Drum brake upgrade

[PlumCrazy]

I would recommend bumping up to an Explorer or newer Ranger master cylinder (1" bore?) on your truck if you plan on running the 95-97 front calipers and rear disc. Your master will work, but you will have to push the pedal a bit further to move enough fluid to fill the larger calipers.

 

[e21pilot]

Any idea what years of master cylinder would bolt directly onto the 1992 brake booster? It would be nice to find something that needed no modification. Not sure when the Rangers switched over to ABS in the front. I'm guessing I should look for a year when it was ABS in rear only similar to what I have.

 

[e21pilot]

Master cylinder

Spoke with the local brake booster rebuild shop on this question and they suggested going to master cylinder# MC3902069 (Ford Explorer) instead of my original MC39953 (1992 Ford Ranger). The difference is 1" bore vs 1-1/16" bore on the Explorer. Sounds like a move in the right direction.

 

[e21pilot]

Looks like the MC3902069 is the later MC from a 97 Ranger/Explorer so it should be compatible with my brake booster.

Also, what's the brake fluid of choice these days since at this point I'm replacing everything in the system except for the metal lines: Dot 3, 4 or 5; full synthetic or not?

 

[PlumCrazy]

Just plain ole DOT 3 is fine. We bolted a 96 Expo master up to the 86 booster in the B2, but we had to put a little dent in the booster to clear the back edge of the reservoir

 

[MastuhWaffles]

Go to discs. I'm getting ready to swap axles and it already had the discs on there. I think its a good investment.

 

[e21pilot]

Funny thing happened when...

The shop rebuilding my the '07 FX4 axle I planned to put in the 92 Ranger called today. Seems they pulled off the drum brakes, put on the 97 Explorer rear disc backing plates for the conversion to disc and found out that the original axle shafts are now too short. I was surprised by this thinking it would be a bolt on conversion.

After doing a little digging, found the following data on 8.8 rear axles.

1990-1992 Ford Ranger 8.8-Inch Axle - 56-1/2 inches
1993-2009 Ford Ranger 8.8-inch Axle - 58-1/2 inches
1991-2003 Ford Explorer 8.8-Inch Axle - 59-1/2 inches

I know the new FX4 axle was 2" wider than my OE 8.8 but my wheels are stock so I think I'm OK with the extra width. I Explorer axle is an inch wider yet I might be able to source two explorer axles to make up the difference. Although that might be too wide at that point.

The shop did say I could cut down the axle tubes to make the existing axles fit. Not sure what the cost for this would be or if I really want the axle cut. I did read somewhere that the factory axles are not welded as well as they should be. If this is true, is narrowing the axle an opportunity to weld it properly?

The shop doing the work is a dedicated rear end shop so no concerns on the quality of the work. Just have to decide which way to go.

When all is said an done, I think I will appreciate the upgrade to discs and consider it worth the effort.

 

[AllanD]

The finned Aerostar drums are a worthy update and I strongly encourage it

Disc have some advantages as well depending on which disc conversion you use

 

[e21pilot]

And yet one more question on the rear conversion to disc. Motorcraft lists two different rear rotor types for the 97 Explorer: BRR-59 and BRRF-32. What's the difference and are they interchangeable?