Has anybody put disc brakes on a large ford truck? I have a 36 1.5 ton ford in the shop and the owner wants disc brakes and the original I beam. Anybody on here put brakes on one of these? The axle is larger than the smaller fords with the kingpin end being 2 3/4 inches as opposed to the smaller fords with at 2.5 inches. Any help is appreciated.
What is the actual GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) you are shooting for? Determining the axle weight rating will help you to determine what donor vehicle to start hunting for. I am going through a similar process with a 1960 Ford C700 that will start getting built shortly. I am targeting 7K steer and 15K drive axle GAWR's. This truck originally had Dayton style split rims with drum brakes that there are 0 parts available for. I want to upgrade it to a Budd style wheel and disc brakes. It turns out the 90's and early 00's Navistar 4300 is a perfect match for what I was looking for. Hydraulic Disc brakes, 10 lug hubs, with the axle ratings I need. I found a complete steer and drive axle at a local salvage yard and will swap them out. If you don't want to swap the entire axle, you may have to get a bit more creative. I am guessing modern F350 / 3500 disc brakes would be ideal, but again, without knowing the GAWR, that is a total guess. You will have to measure the spindles and bearings to see if they could possibly be made to work. You may also end up having to build a bracket to support the caliper. Most Medium Duty and Heavy Duty truck parts are standardized. I.E. spindle dimensions and types, etc, so once you figure out what you need, most wheel end parts are very similar whether it is a Ford F550, Navistar 4300, Freightliner M2, or similar.
This is a question for the off topic forum. However, a mid 70s Dodge motorhome has the same large 5 lug bolt pattern. Modifying a rotor from one of those could keep the original wheels. Modern front axles are much wider than what’s on the truck plus has parallel leafs instead of a transverse spring Plus those motorhomes have 19.5 one piece wheels.
Pete Eastwood did F350 disc brakes on a 34 BB truck. Didn’t give much details but said it was easy. Pete still comes on here on occasion. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/late-1920s-sprint-car.864309/page-5
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1098148-disks-on-a-41-1-1-2-ton-any-info-appreciated.html This talks about using ford 8 lug spindles on the old straight axle. If your customers 36 still has mechanical brakes, you can swap over hydraulic brakes from a 40(I think) up to 47 1.5 ton truck
Truck is now in the shop and it has what looks like 1975 ford F-250 front disc brakes on it. They were on with the steering arms out front. I swapped them around to get correct geometry and it looks like I will have to seat the arms and bend them up so the tie rod does not hit the wishbone. Camber is way off but I talked to Sid and he said he could get the axle with the newer discs back to factory +1/4-1 camber.
@olskool34 if/when you get it all sorted, which it looks like you are most of the way there, please provide part #s and application so others can follow. Will the caliper bracket end up inside or outside the spindle flange?
The caliper bracket bolts on the inner side of the spindle flange. As I get it all sorted I will let you guys know part numbers and all that was involved.
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