disk brakes on a 7.5 axle?

[84brittranger]

can u put disk brakes on a 7.5 axle??

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

yes....you can convert to 95-04 mustang rear brakes on it. You can even upgrade to Cobra brakes too.

All you'd need is the caliper brackets, anti-moan brackets, rotors, calipers, and backing plates/dust shields.


And I know someone will mention this....NO. You cannot run Explorer rear discs on it. Stang brakes are WAY better than explorers too. They are vented(not slotted like performance brakes) but they have vents between both friction surfaces, just like your front brakes now. Plus, the ebrake is wAY easier to deal with compared to the explorer design.

 

[AllanD]

yes....you can convert to 95-04 mustang rear brakes on it. You can even upgrade to Cobra brakes too.

All you'd need is the caliper brackets, anti-moan brackets, rotors, calipers, and backing plates/dust shields.


And I know someone will mention this....NO. You cannot run Explorer rear discs on it. Stang brakes are WAY better than explorers too. They are vented(not slotted like performance brakes) but they have vents between both friction surfaces, just like your front brakes now. Plus, the ebrake is wAY easier to deal with compared to the explorer design.

The Superiority of the explorer brakes lies not in the ventilation but from the divorced parking brake (located inside the "hat")

The ventilation is nice, in theory anyway, but the reality is the main improvement in putting discs on a Ranger's rear axle is by eliminating the troublesome (often non-functional) drum brake's self-adjuster

If you keep the drums adjusted you'll never see an improvement...
Unless you are trying to compete with the NASCAR cars at Sears Point or Watkins Glen.

For REAR brakes to really improve stopping presumes (falsely) that brakes stop your vehicle.

Brakes don't stop your vehicle, they stop the wheels from rotating.
Stopping the wheels stops the tires, the Tires stop the truck, the problem is you can apply only so much braking force before the tires start to slide.

And with the lack of weight over the rear axle...
Unless you are rolling heavily loaded...

OH, and BTW, the mustang brakes are NOT a direct bolt-on.

The SN94 Mustang axle shafts protrude further from the axle tubes
than on Rangers (the wheel mounting flange on the axle and the brake mounting flange on the tubes are spaced further apart)

so last I checked there are some required modifications to the bracket to make it all fit.

AD

 

[84brittranger]

oh ok..thanks guys

 

[RangerSVT]

I'm pretty sure its not 100% bolt in, but the rear brakes on crown vics and grand marquis are easier and cheaper to find, and are close if not identical to the sn95 brakes
SVT

 

[Fx4wannabe01]

OK...stang brakes require cutting the mounting bracket on the axle....the stang bracket that is. That's cured by a grinder with a cut-off wheel. Other than that it's a direct bolt on to a 28 spline axle.

Here's my little brothers current little project....8.8 upgrade + Cobra discs...

Showing the cut that's needed....you mount the bracket on the BACKSIDE of the axle brake flange...

 

[AllanD]

I'm pretty sure its not 100% bolt in, but the rear brakes on crown vics and grand marquis are easier and cheaper to find, and are close if not identical to the sn95 brakes
SVT

The Crown Vic Brakes are essentialy identical to the Explorer brakes, even to the backing plate bolt pattern

The only things different about the Vic setup are that BOTH backing plates are identical, the parking brake cable routs to the REAR on the right side
so on the right the caliper "leads" and on the driver side it "Trails"

Basically it's two left side Explorer backing plates with a different dust shield.

Even though the Vic's use 28-spline axle shafts they have the larger outer backing plate mount flange on the axle tubes.

Believe me, I tried to use Vic backing plates
on my 7.5" years ago... No-Go.

AD

 

[RangerSVT]

Thanks AllanD, I stand corrected
SVT

 

[84brittranger]

thanks guys

 

[li7in6]

OK...stang brakes require cutting the mounting bracket on the axle....the stang bracket that is. That's cured by a grinder with a cut-off wheel. Other than that it's a direct bolt on to a 28 spline axle.

Here's my little brothers current little project....8.8 upgrade + Cobra discs...

Is there a write up on this sort of swap? Also, you said its the cobra setup on an 8.8, how does that U bolt setup translate to a 7.5 and its smaller axle tube diameter? Did the cobra use the 8.8 and the reg. mustang use the 7.5 thus making the reg. mustang brakes a relative easy swap on a 7.5 ranger? do hydraulic lines line up and everything, looks like they come into the calipers at an angle, do the stock ranger lines have enough slack to bend+hook to these calipers?

 

[zekew64]

Okay. I'm going to apologize first off, as I know the most recent post on this thread is from '09.

But anyways.

First of all, li7in6, the 7.5 and 8.8 axles, from everything I've read, are the same diameter--the difference lies in the ring gear, which, on the 8.8, is bigger.

Second, the U-bolt setup is the same--it will bolt up. However, you want to use the GT setup from '94 to '04 Mustangs; the setups for that decade of Mustang was all the same. The only thing you might need to do is weld the brake line "ears" (where the hard line meets the soft line) on the axle tube. Also, you'll need to get Mustang lines from the distribution box out, as the stock Ranger lines are too long (they are, after all, for a drum brake-style setup).

Lastly, if you want more information, go to www.fordrangerforum.com and look up disc brake conversion for stock Ranger rear end. That should have all the info you need.

 

[zekew64]

Oh, one change that I have to make on this topic that I discovered:

You don't want to get a Mustang 8.8 rear axle, as the rear axle that went into a Mustang is centered, and the axle that was put on the Ranger was not.

Just some more info for y'all.

 

[white4768]

http://www.ranger-forums.com/showthread.php?t=95557