Front Dana 44: Big Brakes?

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Root Moose

Guest
I have a MY78 Ford F250 "camper special" housing (i.e. leaf sprung with thick tubes) and some machined Chevy flat top knuckles that I want to build an axle around. I want to end up with a 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern.

What are the options for brakes for a set up like this? I don't mind going the "expensive" route to get the biggest brakes possible but would prefer to keep it OEM style parts (i.e. no aftermarket calipers; only OEM factory stuff that NAPA/UAP can order in).

Is there a way to get...
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dwcjwerfner

dwcjwerfner

Well-known member
Club Member
Do the Chev knuckles have 6-bolts for the spindle to bolt onto? If so then you have to put 6 bolt spindles on them IIRC.
I know Scott was able to "modify" a HD Ford knuckle to make it flat top and fit his half-ton brakes. And I believe it came off a 8-bolt knuckle but the I believe that if you want to have the dual piston brakes you need the big rotors which are 8-bolt.

Dwayne
 
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mucovich

mucovich

Till Valhalla!
Dwayne is correct - i built the same axle although i used the stock ford flat top on one side and a reid one on the other which meant i could use the stock 1/2 ton calipers. If i'm not mistaken, the 3/4 ton dual calipers will not clear 15" rims (think i read that somewhere).

The ford dual pistons will only work with the 3/4 ton knucles, i did look into trying to put them on the 1/2 ton knuckles i had but they wouldn't fit - Scott did modify his so that they would which meant he had to grind some of the steel out of the knuckle

I think if you are using the chevy knuckles you might as well use the chevy calipers
 
Baja

Baja

Well-known member
Even after modifying my knuckles i could still only run 1/2 ton brakes. To run 3/4 ton brakes you need 3/4 ton rotors which means 8 bolt stuff. I only modified them so I could run flat tops for highsteer and keep the 5 on 5 1/2 bolt pattern to match my rear.
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
Thanks guys. This all clears up a lot of the hearsay I had been reading online.

When I started collecting parts the axle was meant for the YJ. It is the Ford housing, flat top machined Chevy knuckles redrilled for Scout II outer spindle and hub assemblies (ends up with a ~63.5" wide axle without any cutting of the housing or custom shafts). The single piston Scout calipers would be massively good enough for the YJ.

Thing is, now I've abandoned the YJ project since my frame turned out to be rusted (sitting on a concrete slab for 5+ years let it rust). I was thinking about putting this axle on the MJ this winter.

I've gotten spoiled by the twin piston calipers on the XJ (WJ parts) so I was hoping to replicate a similar setup on the Dana 44. The XJ and MJ both will be used for hauling a car trailer (~5k lbs total) so I wanted to put the best brakes possible on it. I wanted to build the 44 versus the 30 not for the strength but for the lock out hubs. My XJ is so quiet when the hubs are unlocked... If I end up towing the car to the SCCA U.S. Nationals next year the lack of noise will make the drive more enjoyable. I wanted to replicate locking hubs without buying non-OEM parts (the WARN kit is excellent - just a little custom).

Has anyone ever heard of a big brake kit for a FS Ford Bronco? I guess I should investigate that before completely giving up on the 44 for the MJ and building another hybrid WJ/XJ axle. I'm not against swapping out the Chev knuckles - it's not like they won't get used farther down the road.

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking/rambling about. Maybe there is a better approach I'm not considering?
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
Oh, and for the record, I admit freely that this is as much a desire to get some "hidden engineering bling" on the axle as anything. :)
 
Baja

Baja

Well-known member
One thing to remember is that that Camper Special axle is 1.5 inches longer on the long side then a regular f150/bronco axle (same as f250 axle). So when you are doing your width measurments and ordering shafts you have to remember that.
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
Ack! I did not know that! So I may be at 65.5" any way.
 
Baja

Baja

Well-known member
with my F250 housing (same as camper special) and knuckles, f150 spindles and brakes I am almost 68" wms-wms
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
The only big brake upgrade I've been able to find for the F150/Bronco axle is upgrading the calipers to Thunderbird units. Externally they are the same dimensions as the F series calipers but the piston bore is larger. Meh.
 
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