Hello all, First time poster, long time moocher. Recently I purchased a disk brake conversion kit for my wife's 1960 F100 from Master Power brakes. Supposed to be all I need to do the job right. So I pulled the drums and proceeded with the install. Now I am a fairly mechanically inclined dude, having spent 4 years and 2 long months in the Coast Guard as a Machinery Technician. Long story short... This kit simply will not fit. No matter what I do, the caliper will not mount because the steering arm and the tierod end are in the way. I did read in the instructions that perhaps the knob on the caliper may need to be ground off to make room. I haven't done it but it wouldn't make any difference anyway because of the tierod nut on top is completely in the way! Not to mention the bottom of the tie rod is in the way of the Allen bolt on back so there is no way to tighten it. If that isn't bad enough, the top part of the bracket will not clear the spindle top cap with or without the zerk fitting on. The bracket and set up is so off that now I am wondering if perhaps I got the wrong bracket set. Even if I was to some how find a way to grind and fit everything in, there would be no way I could even service my brakes with this current set up without having to drop the tie rod every time I needed to replace pads. Not sure if y'all can help me but I am at a loss here, and I sure would appreciate the assistance.
Thanks for the fast reply. I don't think I could still get the castle nut on. Not sure the tie rod will even clear the Allen bolt on the bottom side of the caliper. Maybe I could grind on the tie rod to make room perhaps. But this all still seems too extreme to me.
The Allen head on the caliper pin should be pointing to the outside of the truck, not the inside. Do you have the calipers on the wrong sides of the truck? The calipers are specific to drivers side and passengers side. And, yes, the calipers should be located in front of the spindles, not behind.
caliper orientaion is correct, GM style cailper slides have the head of the bolt towards the inboard side. tough to say but I'm thinking the caliper bracket attaches to the spindle side of the knuckle not the tie rod side. mount the rotors and that will tell you how its supposed to go, the calipers appear too far inboard from the pictures.
I stand corrected. Thanks, HotRodder31. It's been a while since I installed the disc brakes on my truck.
No worries, found an article on Hot Rods website installing this exact kit. Follow along everyone. http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/0606cl-ford-f100-disc-brakes/
Grrrrrrr! So I spoke to Master Power Brakes... So far they have been very accomodating BTW. Anyway, Apparently the Twin I-Beam suspension and coild springs wasn't even an option on the 1960 F100, it was only an option starting in 64. Now the VIN in the glove compartment does suggest a 1960, and the twin headlights suggests the same, but the suspension tells a completely different story. So: I have 2 possible senerios. 1.) someone went through the effort of installing Twin I-beam suspension on a 60 frame (seems doubtful, but at this point anything is possible), or 2.) This is a 60 body on a 64+ frame. Master Power Brakes is committed to me putting brakes on this bad boy, and are planning on doing it at their expense. I will update as the story unfolds. Who knows where to locate the body stamping VIN on a 64+. Maybe i can see if it matches the glove compartment VIN.
The '57-60 Ford trucks were one body style, the '61-66 were another with no interchange of body parts between them; the '58-60 were the only Ford pickups that ever came with four headlights. So it sounds like you have a '60 body swapped onto what is probably a '65-up frame. The truck frames were essentially identical through '79, although yours is probably no newer than '72 as Ford went to stamped steel radius arms in '73; the earlier ones are forged as seen in your pic. The only other 'major' change in the early twin I-beam trucks was Ford upgraded the drum brakes in '68; if the drums are 2.5" wide, it's '68 or newer. If you can find a '74-79 F-100 with disc brakes, the axles/spindles/brakes will be a direct bolt-on in place of your early parts. These have the later style 'sliding' calipers that are superior to the earlier 'spring/pin' calipers, as well as being easier to find replacement parts for.
J:Mac, try the 57-60 F100 group on FB. There is a ton of info on every kind of swap imaginable. Good luck.
All, First of, a huge thanks goes out to y'all for your feedback. I got the new brake system in. I got the caliper mounts on and wheel mounted. Caliper is still in the way of steering linkage. But I think I need to pull it all back off and relocate the caliper mount to forward of the spindle rather the rear of the spindle. Which would make the right marked caliper the left and the left now the right. Does that sound legit?
I took a screen shot of the destructions.. It looks like what they are trying to say is that need to locate the calipers on the front of the spindle. Esta correcto? Even in the supplied image it looks like it is on the front side of the spindle vantage point being the passenger side wheel. I highlighted the NOTE where they address the locations and caliper mounting.
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