compared to the lines being the other way. Maybe i got bad calipers two times in a row? I'm going to be switching the rear calipers over to the emergency brake style as soon as i'm done witht he hydro assist and was going to just move the current rear calipers to the front and put the fancy ebrake ones on the back. I just want to be able to lock up 35s on the road and not just the rears when i plant the brakes to the floor is that too much to ask?

This dams SAS on this truck has been a constant non stop PITA since i did it 50k miles ago. Everything works it drives safe on the road but I'm not happy over all maybe i'm just being anal and want the best suspension travel steering like a race car brakes that could stop a freight train and shit that dont go flying apart . Even tho its a learning project the next one should be much smoother with what i've learned from this one

[apeters89]

I'd see if I could compare the Ford master cylinder to the Dodge one and see what the differences are. The Ford calipers are should provide better stopping power than the Chevy ones, but only if they are getting enough fluid.

[dahoyle]

Originally Posted by Quad3

. I just want to be able to lock up 35s on the road and not just the rears when i plant the brakes to the floor is that too much to ask?

This dams SAS on this truck has been a constant non stop PITA since i did it 50k miles ago. Everything works it drives safe on the road but I'm not happy over all maybe i'm just being anal and want the best suspension travel steering like a race car brakes that could stop a freight train and shit that dont go flying apart . Even tho its a learning project the next one should be much smoother with what i've learned from this one

Are you serious??? Lets see if i have this right. You think that because your rears lock before the fronts, that the callipers must be better. Have you ever considered weight transfer. Of course the rears will lock. What about the rotor diameter. Is the diameter the same, front to rear or is one larger.

I run 3/4 ton discs up front, and have redrilled 1/2 ton discs in the back, for the simple reason that the front's have to do so much more work. Works quite well for me, and feels ballanced.

The other thing is that it is very hard to get larger diameter tires to lock up, even in a perfectly ballanced system.

I personally think you should look at the entire system, figure out where you are with it, What it needs to achieve your goals, and then proceed accordingly.

I can almost guarantee that switching the front calliper to match the rear is not the answer.

I hope you get it sorted out, but from what you've said so far, you are in over your head. Get some help, and go from there.


Good luck
Doug

[JGVABronco78]

Swapping the knuckles out from a half-ton Ford will make you use the smaller 5-lug spindle. The Chevy knuckles out is the way to go if you want to run their caliper, but its not as much stopping power as the Ford double piston they use on the 3/4 ton 44 and the 60(same caliper). The brakes are always biased rear to front because front does most of the work. Since you've doubled the capacity of the rears without changing the bias, you now want to drag the rear before the front starts to help. I think you need an adjustable prop valve, and then watch your teeth on the steering wheel when you lock em up.

P.S. The rave about changing Ford's double piston to Chevy's single in the front is to run 15" wheels. The Chevy calipers and rotors on the rear are because to run the Ford rotors it requires 1/4" additional backspacing, and this type of offset isn't as cheap as running the straight bracket bolted to the end of the axle tube.