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1989 Ranger Drum Brakes to Disc


Joined
Nov 18, 2025
Messages
3
Points
1
City
Kalamazoo
State - Country
MI - USA
Other
I have an 89 ford ranger. Just here mostly to get tricks and tips about fixing her up. She's my daily but not reliable haha
Vehicle Year
1989
Vehicle
Ford Ranger
Drive
2WD
Engine
2.9 V6
Transmission
Manual
Total Lift
Stock
Total Drop
Stock
Tire Size
215/70 r14
Does anybody know of any kits that I could buy to convert my rear drum brakes to disc brakes? How does the sort of conversion go? Do I need to buy one specifically for the ranger or would a "universal" kit work (with a matching hub)
 
I’ve been looking at the same thing for my 88. There are several direct bolt on kits/upgrades available on line and they look like a fairly easy upgrade. I am going to call one of the ones offering these kits as I have read that you need to possibly replace your master cylinder/ proportioning valve as the ratio changes when going drum to disc. There have been a number of folks that have done junk yard repurposing of mustang and others but I personally like the bolt on kits and starting a new install to make sure it as good an install as possible and maybe have warranty benefits as well. I don’t want to make a mistake with brakes for sure. Thanks, Bob
 
imho the Ford parts from the Mustang are better than any 3rd party kit that exists for these. You can always buy new calipers (which I did) to make sure that the parts function correctly.

The 94-04 Mustang rear brake parts work on the 28 spline axle trucks. The Ford Racing kit for the 9" axle also works on the 31 spline axle trucks and it uses the rear brake parts from the 05-09 Mustang.
 
Hey Rubydist,
I had the same thoughts as yourself so when I started researching this, I came to see that the manufacturers (SSBC-USA, Wilwood, PowerStop, and Brake Performance) of these are building high end products for race/track cars mostly. It appears like they just filled in a niche and provide everything needed to do bolt on swap rather than having to do any fabrication. It was different than my original thought when I really did some research. BTW-saw where you had a 89 Mark LSC-I had an 87 which I gave to my wife to drive when I got my 88 Ranger. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
 
@quinoacowboy
If I were to switch to rear disc on a 1st or 2nd gen RBV, I would use the entire 8.8"rear end from a 95+ Explorer with rear disc brakes; it comes with the 31 spline axles, all Ford components, about as simple as it gets.
 
IDK anything about kits, but there is a method for using Mustang rear discs on the Ranger axle:

The
IDK anything about kits, but there is a method for using Mustang rear discs on the Ranger axle:

That right up never mentions anything about any proportioning valves. I'm assuming it's not needed?
 
Hey Rubydist,
I had the same thoughts as yourself so when I started researching this, I came to see that the manufacturers (SSBC-USA, Wilwood, PowerStop, and Brake Performance) of these are building high end products for race/track cars mostly. It appears like they just filled in a niche and provide everything needed to do bolt on swap rather than having to do any fabrication. It was different than my original thought when I really did some research. BTW-saw where you had a 89 Mark LSC-I had an 87 which I gave to my wife to drive when I got my 88 Ranger. Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Then by all means, show us the kits that these companies offer.

Yeah, only the SSBC right, and you got lucky there. Pulled that info out your backside. Neither Wilwood nor Powerstop offer rear disc brake conversion kits for the Ranger. They may offer some universal disc conversion kits that can be adapted to it, but they aren't a bolt on swap for the Ranger axle as stated. For that matter neither is the SSBC, since you have to drain the rear axle and pull the axle shafts according to the instructions.

Have I got some news for you. The SSBC kit is the same swap basic outlined in the tech library. SSCB uses the same calipers and rotors. They modified the Mustang axle brackets so they could be bolted to the outer face of the axle flange, but that requires pulling the axles to install them, where cutting as shown in tech article doesn't. Similar brackets are available from elsewhere that do the same thing (one mentioned in the article). Then they added some additional bits, pieces, and steps to the process along with a little paint to dress it up.

You could do the kit mentioned in the article for less than half of the SSBC kit. Price only goes up slightly if you use the other style brackets instead of cutting them.

"Brake Performance" damn sure doesn't make any kits, and I'd highly question the "building high end products" claim for them. Looks more like another reseller of cheap chinese products with their badging slapped on and extra money spent in the marketing department. The fact that you buried a link to them (or a google search for them) in there makes me question your motives and if your another spam bot account that is trying to hide. I don't like discouraging the new guy, but I like scammers and shills even less.
 
I didn’t pull anything out of my backside, Only off different websites and the Ranger station posts. I read some articles (one of them yours) discussing the subject and googling up drum to disc conversion. I can assure I’m not a bot. My point being there are different options out there. I’ve only just started looking at it, and that is what I found and saw by looking on the internet. I would certainly talk to providers of the products and do further research before I would spend my money. Interestingly enough, I enjoyed your post on 05/04/2024 discussing some of this. Have a good day sir.
 
I didn’t pull anything out of my backside, Only off different websites and the Ranger station posts. I read some articles (one of them yours) discussing the subject and googling up drum to disc conversion. I can assure I’m not a bot.

Don't think I said you were a bot, pretty certain I said scammer or shill. I'll be happy to be wrong about that. We've certainly had problems with them in the past and one of their moves was to sneak bogus or questionable links into their posts. Sometimes they have no link or a legitimate link in the original version of the post then replace it later with the questionable link.

My point being there are different options out there.

My point being that there aren't. It's the Mustang brake swap or something based on the Mustang brake swap.

SSBC is the Mustang disc swap with extra parts. While Wilwood offers drum to disc conversions, it doesn't offer a conversion kit for the Ranger axle. PowerStop doesn't offer conversion kits, they do upgraded components for stock brakes and maybe big brake kits for some vehicles. I'm going to ignore the other company, made my opinion about them clear in the last post.

Posts like that saying that they are available from these companies are just going to cause people coming here to ask about them because a post said that they were available. If you've found something else that we don't know about, please share it and post links to the product or an article/thread discussing it. If it is some place like Facebook a screen shot would be nice because everyone can't see stuff due to how its setup.

Hell, if you find something, create a new thread about it so we can have a full blown discussion and give it the consideration it disserves. I like hearing about and discussing new products for these even if I'm not going to use it myself.

To be clear, I'm not against the Mustang swap. I'm more likely to swap in an Explorer axle, because I prefer the drum parking brake for a truck, the other perks of that axle, and I have a couple of them lying around. The most likely way I'd do the Mustang swap is if I built a drift truck, and it wouldn't quite be per the article because I'd run a dual caliper setup in the rear. one for regular brake and the other for hand brake. I'm more likely to pick up a 4.0L manual Mustang to do that with. Install a Moddbox supercharger kit, thrash it, then when it's hit the walls a few too many times it'll be parts for Ranger based projects. (Transmission for a 2.8L based project, engine rebuilt and dropped in Mom's (formerly dad's) 2002 with the moddbox.)

I’ve only just started looking at it, and that is what I found and saw by looking on the internet. I would certainly talk to providers of the products and do further research before I would spend my money. Interestingly enough, I enjoyed your post on 05/04/2024 discussing some of this. Have a good day sir.

Verify that what you are finding isn't for the newer 2019+ Rangers, because more companies do offer stuff for those and it still turns up when searching for the older Rangers.

In that post replying to a thread where someone asked about the SSCB kit, I said basically the same thing as above about the conversion. It's a packaged Mustang brake swap kit with extra parts.

Now once you convert to the Mustang brake setup, you can use any brake kit meant to bolt in place of the factory brakes those, but you have to have the bones (primarily the mounting plate) of the conversion first. I may have said something along those lines. I've definitely said something along those lines regarding the front brake upgrades on the TIB 2wd trucks.
 
My Ranger I ordered and bought new in July 1988. I am trying to research all I can so I make good decisions as I restore the truck. I only know what I have read so far and don’t have the answers to questions yet, but hopefully will. I have spent my career in the communications/technology field so I’m always looking to get the most info to make good decisions. I think some of the brake kits are indeed USA made,(Little Mfg. maybe?) as I am not a fan of much in the way of Chinese junk myself. I do a lot of reading at night and haven’t had a chance to make calls and actually speak with some folks to ask some deeper questions. I would rather gain knowledge talking to folks when possible. My point was and is there are lots of options to investigate that MAY BE viable, but I don’t know yet. So I appreciate yours and others input. Something else I am looking at since my truck has been sitting up for a while if you have any advice is I am redoing the cooling system, radiator, water pump, thermostat, and heater core, & cooling temp sensor. All of these are original so I figure now is the time. I’ve never had it run hot and the motor has not been cracked open since I’ve had it. It has about 175k on it. I always changed oil about the 3000 mile mark and am going to go full synthetic Valvoline restore and protect 5w30. I plan on draining, fill, run to heat cycle, drain and repeat a couple times to get any deposits and sludge out before I really start to drive it much. If you have any input, I would appreciate it very much. I have read this forum a few times but decided to join to gain knowledge so I would and do appreciate any that may help to that end. Thanks, Bob
 

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