Rear disc upgrade! February 28, 2005, 02:25:33 AM I plan to upgrade the brakes on the car. I was thinking of doing a fuul 4-wheel disc upgrade! The tech article on coolcats helped alot for the front brakes alot, but not much for the rear. I plan on keeping the car 4-lug. I will try to find an 87-88 Turbo Coupe as a donar car and try to use the system off of that. I think the rear disc setup can bolt right on to the 8.8 I already have in the car all I might have to change is the brake lines. And what master cylinder would work good with this set-up, don't know if the one in the tech article would work.BTW, I am going EBC all the way around, Sport rotors and GreenStuff pads. Last I checked they still made that stuff for a Turbo Coupe, they even make rotors and pads for the stock application. Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #1 – February 28, 2005, 02:36:20 AM I have a question that kinda goes alongwith this, if you already can lock up the back tires, inst it pretty much useless to upgrade to disk brakes, minus the heat disipation proporties? Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #2 – February 28, 2005, 09:51:34 AM K, the reason there's not much info on bolt-on rear disc upgrades is that most people are not starting out with an 8.8" rear....they usually have a 7.5" stock. So for most people, swapping in a complete Turbo Coupe rear end is the ultimate answer.Now for those that do have the 8.8" rear it's pretty simple to do the rear disc swap. The problem now is that finding all the parts in one place is much more difficult. Ford Motorsport used to have all the Turbo Coupe parts in one kit. I'm not sure if they still do though. However, I just got an e-mail from a dude that put rear discs on his Jeep CJ, and the kit used Turbo Coupe parts. I think SSBC has that kit still. The FMS kit was primarily aimed at Fox Mustang owners who wanted to upgrade. They probably didn't know it was all Turbo Coupe parts, but that's exactly what they were.Anyhow, if you find all the parts, here's what you need to do:- Remove your backing plate for the drums, and then unbolt the brackets that the backing plates bolt to.- The bracket you need to hold on the rear disc caliper brackets is welded onto the Turbo Coupe rear. That's the toughest part to find. Again, FMS used to sell adapter plates for that which bolted on, but you could only get that in their full rear disc conversion kit. I have not seen those sold separately. If you're creative you can fabricate them and weld them on, but you would still need a TC part for the pattern. You can probably scour eBay or the Internet for more info on that.- Once you procure that part and weld it on, then you can bolt up all of the brake components. You may need to use adapters for the brake lines, and there may be additional small welding needed to keep some parts stable (i.e. brackets for the rear disc hoses to bolt to). I believe you can reuse your axle shafts.Rear discs are fantastic for stopping quickly, repeatedly. They're perfect for autocrossing and road racing events. But they also have great advantages on the street. Most people have better pedal feel, more confident braking, and shorter stopping distances with rear discs. And with an adjustable proportioning valve, you can set the front/rear bias manually for precision braking. Also, discs are less pr0ne to brake fade (where the pedal gets mushier as you repeatedly brake). Discs are much more efficient at braking than drums ever will be. Which was is easier to stop an object in motion, pushing out (drums) or clamping down (discs)? The rear discs just work better. But they also require a bit more maintenance, especially with the TC setup, to make sure they're properly adjusted and not binding, or that rust hasn't penetrated any of the parts. I think most people tend to agree that the extra maintenance is worth the effort though.Another thing to consider: these cars are pretty heavy. The standard 9" drums were the same used on the lighter Mustang, and those weren't good for that car, lighter in all respects. Although the 10" drums in our later cars was an improvement, they still didn't have enough clamping force to haul these cars down in a performance-oriented way (and neither did the measly 10" front discs, for that matter). So anything you can do to improve braking--pads, upgrades, whatever--will always be to your benefit on the track, on the road course, and especially on the street. Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #3 – February 28, 2005, 10:14:50 AM Eric - what kind of maintenance should be done to them? I have had the rear in for about a year, and they seem to be fine. I am just wondering if I need to do any preventative maintenance to them. Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #4 – February 28, 2005, 10:28:10 AM Okay, what you need to do is inspect the rubber boots over the slider pins. Make sure the boots are intact, pliant and not torn. Once they're torn, water gets down onto the pins and makes them rust into the caliper brackets. Also make sure that the pins are well greased. I usually recommend inspecting the boots at every oil change, or every other oil change (twice a year minimum).Also, you have to remember to use your emergency brake more often. This helps keep the rear brakes adjusted properly. Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #5 – February 28, 2005, 10:29:36 AM with the TC brakes, a common thing is for the slider pins to lock up, mine actually did recently, causing my car to eject the pad and grind my rotorid say once a year or so, it would be a good idea to pull the brakes apart, and clean and regrease the slider pins Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #6 – February 28, 2005, 09:00:08 PM Thanks for the info Eric, But one think is the Master cylinder. What would be a good one for this application? Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #7 – February 28, 2005, 10:56:08 PM You need a 1984-ish Crown Vic police package master cylinder. It's just like yours in shape, except it's about 30% larger and has a larger bore. More fluid out for the rear discs is a good thing. Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #8 – March 14, 2005, 03:19:32 PM Quote from: EricCoolCatsYou need a 1984-ish Crown Vic police package master cylinder. It's just like yours in shape, except it's about 30% larger and has a larger bore. More fluid out for the rear discs is a good thing. Would SN-95 parts (master cylinder and brake booster) be a good answer also? Quote Selected
Re: Rear disc upgrade! Reply #9 – March 14, 2005, 04:10:38 PM Booster from an SN95 is good. I cannot remember if the 5.0 cars had the Hydroboost or not...if so that won't work. Quote Selected
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