I have been playing around with an ideal to swap my rear brakes (factory drums from a Maverick 8") for some time now, just didn't want to pay the price. So I started measuring and figuring. Found that the rear disks from a 93 - 95 Gran Marq or LTD where $22 bucks each from AutoZone. Then I found that the rear calipers from a 90's Chevy Lumina fit the requirements. Two slightly used calipers from EBay $40 including shipping. I made the mounts from 3/8" flat aluminum. I thought about steel but really didn't see a need. Most of the after-market kits use 1/4 steel with a washer welded on for extra threads. I drilled and tapped the caliper holes for heli-coils for added thread protection. Since the caliper bolts are in a single shear arangement, the aluminum should work fine. The mounts bolt in-place of the original outer axle bearing retainers, had to do a small amount of machine work to get them correct. Worse part of the entire deal was having to press the old bearings off and put the mounts between the hub and new bearings and press the bearings back on. As you can see from the 2 pics, looks right, 11.125 disks, and the original e-brake cables worked out by moving the rear cable clamps about 1" back to allow more room. Factory torque specs for the calipers are 45 lbs. I torqued the bolts to 65 lbs (150%) without problems, I backed back down to 45 lbs after the test, but the aluminum seems to be working. The long and short of it, rear disk setup for about $100.
Question for the group. What master cylinder do the guys and gals running 4 wheel disk use? I'm thinking Explorer:
Question for the group. What master cylinder do the guys and gals running 4 wheel disk use? I'm thinking Explorer: