rear discs FYI For those of you who are interested, I ran across a rear for a later explorer with rear discs, and the brakes basically bolted onto the maverick 8" rear end. There were only 2 big problems, one of which I have solved the other I'm working on but it's nothing big. The lower caliper bolt is too long and hits the leaf spring, but I just cut about 1/2" off of the collar, and about the same off of the bolt and now there's about 1/4" clearance. You have to unbolt the rear to remove the caliper, but it's not that hard to do with leaf springs. The other problem is that the exploder caliper bracket is thicker than the old drum brake backing plate, which means when you tighten the axle bearing retainer, the axle can move back and forth in the housing about 1/8" or so....and it "could" theoretically push the piston back in the caliper bore, and lose brake effectiveness temporarily. Other than that, I had to grind out the center of the caliper bracket (just to remove the factory powder coating) so the axle bearing would slide through, but that's about it. The rotors are 11.25" diameter and are designed for stopping a 4000 lb Exploder so they outta work well on a light maverick. Probably about as close as you'll come to a direct bolt-on rear disc brake other than that from a Versailles (which is nonexistant around here...heck I've never even seen one!) Just some info I thought I'd share, FWIW.
That's awesome! Let us know when you figure out the solution to the other problem. Around what year Explorer did you grab the brakes off of? Also what did you do about the emergency brake cable? Thanks! -Corbin P.S. For anyone to do this swap, you mentioned that you would have to unbolt the rear to get the caliper off, well, wouldn't this cause a slight change in alignment for the rear when you bolt it back down, or is there something I am missing. I like the idea of this swap! Keep that info comin'! Do you have any close up pics of the discs and the caliper clearance issue you spoke of? Thanks.
rear discs Ford Motorsport rear discs package (2300G, I believe) are no more than 1996 Explorer rear brakes with a machined adaptor ring to fit 9" Torino housing ends(big bearing) or 8.8" late model (read Mustang or Ranger). That package is about $400. So it looks like when you get it worked out, you will have saved about 4 large
What master cylinder will you use for 4-wheel discs? Drum brake master cylinders have residual pressure valves that keep about 10 - 15 psi pressure in the lines so that the wheel cylinders stay sealed. Disc brakes don't require this and often drag when used with drum master cylinders.
Explorer 8.8 Has anyone contemplated or completed a swap of an Explorer 8.8 rearend? I am contemplating it based on: 1. The inability to find a 9" that does not require narrowing 2. Factory discs 3. The report strength of and 8.8 over an 8" 4. Similar factory width (8.8 is approx 1 3/4" wider than the stock 8") Any input? Thanks
I put the Explorer disc brake setup on my Mav. Used a 9" rear. I for now am using the stock master cylinder ( its still the original) . I will be changing to possibly a later model Mustang master cylinder this winter. Having 4 wheel disc brakes is certainly one of the best mods I have done to the car. Dan
My 76 Mav has manual front disk, rear drum set up. I have a 79 Versailles 9" rear with the disk brake set up on it that I plan to install. I thought I could use an adjustable prop. valve for the rear brakes and use the stock master cyl. After reading the page Thomas posted, the original master will not work. Where would I find a manual 4 wheel disk brake master? Any other ideas would be great.
I put brakes on my daughter's 98 Explorer awhile back and took these measurements. 59 3/8" mounting surface to mounting surface and 39 1/8" center to center on the perches. To refresh, a stock 8" is 56 1/4" surface to suface and 42 3/4" center to center on the spring perches.
I merged the Explorer rear disk thread with this one and will eventually merge this thread with the Explorer thread in the Usefull Topics forum.
What is being done for E brake operation if it matters? The axles move in and out a small amount so the calipers have to move with them and not have a lot of pad pressure against the rotors. In the 8.8 rears the axles move much more than in an 8 by design. My Lincoln design is an 8.8 and is set up with pad clearence and never rides the discs when unapplied for two reasons. Axle movement and E brake requirements.
More Rear Disc Options Am helping youngest son build a drag only 86 Stang. After narrowing a 9in for him he was going to use the original drum brakes but a friend of mine at a parts store said he would sell a complete set up with hoses and pads for a little more than 120.00. This is all new parts, calipers, rotors and all. Only need to get two caliper brackets from DayMotorsports in Texas, 9.99 each. Being on a limited budget I says, man I will take it, come to find out the rotors and calipers are off a Cheby S-10 four wheel drive with 4 3/4 bolt circle. Since axles have to be made no biggy but after looking at the rotors could be drilled quite easily for the Ford 4 1/2 pattern. He also had a set of brackets for his car and I drew a pattern and made them myself out of 1/4in plate. Have not gotten them installed but will fill all in when I do. No E brake setup but in this case don't need it.
Hey Ken the explorer uses a drum set up in the middle of the rotor for the E-brake like the old corvetts.
