F150 / EB FRONT DISC BRAKE CONVERSION This is the conversion that I did a couple of years ago. As far as I know, this conversion will only work on EBs with a Dana 44 front axle. Sorry, all you Dana 30 folks, but there is too much difference between the 30 and 44 axle housing to fit the F150 steering knuckles. (Maybe it's time to upgrade?) I tried to think it thru when I wrote this, but before you start this job, make sure you understand the process. If something doesn't make sense, ask me, and we'll figure it out. I have included some Tips along the way, on things I wish I had done or did do, that helped. I only had an idea that this conversion would work, but I didn't read anything first, I just jumped into the project. Some things to think of before you start: I'm starting to write this at 11:00 pm. If I made mistakes, let me know. You follow my advice at your risk. But, this job did work for me. Have a lot of room to do this, with lots of light, low chairs to sit on, plenty of shop rags, good quality tools, etc... Work slowly, take your time, think of the next course of action. Start this project on a Friday. Maybe Thursday! Take pictures of this job. I wish I had, it sure would be easier to remember how everything fit together. THIS IS THE BRAKE SYSTEM WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE. DO NOT CUT CORNERS, SCRIMP ON QUALITY, OR COMPROMISE ON SAFETY. YOU CAN KILL YOURSELF AND OTHERS BY SCREWING UP. COMPRENDE, PARTNER? The reference books I used were: Haynes Ford Pickups & Broncos, 1973 thru 1979 (manual #788) Haynes North America, Inc. 861 Lawrence Drive Newbury Park, CA 91320 MOOG Chassis Master Catalog Catalog #F3834B January, 1995 'Borrowed' from a machine shop The Tool List All the sockets, pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers, vise grips, hammers, chisels, and any other kinds of tools you can buy, beg, borrow, steal, imagine, or whatever. All kidding aside, I have a 'average' toolbox, certainly nothing exotic. The only unusual tool required for this project is a socket to remove the camber/caster nut from the upper ball joints. The socket looks like a castle with four turrets, or a miniature front hub spindle nut socket. I think it is a 5/8 size. You can check this yourself when you order new ball joints; you are going to get new B/Js, aren't you? The ones you have now are probably 25 years old. A 12-18 inch prybar with a square head for sockets will help get the old bolts and nuts loose. A can of quality spray lubricant will also help. Good quality spraypaint for the new parts. I used Ford engine blue color, with a few coats of clear for protection. You are putting a lot of time and effort into this job, might as well make it look good. The Parts List Have a little patience here-I tried to have an order to this, but it might not make sense to you. The Donor F150 I bought a donor Dana 44 front axle from a junkyard for $75. Of course, your price will vary. The years that will work are from '76-79. You might be able to buy just the parts actually needed to keep the price down. Here's what is needed (two of everything, of course): Steering Knuckle Disc Brake Rotor Caliper Anchor Plate (this is what holds the caliper in place) Spindle Shaft (this is what the anchor plate and dust shield bolts to) Outer Axle Shaft (the short piece that fits inside the spindle) Dust Shield (optional, I didn't use one, but it is standard from the factory) Wheel Hub Assembly (with all the guts inside, bolts to the Rotor) Parts To Buy New I bought these parts new; the old ones from both the F150 and my EB were, well, old. I didn't want to go thru all this work, only to have to tear it apart in the future to replace a bad ball joint or seal. You probably won't want to either. Again, double the order: Ball Joints (these hold the steering knuckle to the axle housing) Flex Brake Lines (just smart to replace these) Caliper Rebuild Kit (absolutely required) Brake Pads (save the old ones to use for the core deposit) Inner Wheel Bearings (just do it-you'll be proud of yourself) IWB Seals (keeps dirt and water out, grease in) Outer Wheel Bearings (see #5) OWB Seals (ditto #6) Axle Shaft U Joint (connects the inner and outer axle shafts together) Plenty Of Brake Fluid (four+ quarts) Brake Cleaner Spraycans (again, at least four-return what you don't use) Optional Master cylinder (hey, might as well, you're changing everything else) Steel brake lines (see above) New Proportioning Valve (the one you have is 25+ years, remember?) Tip #1. Don't throw any parts away, not one screw, nothing!, until one week has passed from the date of completion. If I followed this rule like I should, a few of problems I have had in life would not occur. You never know what you might need. Tip #1a. If you can, don't throw any parts away ever! Getting Started Like with any job, the better the prep, the better the results. By this I mean that if you get everything ready to go before you start tearing your EB apart, you'll have less hassles getting it back together, and get it done in less time. The F150 Parts Completely disassemble the doner F150 parts, down to the last nut and bolt. Use the Haynes book as a guide. Everything needs to be cleaned, inspected, rebuilt or repaired (as needed), painted, and laid out for reassembly. Steering Knuckles You'll need that special socket to remove the upper ball joints, then use a hammer to loosen the S/K from the lower B/J. Lightly tap, then rap, then pound away to get it off. Rotors And Calipers Take the rotors to a brake shop to get inspected, and if it passes, grinded (turned) down to smooth. Have them also inspect the calipers, and then hone the bore smooth. I sanded the outside of the calipers, then painted. Anchor Plates These I sanded to remove rust, then painted. Spindle Shaft And Outer Axle Shaft These went to a machine shop to be inspected and all threads retapped. Dust Shield Sand and paint (with aluminum colored paint, just for looks) Wheel Hub Assembly Take apart. You should use the socket designed for this, not a hammer and screwdriver. The socket costs maybe $10, any auto parts shop. Get it! Tip #2. Practice putting this assembly together and taking apart a few times, it makes it much easier. The New Parts Inspect these for any damage-you never know. Ball Joints These will be pressed into the Steering Knuckles. I had a machine shop do it. Imagine how they fit, and what sections will be exposed to view. Paint those areas. Big Tip #3. The bottom of the B/Js have a small hole, probably covered with plastic caps, for a grease fitting. Before you do any further assembly, carefully thread in the grease fittings to make some nice grooves in the small hole. Once the whole brake conversion is complete, the only way to relube the upper B/J is with a 'temporary' grease fitting. The Axle Shaft U Joint will not rotate with the upper B/J grease fitting installed. Note: I didn't do this, and now I can't relube the upper B/Js. Flexible Brake Lines (three pieces) These go from the outer ends of the axle to the calipers. Steel braided would be nice, but not required. Another Flex Brake Line goes from the P/V to the axle. Caliper Rebuild Kit I did this myself, be careful not to rip the rubber seals. Brake Pads I think OEM is semi-metallic, buy the best you can, and don't touch the pad part! Inner & Outer Wheel Bearings These need to be packed with grease; any shop can do it quick and cheap. Seals Be careful with these, the rubber tears easily. Axle Shaft U Joint Installed myself, just be careful. Brake Fluid And Cleaner Use quality name-brand stuff. Don't get cheap! Master Cylinder Rebuilt unit is fine. Painted. Steel Brake Lines These go from the M/C to the proportioning valve, and also along the axle housing from the 'pumpkin' to the flexible brake lines. Originally, my EB came with flex lines from the M/C to the P/V, but I substituted steel lines. I used a soup can to make two twists in the lines, for body/frame flex. Stainless steel sure would look better, don't you think? Proportioning Valve This controls the flow of brake fluid front to back, with more pressure going to the front brakes. The one I have is copper, so I buffed it up and painted with clear coats. Shines real nice. The Conversion Have a clean work area, covered, good lights, etc... Do one side at a time. Take your time. Have fun. (Well, try anyway.) Use stands, not jacks, to support the EB. Block all other wheels. Think Safe! The drum hubs should disassemble about the same as the F150. Follow the Haynes step-by-step. The whole axle will also be pulled out, so the U Joint between the two axle halves can be replaced. After replacing the Axle Shaft U Joint, the whole axle can be reinserted into the axle housing. Be careful when moving the Axle Shaft in and out, you can damage the seal that's way inside the axle housing, near the R-n-G. Now it's just a matter of installing the Ball Joints, and assembling the F150 parts onto the axle. Tip #4. You can use the best of the hub guts parts from either the F150 or EB. I mixed and matched the components to get the items that were in the best shape. The only thing I remember being different between the F150 and EB hub guts is the cone-shaped spring that fits inside the hub. The F150 one was a little larger, so that's the one I used. Find the torque numbers in the front of the Haynes, and use them. For everything else, make it tight. When you are done with one side, move on to the other. Before you move on to the other, take some time and think about the job you just did. Everything tight? Are you sure? You better be. The Steering Setup One thing that is different between the F150 and the EB is on the Steering Knuckle. On the Steering Knuckle is an 'arm' that extends out, and has a small hole in it. The diameter of the tie rod stud that goes thru the hole is larger on the F150, so your EB tie rod will fit loosely. You will need to modify the EB tie rod to get the right fit. If you don't, you are taking the risk of having the stud break, thus killing you and your family/friends. It's actually simple to do, I hope I can explain it. The passenger side of the EB tie rod is short (about 5.2 inches), and held in place by a sleeve with two nuts and bolts. This tie rod is easily replaced with the F150 tie rod. The F150 tie rod that replaces it is about 4.75 inches. This approx. 1/2-inch difference should be no problem. The EB driver's side tie rod is a little harder to fix. Here you will need to have the EB tie rod cut and threaded, to fit another F150 short tie rod. Another sleeve gets installed on the driver's side. Any plumbing company should be able to do this job. Note: the threads that are put on the driver's side will need to be 'reverse cut' so that the new sleeve will screw on. Basically, the new 'modified' tie rod will look like a mirror image of itself, with a short tie rod and sleeve near each tire. Why go thru all this trouble? Well, the stock EB drag link must remain in the proper orientation to the tie rod. I mean, the EB's tie rod has a hole in it for the stock drag link to fit, so you certainly would want to keep this section of the EB's tie rod. By using the EB tie rod, just cutting it on the driver's side, will allow you to keep the turning characteristics of your EB the same (or close). The F150 tie rod part number to use is the same for the passenger and driver side. My MOOG catalog shows tierod part #ES2064L. That's correct, you're using two left-side tierods, one goes on the passenger side, the other on the driver's side. Wherever you get your parts from, be sure to order two left-side tierods for a '78-'79 F150. This is the only tie rod that is 1 inch thick; the '76-'77 tierod is .875 inches, and it won't screw into the sleeves. Tip #5. Paint the tierods after you get back from the alignment shop. The workers there will use big vise grips and pliers to adjust the steering, and they are going to destroy any nice paint job. I painted mine red, with many coats of clear to help stop rock damage. Finishing The Job Now all that's needed to be done is a recheck of all fittings, and a simple brake bleed. I always have to do the bleed procedure 2 or 3 times before I'm convinced it's right. Use the procedure in Haynes. Also, you'll need to recenter the proportioning valve to get the red (or white) light on your dash to go out. Use Haynes. And find a friend to help. You will need to take your finished EB to an alignment shop, since the F150 steering knuckles are now a little further apart, and your tires are probably pointed inwards toward each other. I just ball-parked the alignment myself, and slowly drove to the shop; only 2 miles. One other thing I noticed after the job was done, the turning radius of my EB was a little bigger than before. Turns out the F150 steering stop bolts were set (and welded) to give a wider turning circle. It's a small price to pay to have front disc brakes. That's It I hope I didn't make too many mistakes, and this is understandable. I suggest reading thru this a few times, and compare what I've said with what Haynes has. If you have any getting thru this, let me, I'll give all the help I can. Lots of Luck! Address questions or comments to: randl@aloha.net"