Whats this bracket for???

[Tony Raine]

just picked up this explorer axle for my bronco 2. i have been trying to figure out what these brackets are for. they aren't on my 01 sport's rear axle, i'm stumped. they aren't in the way of anything, so i'm just going to leave them. just curious.

oh yeah, did the the disk brake axles change at all over the years? visually, the only difference i see is that my '01 doesn't have that goofy sideways shock. so it should have the same rotors/brakes/axle seals, right???

thanks,
tony

 

[Turdle]

I think that is where the lower control arms (traction bars)-(drag link?) attach. V8's had them.

 

[Tony Raine]

thats makes sense. (even though i didn't know v8's had that). i knew ford didn't put outboard shock on these, plus the rub marks look too big to be shocks. i know a guy with a v8 ex, i'll take a look at his monday. i may use the bracket for a new mount for the metal/rubber brake line transition thing (don't know the real name), i'm not fond of how the brake lines are routed. i think i'll try to get another metal/rubber piece like the passenger side, for the drivers side, and bend new metal lines to meet in the middle.

speaking of brakes, how the heck do you get those rotors off? i think the inner drum thing is rusted to the pads.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

speaking of brakes, how the heck do you get those rotors off? i think the inner drum thing is rusted to the pads.

A whole bunch of PB blaster and a min 12" spread 2 or 3 jaw puller.

 

[gijoecam]

If the rotor is rusted to the axle flange, then yes, a puller will help. Tighten the puller as tight as you can make it, then give it a few good whacks with a hammer and it'll pop loose.

If it's the parking brake shoes hanging it up, you'll need to manually back them off. You do that through the backing plate just like you would on conventional drum brakes. The parking brakes are not self-adjusting.

If you can't get the adjuster to move, just grind the heads of the brake shoe pins through the backing plate. The shoes will fall right off then.

 

[Tony Raine]

thanks for the tips everyone! i've got it soaking in pb blaster since yesterday, and today i'm going to back off the adjusters.

i noticed the backing plates are bent up pretty good. are they necessary for sealing the drum from mud/water, or can i just take them off? i personally think they are pointless for discs, all they have ever done for me is make it harder to wash out mud.