Is anyone using hydro boost? Curious about limitations and adaptability. I have a 54 f100 and have access to a 2003 mustang hydro boost and master. I have four wheel disc brakes with early model brakes. Any assistance would be great. Thanks in advance.
Hydo boost is a great system. Works fine on any heavy duty application, boosted (supercharger, turbo) application, or low manifold vacuum (radical cam or diesel). Your comment i have 4 wheel disk with early model A brakes Makes no sense.
All I know about them is that when I was working with a fleet of cars doing research, I changed a LOT of the ones on the Buick turbo cars. So you might want to stay away from the GM versions.
The grand nationals have a electic boosted master cylinder. It's a neat set up but big money, cores are crazy & too.
I used one on an off-road vehicle that I built. It was from a one ton Chev truck and it works ok, but pay attention to the pedal to push rod ratio. It's very importand that the original-correct ratio be maintained. Dave.
Question? Why would you need a hydro boost? How radical is your engine? I assume you're running power steering, which is what a hydro boost runs off of.
I like to use them in under-floor applications where there is no room for a vacuum booster. As far as I remember, the Grand National ones were electric, and thus NOT a hydroboost unit, which gets hydro (fluid) boosted from the power steering pump. I have been working on GM hydroboost equipped vehicles since the 80's, and have seen just one bad unit.
It is not a matter of necessity for because of engine power. It's just an issue of room in the engine compartment. In regards to my calipers I'm rendering to they are not as modern as the hydro I'm looking to use. Thanks for the useful input.
But now you're talking about a different issue - master cylinder capacity. In my case I have Ford four piston front calipers and Chev drum rear brakes. The Chev master cylinder capacity was good enough to handle the four piston fronts. Dave.
As far as how well Hydro boost assisted brakes work, I had that setup on my 78 1 ton 4x4 and they had the best feel of any power brakes on any rig I ever had. My wife even remarked how good they felt the first time she drove the truck and she never notices much about how any rig drives or feels. As others said you DO have to have a power steering pump to be able to run them though.
I have installed quite a few of them and they are the best brakes you will ever have. The only downside is all the hoses to make it work, it's tough to hide them.
Huh? That is the exact reason I use them. Stack one up next to a 11" vacuum booster, heck, even a 7" booster.
The master will be just as far if not further away from the firewall with a hydro boost. And then there's the hoses to deal with. You'll save firewall real estate but not under hood room in general. That's what I'm saying
I have never done hydroboost on a car, but did in my trucks. Night and day difference, and saved firewall room to boot! Custom hoses can help to hide them.
They can produce somewhere between 20-50% more assist than a vacuum booster. You can hard line everything that does not directly attach to the engine.
I have used them under the floor on a 50' Ford, 47' Convertible and a 55' Willys Utility Wagon. The ones I used came off of Chevy astro vans and I used a 78' Corvette master. One thing to do is make sure you have enough flex hose to quiet it down. I did one in mostly hard line and it was a bit noisy while braking. Also it is better to use a pump with 2 return lines rather than tee the lines together so that the brakes will release more quickly. Jim (55willys)
GM used it on their "step van" vehicles, as well as on , I'm sure, a lot of others. We had 20 of them in our delivery fleet, and never had a problem. 4TTRUK
I have put 3 units all from Linclons under the floor of 3 differnt vehicles. Easy installation, small size, huge payoff with results. The first 1 was disk drum. The other 2 were disc disc. I got the prop valve from the same car as the booster unit. I won't hesitate to do it on my next build. My local parts store does fabulous hose construction for a good price. No worries about cam vs vaccuum or f/w room.
I had one on an OT Chevy wagon, they were more prevalant on wagons with the diesel engines, but they got into lots of wagons regardless. It stopped fine and I eventually did have to replace it due to a leak, major PITA. And the GM type are powered off the power steering. I would personally go the other way than to get involved with another one. Bob
I don't follow. I retrofit a Jeep, most recntly, with hydroboost, which previously had a vacuum booster, and a Saginaw TC pump. Installed it, a Saginaw P pump, cut, flared and blead new lines to the master cylinder, in under two hours, solo, but the final bleed.
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