big brakes

[410Fortune]

okay people have you ever considered upgrading the master cylinder and power booster instead of the brake calipers and rotors on the Explorer?

For expample the stock calipers and rotors with good pads should work fine if a hydraulic assist power booster and master cylinder from a superduty was fabbed in........the stockj vacuum assist stuff works okay but it doesnt compare to a hydraulic assist power booster..............

Hopefully the extra pressure wouldnt blow out the stock calipers......

Putting 4 piston calipers on anything other then a sports car is going to cost big $$$$$, you can save some by doignthe fab work yourself but the parts are $$$$, and you cannot ignore the power booster and master cylinder.......

 

[james t]

Originally posted by 410Fortune
you cannot ignore the power booster and master cylinder.......

according to Baer, you can. as long as the stock master cylinder has a bore of at least 15/16th's or bigger, the Cobra calipers will work fine. our stock X bores are 1 1/16th.

i see what you're saying with the master cylinder, but wont that just give the "image" of stronger brakes? technically, you still wont have better brakes. you would just have better pedal feel. i dont even care if i had power assist at all, i just want more power. more assist would just mean i dont have to push the pedal as hard. it wouldnt make it stop any faster.

 

[410Fortune]

Thats true to a point, it will help reduce fade that we have with our smaller brake by applying more pressure with less effort (ignoring the heat).

The more pressure the harder you are going to compress the caliper. When you use Cobra brakes the master can be left alone, but with BAER or Brembro 4 piston calipers I would thinn kt he stock booster and master cyl would fall short......

Personally I love my 4 wheel discs, but that could be because its a BII and does not have the 4 doors, about #1000 less.....I run 33" muds and 4.10 gears with a L/S and ARB up front. I tow a #3500 Bayliner and the Explorer discs front and rear with carbon metallic pads work great!!!

 

[james t]

true... even with 33's you are still considerably lighter than a 4 door X... i know in street trim my 2WD weighs 4320 with a half a tank. i would imagine your B2 with 33's is no more than 3500 max. dont get me wrong, ive got powerslots w/performance friction pads front/rear, and they work pretty damn good for stock size stuff. i just would rather have some dinner plates on the front.

 

[PUR PONY]

I emailed troll but have not heard back yet. I dont know if he did any master cylinder upgrades or not for his 4 piston brembo's.... According to brembo on a mustang master cylinder the 4 pistons work fine.

 

[texplorer1994]

proportioning valves..

 

[blk mk8]

if you need any thing from us it is better to call us directly. we have to much email. you can call me on the number you have for me in the afternoons and if you want you can have my brothers cell phone although you wont get as far with him as you would with me.

 

[texplorer1994]

I know that in many cases it is cheaper to buy an entire rear end if you are going to swap gears as well as brakes, but what about those that want to swap out the drums. Is there a kit to change the drum to disc and are there performance brakes for those of us that are already disc in the rear. In regards to converting to disn in the rear, the line pressure has to be adjusted because drum require less pressure, right? Is a porportioning valve necessary and do the Xs that already have rear disc already have proportioning valves? Hey Rick...did you need to use a proportioning valve when you converted for a while? Unless I am mistaken Rick had 93 Cobra REAR brakes, but switched back to drum, because he changed axles or bolt patterns. Rick, was there a way to change the front bolt pattern but keep the 44 brakes? In theory you could have put on 35 outters and kept the same brakes right? Some of you with the 94 and older Explorers might want to consider 44 outers. They will fit on the Dana 35, but not on the new front end...to my knowledge. Finding the right deal at a junk yard would cost WWAAYYY less than Brembo or Baer or any other one. Does anyone know the size difference between the 94-older and 95-newer. I had a 94 and my 99 seems to have better brakes, but I have not had to work on them yet so I have not seen them. I do know I was always having problems with my 94 brakes.

 

[PUR PONY]

well the front right brake is off my X and the cobra front brake kit is 100% doable. But like stated above a custom brake caliper kit will need to be made offseting the caliper outwards.

This is only for a AWD/4x4..... however to do this on a 2wd..... I would switch to AWD spindles which will allow you to also use a cobra front brake kit.

 

[james t]

space it outwards? thats it? hell, just stack some washers...

 

[PUR PONY]

well since the rotor is going to be about 2" larger in Dia... the caliper must go upward also.

What I am going to do is machine a custom bracket so it puts the caliper is the exact loction it would on a 94+ mustang spindle. This way I can then bolt a factory 94+ cobra caliper bracket to my bracket.......

For now I am going to use the PBR cobra 2 piston calipers..... they are not going to be that much better then the factory 2 piston Explorer caliper but the extra 2" on the rotor will make a difference over the stock explorer brakes. Then down the road I can bolt on a set of brembo 4 piston calipers with the brembo mustang caliper brackets.....

does this make any sense??? lol

 

[james t]

yup, sure does. BTW, i hope you realize my "stacking washers" comment was just a joke, lol.

i think even though the Cobra calipers are only 2 piston you will still get a huge benefit from the extra rotor diameter. also, even though there are only 2 pistons, they are much bigger pistons than on the X...

 

[98svt]

let me know how the custom braket goes!!! if it works good, ill buy one from you or at least copy yours.....as far as i can see the ONLY thing holding us back from big brakes is a braket to hold the caliper..... so once one is made, we will all be able to use the mustang parts and any aftermarket brake parts for mustangs.....so let me know how ya make out with it....good luck and thanks for the help

 

[james t]

no, "we all" wont be able to use them. im 2WD. maybe one day ill try to get ahold of some AWD/4X4 spindles, hubs, etc.

 

[blk mk8]

the custome brake setup i did for troll will work on other 2wd trucks but it is big money but it is prove to stop pretty hard.

 

[PUR PONY]

On TROLL did you need to mod the master cylinder in anyway? or did you just bolt on the calipers, bleed it, and drive off??? any type of valve needed?


thanks

 

[PUR PONY]

just to let you guys know..... i found a cobra brake kit for sale brand new with cross drilled/slotted rotors, cobra calipers, brackets, and pads for $375......

its all brand new.... can be found at www.gefracing.com

I am going to order this and get to work on the custom brackets.

 

[FrankRizzo]

If you eyeball my template you can see the amount of offset you need to mount the PBR rotor (it's the difference between the two holes on the face). Refernce only...

 

[FrankRizzo]

Also - more FYI: the original Saleen XP8 brake kit was made by Alcon and used 4-piston calipers. Even though the PBR/Cobra/Baer kit in "only" two piston, if memory serves, the pistons are much larger than stock.

 

[Black Magic]

I wouldn't mind getting some bigger breaks too. I will be lurking arround here to see how it goes.