brake lines for d44 swap

[ReDLiNeZL]

i judt did my swap, i guess my 94 ex has abs unit by the steering box where the brake lines run out? i dunno... but whats the best way to run these lines for my d44 early bronco rear?? right now im trying to find calipers for it..

 

[BKennedy]

i judt did my swap, i guess my 94 ex has abs unit by the steering box where the brake lines run out? i dunno... but whats the best way to run these lines for my d44 early bronco rear?? right now im trying to find calipers for it..

You can't hook up the ABS to Bronco brakes as they do not have the senser built into the rotor and spindle like the Explorer. Look at the spindle on an Explorer for a quarter sized raised shiny cap. That is the senser. The notches like gears on the rotor are what the senser reads when they turn. When they are not turning and the truck is still moving, the ABS kicks in. How much the ABS pulses is based upon the speed of the vehicle. I would not worry about the ABS anymore. When you put large diameter tires on a vehicle, it kind of kills the ABS anyway. Its made for a standard diameter tire. The only thing you will notice is the ABS light on the dash, which you can unplug if it bugs you.
If you lock up the brakes, just relax your thigh muscle slightly and the brakes will let up just enough to get the tire turning again.

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

so what am i supposed to do with running my brake lines...

 

[BKennedy]

You can run your brake lines from the original lines at the top of the shock towers. You just need extended brake lines. The Ford calipers for a 76 - 79 Bronco or F-150 have the same brake lines ends as the Explorer. But the black electrical lines for the ABS are useless.

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

yea so i can run everything from the same spot right to the new calipers?

 

[BKennedy]

yea so i can run everything from the same spot right to the new calipers?

Yes. You should be able to run everything right to the bronco calipers.

 

[Dannyboy]

depending you your springs and flex you will need some pretty long brake hoses so find a shop that will custom build to your spec and the ends you need.

I have 2 photos, is a closeup of the brake hose looking very loose, almost ready to rub the lugs. Notice that it is zip tied to the coil bucket.

The other is the spring at full extension and the hose is stretched out. I actually snapped the hose just after this obstacle and needed to put a vice on it.

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

sweet deal,

so i can run them right out of this unit still and directly to the calipers?

but what about this....?

..and this....

annnd this....

BUT HERES A GOOD PIC OF THE EXPLODER TODAY

 

[Dannyboy]

that thing looks sick, It's a beast and looks like it will even welcome some bigger rubber when the time comes.

I went away from that stock setup on the axle solely for the reason that our Explorers brakes are setup with a brake line dropping out each side of the frame. I didn't feel like messing with rerouting all that through the frame to add more new brake lines and then worry about a single center hose feeding the diff.

It may work, but you will need to eliminate the two lines and run one to the part over the diff.

I kept it simple and the only modification was a hose that went from the stock location to the caliper. Another thing to think about, if you ever have a brake fail (it's happened to me twice while wheelin) you can pinch off that line and keep on going. On that setup depending on where the failure may be you may loose both front brakes.

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

that thing looks sick, It's a beast and looks like it will even welcome some bigger rubber when the time comes.

I went away from that stock setup on the axle solely for the reason that our Explorers brakes are setup with a brake line dropping out each side of the frame. I didn't feel like messing with rerouting all that through the frame to add more new brake lines and then worry about a single center hose feeding the diff.

It may work, but you will need to eliminate the two lines and run one to the part over the diff.

I kept it simple and the only modification was a hose that went from the stock location to the caliper. Another thing to think about, if you ever have a brake fail (it's happened to me twice while wheelin) you can pinch off that line and keep on going. On that setup depending on where the failure may be you may loose both front brakes.

thanks im very happy with how it looks as well, as possible for some 37's down the road forsure.

but i am comfused on your brake idea, your saying to run it for the unit up by the steering box directly to the new calipers? but where can i get extended lines that will work? just get an aftermarket explorer extended lines or what? for now im sure ill just be uing lengths of steel hose for temp...

 

[BKennedy]

thanks im very happy with how it looks as well, as possible for some 37's down the road forsure.

but i am comfused on your brake idea, your saying to run it for the unit up by the steering box directly to the new calipers? but where can i get extended lines that will work? just get an aftermarket explorer extended lines or what? for now im sure ill just be uing lengths of steel hose for temp...

What he is saying, is to run the extended brake lines from the stock location where the original soft brake lines start (the rubber lines that go from the top of the coil bucket to the old calipers). Measure out your flex, then figure out how much brake line you need. I am not sure how much extra line you need, but DannyBoy should be able to give you a pretty good measurement since his rig had all kinds of flex and was setup the same way. You need to find a brake shop (local is better than on line) that makes custom length braided stainless lines. Tell them what you need, and have them made up.

Or you can run the new brake lines down the inside of the frame to the rear of the radius arms, then up the top of the arm to the calipers. It will keep them out of the way of the coils and tires (Winter did this on Paul B's rig and it works great). The difference is the cost. 10-15 feet per side of stainless brake lines gets expensive. Personally, I don't like brake lines running down next to those long coils. I have seen too many of them get caught inside of coil rings and get pinched off. I know some use zip ties to hold the lines away from the coils (I have them myself on my TTB setup), but I have also had to replace them many times because the coils bottom out and cut them off.

A good way to do either of these, is to get some cheap rubber hose of the same diameter of the brake lines. Run that where you want the brake lines to go, making sure you have enough slack for flex and steering. Then measure the lengths and have them made out of braided stainless one time, instead of trial and error.

I like these discussions because when I do my SAS, I will mostly (notice I said mostly) worked out ahead of time.

 

[Dannyboy]

Thats a good idea Brian. I have used stainless braided lines and I still screwed one up, I think it rubbed against my tire for a while, but yes, you do have issues of the coil potentially pinching it off as well.

Another idea is to use a small spring (throttle return spring, e brake spring) to keep the line tight and it extends when it is needed.

I'm no expert on this, only thing I tried to do is use as few connections as possible, and shortest runs of hoses vs. lines. (hoses are good for flexing, but will also bulge out where a line is solid).

 

[BKennedy]

Thats a good idea Brian.

Its Winter's idea. He is our resident mechanical genius.

 

[Burns]

Here is what i did. Its not a good pic but i ran a new hard line down to the axle and used a bracket to hold the new hard line and the orginal set up for that axle. That way i only have one moving brake line that can be damaged

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

ok ok these are definately some good ideas. thanks, hope i dont screw this up lol

 

[Burns]

Oh no its easy and there are many ways of doing it

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

yea i wont be doing much crawling, just alot of mud bogging

 

[Dannyboy]

Burns, I can't see brake lines in that pic, can you hilight them.

I'm just curious how you managed to get the 2 stock lines into the single line. did you start from the master cylinder? That setup would be just like our 8.8 is in the rear, I'm just curious where the split off is from the master cylinder.

 

[BKennedy]

Burns, I can't see brake lines in that pic, can you hilight them.

I'm just curious how you managed to get the 2 stock lines into the single line. did you start from the master cylinder? That setup would be just like our 8.8 is in the rear, I'm just curious where the split off is from the master cylinder.

Most people that do it that way cap off one the passenger side front brake line, then use the driver side to run down to the diff because its closer. I have seen them capped off at the ABS module as well. The stock brake lines on a D44 start at the top of the diff.

 

[ReDLiNeZL]

so you say cap of the passengers side at the brake module, and run on line down that splits into 2, one to drivers side caliper, and 1 to the passengers side caliper?