I have a ford 8" on my 47 used the thread on here to convert it to crown vic 8.8" disc brakes. I got all the parts from a late 90s junkyard crown vic. So like the title says when I tighten up the lug nuts I can't turn the wheel. Could it be that the old calipers are causing things to bind up?
Sounds like wheels are locking against the calipers or pushing the calipers tight against the brake disc. Tighten up the wheel then slide your hand in around the inside of the wheel and see if you can feel where it's binding. Also another trick, just tighten wheels until they just turn. Turn them several times, pull the wheels off and look for rub marks on the wheels and calipers etc... ...
What’s the fascination with having rear disc brakes? I mean, how much braking does the rear really do? “If it isn’t broken don’t”…
-A lot easier to find crown vic brake parts - the wheels are from a 70s t bird that had disc brakes. I think I have some 80s-90s wheels somewhere I'll see what happens if I swap those out
Can you supply a link to the HAMB post that you used to do this? All of these I've seen use Explorer rear discs, not Crown Vics...
Yuppers the wheel is most likely catching on the caliper. Back in the 70's when cars were showing up with front disk It was the norm rather than the exception to have to use disk brake spacers https://www.autozone.com/tire-repai...oi186XUgH6-v28fxTsBoCA3AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds like these that were about 1/4 inch thick to space the wheels out enough to clear the caliper and then sometimes needed to grind on the caliper a bit on the corners. What I'd do first but do not drive the damned thing that way is stack 1/4 inch of flat washers around each stud and bolt the wheel on to make sure that is the issue.
This is the link https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/disc-swap-to-ford-small-bearing-9-or-8-rear-ends.358587/
remove the wheel and put a few washers on the studs on top of the disk and then tighten just the lugs so the disk is tight to the axle and see if it spins with out the rim on . Did you back off the pistons in the caliper with a tool ? As in the parking brake is built into the caliper ? I went through some of this on a 96 mustang with a 8.8. if the wheel is not hitting then then start looking at the caliper and such . also a bent axle can a cause these issues when the wheel is tightened. I know you said your doing a conversion and I assume its not bent before you started .
Instead of asking you should investigate. Put the wheel on loosely and rotate it. Slowly but evenly tighten the lug nits until you start to feel a problem as the wheel is rotated. Turn it a few times then take it off. There should be marks where something is fouling. If no marks, use washers as spacers and tighten the disk brake face to the hub with no wheel. Does it turn then? You need to investigate and tell us what you found.
Four wheel disc brakes may not be traditional, or necessary, but there are far more 8.8" rear axles with disc brakes on them at the wrecking yards with lower mileage than drum 8.8" axles. So it's often a better choice if you're swapping an 8.8" axle into your hotrod to get one already setup for disc brakes. I think I've used up the inventory of drum type 8.8" Ford axles at my local Pick N Pull that are 3.73 posi, and any left are too high mileage to want. I wouldn't swap to disc brakes, but if the donor has them and is better than one with drums I'm going with the disc brake unit.
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