need info about welding cast metal

[don4331]

AllanD:

Saleen Explorer had their larger front brakes and caliper brackets removed because they were made from aluminum and as they started fatiguing they started failing...

Zman:

TeeRev made brackets for Mustang calipers/13" Mustang rotors, but he is no longer making them or at least not last time I checked and I can beg in person at his shop. And I'm not sure if the vendor which Jbrown1238 is still making them or not - been a couple years since we were in contact (his cost at time was ~3 Benjamins...)

97RangerXLT/AlwaysFlOoReD:

There isn't enough material to plug and move out just 3/8". And making new caliper mount would be pretty pricey as the bracket is also the outer pad guide so a relatively large/complex part to machine ( >95% of about a 4"x6"x8" block of steel would get machined away. It would be best to cast and then do the spot machining like Ford did and that would still be very pricey)

 

[pjtoledo]

Didn't someone make a bracket at one time for this mod? I got the kit for putting 13" Cobra brakes on an I-beam truck 8 or 9 years ago, I know the 12" mod for the newer ones got popular after that.

13" cobra, or 12.5 mustang fronts are easy to do,,,,if you have the correct type of wheel.

with stock brakes the caliper does not extend (much) beyond the mounting surface on the rotor. that allows a wheel with very little cavity space for calipers. spacers cannot fix this.

the 13 & 12.5 rotors have less than 3/4" of hat height, that pushes the caliper into the wheel by about 3/4". not all wheels have the cavity to allow that.
the low hat height is needed to move the disk farther out to create space for an adapter bracket.

the adapter bracket is a simple piece of 1/2 flat stock with 4 holes drilled into it and contoured to fit the knuckle. minimal machining is needed.


this would require 16" wheels for the 12.5, and 17" wheels for the 13" rotors.

 

[don4331]

pjtoledo:

I have hat height for Ranger of 2.600" and 1.720" for Mustang (using '00 13" Cobra rotors).

Which puts delta closer to 7/8" (technically 0.840"), so 1/2" stock seems thin; although 3/4" might be close enough for practical purposes (I was going to deck 1" material, but I have access to a mill...) I am 95% of way to doing conversion (just need to knock off a couple outstanding honey-do items).

I'm not sure 16" wheels will run on 12.5" rotors (they might clear static, but I'm not sure about enough clearance when running...)

I'll put up some pictures tonight.

 

[pjtoledo]

pjtoledo:

I have hat height for Ranger of 2.600" and 1.720" for Mustang (using '00 13" Cobra rotors).

Which puts delta closer to 7/8" (technically 0.840"), so 1/2" stock seems thin; although 3/4" might be close enough for practical purposes (I was going to deck 1" material, but I have access to a mill...) I am 95% of way to doing conversion (just need to knock off a couple outstanding honey-do items).

I'm not sure 16" wheels will run on 12.5" rotors (they might clear static, but I'm not sure about enough clearance when running...)

I'll put up some pictures tonight.

my measurements are approximate, using 2005 Mustang 12.5 rotors which are a lot thicker than 13" cobra rotors from 94 to 2004.

12.5" in a 16" wheel is do-able depending on how far it sits in the wheel.
98 Crown Vics have 12.5 (maybe12.4) rotors in their standard 16" wheels, and they have a hat/height almost identical to a Ranger's 11.25" (4x4)

fyi that 98 12.5" Crown Vic rotor fits perfectly on a 2000 4x4 Ranger, but alas, there is no bracket to match it.

I'll see about some pics tomorrow.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

this would require 16" wheels for the 12.5, and 17" wheels for the 13" rotors.

Later Mustang's with Brembo brakes have 14" rotors, I don't know if it is required but the cars with the Brembo option have 19" wheels.

If you want to get more crazy with bigger rotors yet.

 

[don4331]

I don't know how well the pictures show the fitment, so I'll add some comments.

Rotor is a 13" Mustang Cobra; it still has packing grease on it. (At least it won't squeak. )

Pictures 1 & 2 show 16" wheels - wheel 1 is Mustang 5 spoke, wheel 2 is Explorer. As I attempted to show in the photos, there is ~1/8" contact between the caliper and the wheel before the center holes align (and caliper is pushed down to point it contacts rotor). So, these 16" wheels and 13" rotors won't work together. (I should try my spacers with the 'stang rim as it does have ~3/4" deeper backspacing and the further out the rim is, the more clearance there is).

Picture 3 shows my Mustang Cobra rims with the caliper and rotor - which works fine (and that wasn't a given - Ranger Caliper is significantly larger than Mustang).

Picture 4 shows the Ranger hub post lathe work (rotor removed).

Crown Vic rotor is interesting... At 12-7/16" diameter (Rock Auto has dimension as 12.42" if one wants to get anal ) and same hat height as Ranger rotors, it would work with the 16" rims (Clearance would be small ~1/8", but that should work). Now, what sort of a bracket is necessary to more the caliper out 0.57" in same plane.

Aside: Stock Ranger rotor is 1.023" thick new; my 13" Cobra rotor is 1.180" (almost 3/16" thicker), larger Mustang rotors are 1.260" thick new - at what point do Ranger caliper with new pads stop going onto the rotor?

14" Mustang rotorsshouldfit under 18" rims, but that would come down to exact fitment details of caliper, I suspect the Brembo calipers might be a little too big.