Cobra Brakes on an X!....complete..

[Spdrcer34]

If you have a need for speed, you will have an even more need for brakes....

I have successfully installed Cobra Brakes on my Explorer. There is a thread in Modified 91-94, but there have been very few comments. Not NEARLY what I was expecting. As far as I know, it is the FIRST TIME it has ever been done (especially on a First Gen)...

What do you guys here think of such a mod?

Ryan

[Tbars4]

...to me,it sounds awesome but costly for the swap...

[Spdrcer34]

Costly?

What do you consider costly? I got some good deals on everything I purchased.

Ryan

[Tbars4]

Originally Posted by Spdrcer34

What do you guys here think of such a mod?

Ryan

...i just answered honestly the question you asked...

[Spdrcer34]

Let's put this in perspective.....

....I needed all new brakes up front. The brake rotors I got cracked BADLY...the calipers were sticking, and 1 spindle was damaged from loosing a inner bearing a while back.

To fix ALL those issues, I would be spending in upwards of $400. And I would STILL have brakes that were grossly in-adequate to stop a 4,500lb. SUV.

For ~$410.00 I was able to get a complete set of Cobra Calipers, 2 Bremebo Rotors, and 2 hoses....NEW....from Mustangs Unlimited.com

Another $100.00 got me Cross-drilled/Slotted Rotors from R1concepts

$40.00 got me a pair of Spindles.

And yet another $40.00 got me a pair of Early Mustang Hubs.

From there I just had to pay a machine shop to make it all work together. It wasn't bad at all......I have less than $1,000 in this whole set-up. That is including EVERY nut, bolt, and bearing......I had well over $1500 in my Cutlass' front brakes, and they were only 12", and I was using a factory, Single Piston, cast iron caliper.

My Cutlass weighed just as much as my X, and the X stops WAY better than the Cutlass EVER could have.

Ryan

[CDW6212R]

Good work Ryan, enjoy your handiwork. Regards,

[1996explorerxlt]

How about some pictures and info on how it went.

If we dont have info we cant be interested.

[Spdrcer34]

Well, the FIRST post I made on this subject is in the Modified First Gen section (like I mentioned in post #1).....

Check out the pics:


Stock Brakes, un-modified spindle.


Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub, Un-Modified Spindle


Cobra Disc mounted on Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub, Un-Modified Spindle


Close-up of Spindle 'ears' that need to be modified (cut off)


Modified Spindle, and the pieces that need to be cut off


Cobra Disc/Mustang Hub Assembly Mounted to Modified Spindle



STOCK Brakes in an 18" Wheel:



COBRA Brakes in an 18" Wheel



I like how the disc is pushed out, towards the spokes of the wheel, putting on display more-so than the stock set-up.



Here it is before the wheel got bolted up...


Ryan

[splat]

Originally Posted by Spdrcer34

Let's put this in perspective.....

....I needed all new brakes up front. The brake rotors I got cracked BADLY...the calipers were sticking, and 1 spindle was damaged from loosing a inner bearing a while back.

To fix ALL those issues, I would be spending in upwards of $400. And I would STILL have brakes that were grossly in-adequate to stop a 4,500lb. SUV.

For ~$410.00 I was able to get a complete set of Cobra Calipers, 2 Bremebo Rotors, and 2 hoses....NEW....from Mustangs Unlimited.com

Another $100.00 got me Cross-drilled/Slotted Rotors from R1concepts

$40.00 got me a pair of Spindles.

And yet another $40.00 got me a pair of Early Mustang Hubs.

From there I just had to pay a machine shop to make it all work together. It wasn't bad at all......I have less than $1,000 in this whole set-up. That is including EVERY nut, bolt, and bearing......I had well over $1500 in my Cutlass' front brakes, and they were only 12", and I was using a factory, Single Piston, cast iron caliper.

My Cutlass weighed just as much as my X, and the X stops WAY better than the Cutlass EVER could have.

Ryan

Ryan,

You mentioned 2 Brembo brakes from Mustangs Unlimited. Did you only buy the front or rear set from R1 Concepts? I need to upgrade the brakes on the Explorer, but we might also be going to a Thunderbird IRS for the back.

Where were you able to get the early mustang hub/spindles from and why did you need them?

[Spdrcer34]

The Ford Racing discs are made by Brembo. I still have those in the box. It was just cheaper to buy the whole kit, than to buy JUST the calipers by themselves.

I bought JUST the front Rotors from R1 Concepts. As I'm not running Cobra Rears. I too am going with a Thunderbird Rear IRS (did you get that idea from me?)

Yes, I was able to get the Early Mustang Hubs off eBay. I bought them so I didn't have to have one made. Amazingly enough, the Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub has the EXACT same size OD as the SN95 hub. But it uses the A3/A5 Bearings that the 2WD 1st Gen Explorer used. It made the swap ULTRA smooth. The only custom part needed was the adapter bracket that I had made for me. Had it not been for my discovery of the Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub dimensions, I don't think I would have been able to do the swap the way I wanted to.

Ryan

[IZwack]

Originally Posted by Spdrcer34

I have successfully installed Cobra Brakes on my Explorer. There is a thread in Modified 91-94, but there have been very few comments. Not NEARLY what I was expecting. As far as I know, it is the FIRST TIME it has ever been done (especially on a First Gen)...

What exactly do you want ?

[Spdrcer34]

IZwack....I'm used to it by now....But here's how I see things:

You off road guys build a cool custom bumper out of scrap metal you had lying around the garage, and everyone loves it! And next thing you know, the thread is 4 pages long with people giving their opinion of the bumper, and asking if they could make them one just like it for their off-road rig....

But I have done some pretty unique things with my Explorer, without making it ricer-ish, AND without making it look ridiculous....

Yet everytime I post pictures of what I am doing, or what I have done...hardly anyone notices. Then MONTHS LATER people ask when/how/why I did something...and I'll bring my post back to the top...

I understand that the off road contingent here greatly out numbers the 'street' guys..but I think I've done a bit more to my Explorer than most people realize, and when I tell people what I've done AND that I've done it myself, people don't believe me.

Oh, well....that's they it goes sometimes.

I'll continue to post the progress of my projects.

Ryan

[IZwack]

Well thats just the thing, I mean we all have different perspectives and what person-A may find cool or awesome may not be that much of interest to person-B. And I think most people on here find that their Explorers have enough braking power for what they do so intuitively, they're going to think that more braking power is not something they really really need. Case in point, we have plenty of people towing boats and pop-up campers (w/o trailer brakes) who do just fine getting from point-A to point-B.

And yeah you're right, most people that spend time on the forum are more of the off-road type so that's a big factor as to what type of responses one would recieve on a topic such as this.

Now personally I'm the type of person thats more interested in the details and if you say did some torque calculations on the larger rotors, or maybe some hydraulics calculations on the multi-piston calipers and compared that over the hydraulics of the stock calipers, then that would definitely get my attention .

[Tbars4]

...keep posting your projects...and don't feel bad, my ranger feels neglected on here too...but i just look at it as, it receives a better quality of readers...

[CDW6212R]

Ditto, most of the satisfaction will come from yourself in knowing that you accomplished it.

[splat]

Originally Posted by Spdrcer34

The Ford Racing discs are made by Brembo. I still have those in the box. It was just cheaper to buy the whole kit, than to buy JUST the calipers by themselves.

I bought JUST the front Rotors from R1 Concepts. As I'm not running Cobra Rears. I too am going with a Thunderbird Rear IRS (did you get that idea from me?)

Yes, I was able to get the Early Mustang Hubs off eBay. I bought them so I didn't have to have one made. Amazingly enough, the Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub has the EXACT same size OD as the SN95 hub. But it uses the A3/A5 Bearings that the 2WD 1st Gen Explorer used. It made the swap ULTRA smooth. The only custom part needed was the adapter bracket that I had made for me. Had it not been for my discovery of the Early Mustang Drum Brake Hub dimensions, I don't think I would have been able to do the swap the way I wanted to.

Ryan

Hey Ryan,

I didn't know you had plans of a T-Bird IRS swap. I actually bought an '86 RX-7 IRS a few years back to swap onto a Ranger, but we ended up going with a link setup. The RX-7 had the same 4.5 on 5 bolt pattern, but since it was a non-turbo it was only a 7.5" member. A friend of mine has an early 90's Thunderbird he's parting out, so I'm going to pick up the IRS from him. This will eventually go onto my '02 Sport. I remember seeing a Gen I on Streetsource that had swapped over a T-Bird IRS.

I may have to get some more info from you on all this hub stuff. I may have access to (I think) a '66 Mustang.

Kevin

[gumby]

nice work. i like the idea of the drum brake hub. ive seen the 13" brakes on rangers before using a turned down one piece rotor as the hub. i prefer your method.

did you by chance look into a 95-97 ranger spindle as a donor before modding your 1st gen X versions? the 95-97 caliper bracket bolts on the same way the cobra stuff does. im sure it wouldnt be "bolt-on" solution, but might make for a simpler bracket setup.

[CDW6212R]

I wish someone with a 95-01 2WD truck would do the research to see if a 95-01 2WD rotor could be machined to make a hub locating a 4WD rotor onto it. My brake parts would bolt to that.

[Spdrcer34]

The 95-97 Ranger spindle has a different bearing surface profile, so more research would be needed to find an acceptable hub.

Ryan

[Exploderpilot]

Hey man, I love the thread. I guess i just never thought to post on it. But great job, And to be honest, I will probably be trying something similar with my Blazer, Maybe some vette brakes or something. I just hope I am nearly as fortunate with the matching parts. I doubt it, as i have 4wd spindles, Which are much different. We'll see.