Rear brake upgrade

[J_Train]

oh another thing to think about with the ranger caliper brackets. if they are like the mustang caliper brackets they may not fit our explorer axles due to the larger diameter axle tubes. explorer has a big bearing style 8.8 if I'm not mistaken, and a different bolt pattern whether that be orientation or diameter. that goes for the mustang caliper brackets too.

 

[Spudhut]

Will this mod done by @VR4 work for any 2nd Gen Explorer? I certainly like the bigger rotor and since I have to replace my rotors/calipers anyways, this would be a good addition. By looking at the picture, its hard to believe the stock rotors are that small...

 

[CDW6212R]

To upgrade the rotor to the larger 11.6" size, and thicker too(vented not solid), the calipers need to be upgraded(pads too), so which one and which backing plate is the question.

Eyeballing the bolt pattern of the CV it looks the same, I'll measure it to document that. I first saw that the CV parking brake cable/connection cannot work on the Explorers, so I stopped looking or measuring after that. I doubt the Explorer caliper(2nd or 3rd gen) will bolt to the 2nd gen backing plate, and mount well onto the bigger rotors. The caliper needs to be out farther by 3/8" or half the rotor change amount.

The 2010/11 Ranger rotor and calipers are very good parts to upgrade to. I think the best solution is to also buy the backing plate with the parking brakes on it. I'll double check the bolt pattern of my CV parts, but I think it's going to match.

 

[J_Train]

CDW6212R you ever look into the backing plate stuff? I'm going to measure some other backing plates I have here at work and see what's what.

 

[CDW6212R]

CDW6212R you ever look into the backing plate stuff? I'm going to measure some other backing plates I have here at work and see what's what.

Sorry, I haven't had time to check locally for a 2010/11 Ranger. On eBay I saw a couple that would have been near $200 to get the backing plate etc. I think if I find one here, it'll be the labor to pull the axles, and maybe $60 or so.

I did check for rotors, and there aren't great non stock choices for that later Ranger. I saw two on Rock Auto that would be about $55 a pair, or $65 each for what might be the best quality. I was hoping to discover that I could use the Marauder rear rotors on the Ranger backing plate, but I have to have the parts to check with. As I mentioned before, the rear rotors are very close in dimensions between the 03-10 Crown Vics, 94-04 Cobras, and the 2010/11 Ranger. I think Ford just made minor changes to use the similar rotors with different calipers, and the parking brake cable style of the Crown Vic's.

 

[J_Train]

I may go to a salvage yard one of these days I'm off and its not raining and bring my digital micrometer and check sizing if they have a disc brake ranger. Don't have to worry about the explorers they always have them lol.

 

[MetricMuscle]

Sorry, I haven't had time to check locally for a 2010/11 Ranger. On eBay I saw a couple that would have been near $200 to get the backing plate etc. I think if I find one here, it'll be the labor to pull the axles, and maybe $60 or so.

I did check for rotors, and there aren't great non stock choices for that later Ranger. I saw two on Rock Auto that would be about $55 a pair, or $65 each for what might be the best quality. I was hoping to discover that I could use the Marauder rear rotors on the Ranger backing plate, but I have to have the parts to check with. As I mentioned before, the rear rotors are very close in dimensions between the 03-10 Crown Vics, 94-04 Cobras, and the 2010/11 Ranger. I think Ford just made minor changes to use the similar rotors with different calipers, and the parking brake cable style of the Crown Vic's.

I see in your signature you have 12.75" x 1.375" rotors, I am assuming on the front. Is this upgrade documented somewhere?

 

[CDW6212R]

I see in your signature you have 12.75" x 1.375" rotors, I am assuming on the front. Is this upgrade documented somewhere?

It is somewhere, I've posted pictures of the parts in many threads. I'm swapping these to my 99 mail truck soon, and before Winter I'll adapt a bigger caliper to a similar rotor.

The idea of a cheap upgrade died during my research. There isn't any caliper big enough in OEM choices, thus cheap, plus a rotor that can also be feasible, to match our stock rotor offsets. So it takes a special rotor hat($200 each ish), calipers over $350 each, rotor discs run $150+ each, a custom bracket, and brake lines, bolts etc. I'll end up with easily $1600+ in the next version.

Big brakes aren't feasible for most trucks, you have to have high stress usage, towing or delivering mail, very heavy wheels etc. The 2001 Sport/Sport Trac front brakes are easy upgrades, just swap spindles and get an alignment. That gains one inch of rotor size(same caliper). The stock brakes are very good, only my mail truck is hurting the pads etc, occasionally.

 

[Spudhut]

What about the rear...has this been 'hashed' out to a definitive combination?

 

[MetricMuscle]

So the cost effective brake upgrade is Sport Trac front and 2010-11 Ranger Rear?

The fronts require a change to the 2001+ Sport Trac knuckle and rotor, the rears require the 2010-2011 Ranger rear rotor and caliper using...….Explorer pads?

Thank you to all of the folks who did the research and experimentation to figure this all out.

 

[boominXplorer]

Just finished this conversion on my 01 ranger with 2nd gen explorer rear axle. It is not for the novice as it has to be setup perfectly to work. You have to grind the backing plate to get the rotors to fit and I cut the little ear off the caliper to get the brake line to bolt up. You also have to cut the shims in the center or the rotor will rub against it. The outboard pad barely rests on the edge of the shim. The rotors are about .5" larger in diameter also. Looking at VR4's pic it doesn't look like he had to trim the shims where I did. There might be a diff between manufacturers, I used autozone duralast max rotors. Pictures were taken before brake hose was installed and calipers pumped up so the outboard pad came in some but its still close to edge

The 2010+ ranger backing plate wont work, Its just like the crown vic as its 90* off from bolting up correctly. All in all I don't think I'll do it to another truck, I just already had ordered the parts and painted the calipers so there wasn't much turning back. I don't notice any better stopping power but I'm sure brake fade is reduced. I was running stock 2nd gen rotors with 3rd gen calipers and pads which is as good as you can get for "bolt-on"

 

[Spudhut]

Thanks @boominXplorer. Great information.

 

[CDW6212R]

boomin is correct, I finally got my eyes on the 2010/11 Ranger rear brakes. The whole setup is like the 03-06 Crown Vic, the parking brake cable comes in 90* from the backing plate, above or below, which interferes with our rearend(frame above or leafs below). It works on the Ranger because those have the leafs above the rear, you can use those brakes if you have mount the leafs above to gain lift. Then it just takes welding a mounting tab on the rear to hold the parking brake cable.

Those pictures above look to be the best upgrade for rear brakes, but obviously the gain is minimal and it does take a little work.

I'm in a similar boat as boomin, I already bought the Crown Vic rear brakes ages ago, and a rotor/pad kit later. So I'll have to redrill the backing plates, and get a bracket to weld to my rear housing. That will work for my 99 mail truck, but I won't do it again.

 

[MetricMuscle]

Just for clarification and to summarize or in case I missed it somewhere:

What pads work in the Ranger calipers when mounted on a 2nd gen and using the vented Ranger rotors?

What sporty looking drilled and/or slotted rear Ranger rotors are available aftermarket and are good quality?

What rear brake lines work to correct the fitment issue?

Much thanks to all of the trailblazin' pioneers who have figured all of this out for us!!