I'm soliciting advice on 9 inch Ford disc brake conversion kits. What do you recommend as a dependable kit or what products should I avoid? I have a 1956 Ford 9" rear with large bearings and 31 spline axles and 4:56 ratio gears, out of a pickemup truck. Thanks in advance.
There's a "ton" of kits available..! What you haven't looked at a Summit or Jegs catalog..? From using stock Ford parts to aftermarket parts, I doubt you could go wrong with any "name" brand kit. Contact a place like Currie or other rear end builder, they'll help out. They sell what works, they don't want anyone comming back to them about brake failure..! Of my two running cars, I put together an assenbly myself using Wilwood parts and my own brackets, my other car has a Currie kit using Ford calipers and rotors. Mike
First question is, why do you want rear disk brakes? Second question is, how did you manage to find a 1956 Ford 9" rear? I have what I thought was the earliest 9" in my Chevy II, and it's from a 57. And it stops fine from 130+ mph with 11x2" drum brakes out back.
If it's a small bearing 9 inch use 96/02 crown vic or marquis rear disc brakes. Take everything from the brackets out from a wrecking yard donor, it's almost a bolt in. You need a spacer 1/4inch by 3 in. OD between the retainer plate and the bearing
Big bearings go to the local U pull it and get off of a Lincoln Versalles. Oh a '56 Ford rear is not a 9", not even a '57-'59 Ford rear, you can put a 9" chuck in one with a little clearancing of the flange but they have an 8.5 ring gear stock. The one that we normally call a 9 didn't come out until '57.
I used a 9in.true positraction set up from a "79 Granada Ghia only a little wider than stock. I am still trying to find the right tire/wheel combo that will suit me. I did rebuild the whole thing just to be sure it was good as new. Looks great just have to finish motor and tranny. (Among other things)
There is a Tech article on here that someone went to great detail on how to use the Explorer rear disks on a 9". It is pretty much a bolt on after slotting two bolt holes. I have to agree with Squirrel that the 11" drums would stop a '56 Ford easily. Unless you have big wheel tubs or the fenders are cut away there is no tire that would fit that the drums couldn't lock up and slide.
Stick with drums because the discs are a pain to adjust the emergency brake. I put rear discs on 2 cars and I regret it.
Did 2,rear disc conversions . Forget it , 11x2.5 drum you will never have any worries . Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I think we need to back up for a moment. Do you really have a 9"? Maybe the 1956 was a typo. If it is a pickup 9", then depending on what it's going in, it will need some narrowing. Personally I would look at the Explorer swap for a big bearing axle, or the Crown Vic swap for the small bearing axle. Neither of these setups have the stupid ratcheting caliper park brake. Both use a small drum inside the rotor for the park brake. I've never done either swap, but am considering the Crown Vic swap, if I go with 4 wheel discs on my Fairlane. -Dave.
We'll I'm not sure of the year for my rear end. I tried to identify a while back I found a site that posted the only thing I could find that was close to what I thought I had. I'm probably remembering the year wrong. It was the only information that matched what I reasonable knew. When I bought the car the seller said it had 4:56 gears. That's about right. I turned 3200 rpm at 60mph with H70 Goodyear polyglass tires back then. The site I used to identify showed that ratio as an option for a pick up truck. I can't find the site anymore. Thoughts? Here are two photos.
I'm not sure of the year, I'll check to see about parts off the Lincoln after I have a positive Identification on my axle. I posted two photos on the thread. Thanks
I have front disc brakes from a 1985 corvette. I thought I wanted 4 wheel disc as well. It seems to be 2 camps on this idea from the number of post I got to keep the drums. Thinking is good. Thanks
The dimples in the rear of the housing make me think it's newer than 59. The real early ones are smooth. Although it doesn't really matter, what's important for the question you asked, is the ends of the housing. In your particular situation, I'd recommend you swap in a Vette IRS rear end to get matching disk brakes
If you are intent on rear discs, I'd skip the Lincoln Versailles stuffx it's obsolete hard to find parts for.
That's at least a '58 rear as that's when those dimples appeared. And a truck rear, because of the fill point (the cars all had the fill point on the pumpkin) so it will have the large bearing ends. If the housing has a drain plug on the bottom, it's definitely a '58, no plug it's a '59. Unless you're planning on spending some time at the track road-racing, rear drums will work just fine....
I raced my '55 ( basically the same as a '56) with drums all the way around. Of course it was not a road racer and it was only a 12 second car. 4 wheel discs sound good in a conversation. Most of the time they are not at all necessary, like Steve has pointed out here. There seems to be an ongoing discussion lately as how late model cars handle and stop better then our old cars, which is acceptable as a truth. We seem to forget that driving in general is not a competition, sometimes we forget that we just need to accept the fact that we are not driving a Z06 Corvette (or whatever the latest and greatest is called) and just enjoy the ride.
HAMB is great. I spent some time searching other post and found a reference to this site that helps identify Ford rear axles. It looks like I have a pre 1966 9 inch rear with 31 spline axles. Although I'll need to tear it down to be sure. After I do that I can weigh the different disc brake options available. Thanks to everyone who responded. http://www.kevinstang.com/Ninecase.htm
I have had 2 9 inch rears with Disc Brakes . Don't waste your time and money . But if you have to , Ford Explorer is the answer . Just give it some serious thinking to doing it . Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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