Big Brake Upgrades for the front

[jasonty]

Hey folks,
I just put a set of 17" Cobra R rims on my 91 XL, now I realize I need some bigger brake rotors in the front. For looks, as well as the performance gain. Does anybody know where I can find a bigger brake upgrade for the front of my 2WD 91 XL? I'd like to spend $1500 or less. Thanks in advance...

 

[james t]

no such thing, and nothing can be adapted. a user here by the name of Troll had Brembo custom make him a set for around $4500.

 

[410Fortune]

sure something can be adapted/made for a 2wd Ex.

BUT its gonna be custom and its gonna COST big $$$$.

You are better off just converting the rear to discs, using good mettalic pads, paint he calipers if you wish, and they do make slotted rotors for this application, but again they are pricey.

If you want looks just get some of those plastic fake disc brake thingy's (OUCH!)

If you want performance then go with slotted rotors and metallic pads, or OEM rotors and ceramic pads.
A rear disc conversion may help in teh "looks" and performance department

 

[blue88mustang]

Slotted discs have been proven to be more prone to cracking with regard to the stang crowd. I am sure the same holds true for any slotted rotors. Baer might have some that don't crack, but I think that the design naturally leads to cracking.

Slotted and/or cross drilled rotors were designed to keep older brake pads in contact with the rotor. Older pads would create a thin "cushion" of gas between the solid rotors and pads under hard braking. To remove this pocket of gas, they drilled holes in and slotted rotors.

You might be able to adapt a cobra brake kit, but I am sure it would take fabricating your own brackets.

 

[410Fortune]

I agree slotted and drilled rotors are not worht the $$$$$...have the rotors treated (frozen) on the other hand may be. Personally I find the cheapo autozone rotors work fantastic with ceramic pads......

 

[Zulu95]

Drove slotted/cross drilled on my X for 55K miles before changing out for another set. Wear problems only. Evidence of small cracks but nothing to worry about. Performance difference was considerable with carbon metallic.

 

[MonsterTrac]

rear disc conversion

I have only 15" rims, So I couldnt get any kind of big brake set-up, but would swapping out the stock drums , for a pair of stock, or slightly larger discs, be worth the money, Im not talking about the looks, Im talking about braking performance only. Also, arent disc brake more prone to locking up than drum brakes are....

 

[94ZebraRanger]

about a year ago I saw that baer had a brake kit for the Explorer. I haven't seen it on there web site any more.

Does anyone know if the newer Ex brakes will work on the older Ex. Then you could use the Aviator brakes 13.5 inch if I remember right.

Tim

 

[MonsterTrac]

those 13.5" rotors probably require a 17" rim to fit. I only have a 15. I wouldnt be able to use a rotors too much larger than stock....

 

[unclemeat]

What about a caliper upgrade. Perhaps a dual cylinder caliper. Also what about a upgrade on the master cylinder? Anybody tried either of them.

 

[blk mk8]

the cross drilled are more prone to crank the sloteds are you usally better.

 

[blue88mustang]

Your biggest improvement in braking will come from bigger rotors. Think of it as using either A) socket wrench or B) a 2 foot long breaker bar to bust loose a rusty bolt. The further you get from the pivot/turning point, the less effort you will have to use to get the work done.

Twin piston calipers give you more even pad wear, better (more evenly spread) contact with the rotor which results in harder clamping power on the rotor.

Rear brakes are only responsible for roughly 30%-35% of the braking on any given vehicle. Rear drums work fine in street applications, but I would do any kind of open track event with the rear drums on my 88 5.0.

13" brakes on my cobra require 17" rims as a minimum and you would probably be very limited on the 17" wheels you could use with the 13.5" brakes.

I put bigger (86 SVO Mustang) caliper on my 88 vert and the stopping increased, but you have to be more careful when stopping quickly. The fronts went from 65mm pistons if I remember correctly, up to 73mm pistons. My pedal isn't as firm as it was due to the master cylinder not being swapped out, but the car does stop much better. However, it will lock up the fronts if you are not careful, so it requires more attention to pedal modulation.

Both my mustangs have SS Braided brake lines, Carbon Metallic pads (rear shoes on the 88) on all 4 corners.

I wish I could tell you more about X's, but I am a newbie when it comes to that dept.

 

[410Fortune]

Nobody makes a 2 piston caliper for the 4x4 D35TTB, you 2wd guys I dont know about.

The rear disc brake conversion is the single best improvement you can make to your current setup.

I use my BII to tow a 3500# boat in the Rockies, it is my daily driver, I have 4.10 gears with 33" tires and the rear disc conversion was one of the best upgrades I made to my rig. Even better then the 4.0L engine, custom tranny, axles, lift, etc etc..

Stock BII/early Explorer braking performance is marginal at best. Good brake pads up front can make a huge difference over stock pads.

Converting the rear 8.8 axle over to discs is covered on this website extensively, I swapped my old 7.5" rear axle for a 8.8 from a 97 Explorer with discs about 3 years ago. Two months ago I finally finished the conversion by deleting my RABS and plumbing in the correct rear disc master cylinder (for my truck, 95 Explorer, no ABS, no proportioning). This required running a new hard line to the rear axle, and bypassing my frame mounted RABS valve.

I run Autozone calipers and rotors on all 4 (lifetime warranty, calipers $12 ea, rotors $30) I also run semi metallic pads and recently switched to ceramic up front.

Braking is AMAZING in my BII since I completed this work, it stops straight and true, and for a lifted truck with 33's its rather impressive.

Yes I can lock them up, but it would take some effort to do, the pedal is perfect, giving me complete control over the braking.

You can search these forums and find out all you need to know about the rear disc conversion. Brett Grooms wrote the "book" on whats involved, and recently I finished the writeup with the master cylinder conversion.....

To make the discs work right the master cylinder should be swapped, sometimes this requires a new brake line to the rear axle, sometimes you can get away with an aftermarket proportioning valve. research is the key.
I went with a stock ford master because I deleted my RABS, your Explorer 4 wheel ABS will be alittle different.