Making 78/79 Ford Hp 60 brakes better

[truckin222]

Mods move this to noob if you'd prefer.

I'm looking for experience/suggestions with different brake setup for a 78/79 front Ford D60.


My current axle still has the giant 2 piston calipers. Probably original?
The pistons were seized up, I freed them, likely seized again. My brakes suck...
I had to grind the shit out of them to fit my 15" wheels.
17" wheels may be in my future, but are not in the budget currently.

I'm looking at possibly going with a kit from this guy.
https://lugnut4x4.com/product/76-97-ford-dana-60-disc-brake-kit/
Seems pretty good at $300.


The other option is to just replace the 2 piston with some reman calipers.
The brackets I had to grind unbolt from the caliper halves, but they've been togther since the Carter administration and I have a feeling it's permanant...

My budget is not large, but I take my 6yo out with me and safety is definitely a concern.

Rest of the system is D60 rear with chevy 1 ton discs/calipers and a stock J-10 master/booster if you think this is relevant...


Thanks

 

[blakes]

what kind of rig is this?

I have a J10 on GM D60/14 bolt stock master cylinder, disc brakes front/rear on 42's. I don't have much to add to the thread other than saying that my brakes are really really good. I never even messed with the proportioning valve or anything like that.

Maybe slap some new calipers in there and see how that works?

 

[truckin222]

It's basically a cab truck. Trail only although putting a tag back on it may happen sometime.
I'd just go with new calipers but there is so much grinding involved that the GM "upgrade" may be worth it.

Your front factory GM stuff, it is single piston right?

That is what the kit I'm looking at uses...

 

[Toreadorranger]

Can you clear the calipers with your current wheel setup with a set of spacers? Maybe run them till you upgrade to 17s? then throw on a set of new calipers.

 

[blakes]

It's basically a cab truck. Trail only although putting a tag back on it may happen sometime.
I'd just go with new calipers but there is so much grinding involved that the GM "upgrade" may be worth it.

Your front factory GM stuff, it is single piston right?

That is what the kit I'm looking at uses...

Your rig sounds pretty much like mine.

I built mine about 10 years ago and honestly don't remember what kind of calipers I have. I do know that in 10+ years of wheeling that I've never had to mess with or replace the front brakes. I've had to replace the 14 bolt disc brake pads a few times, but never the front.


Sorry I'm not much help, but I do believe the stock D60 disc brakes are really good and I wouldn't consider changing them.

edit: I'm running 17" H2 wheels. No clearance issues at all.

 

[ManNamedJed]

I've fought brake issues on a few rigs. I feel its important they stop quickly and safely on the street. I've replaced specific components and not been happy with the result. I've pondered various brake upgrade kits. If its an older rig with a fair number of miles, what I end up doing that has worked well is to just replace the whole system at once with decent quality new/reman stuff. New master cylinder, calipers, rotors, drums, wheel cylinders. For pads I've used the Hawk 'HPS' street pads. For the other stuff Centric has worked well.

 

[DannyK]

Mods move this to noob if you'd prefer.

I'm looking for experience/suggestions with different brake setup for a 78/79 front Ford D60.


My current axle still has the giant 2 piston calipers. Probably original?
The pistons were seized up, I freed them, likely seized again. My brakes suck...
I had to grind the shit out of them to fit my 15" wheels.
17" wheels may be in my future, but are not in the budget currently.

I'm looking at possibly going with a kit from this guy.
https://lugnut4x4.com/product/76-97-ford-dana-60-disc-brake-kit/
Seems pretty good at $300.


The other option is to just replace the 2 piston with some reman calipers.
The brackets I had to grind unbolt from the caliper halves, but they've been togther since the Carter administration and I have a feeling it's permanant...

My budget is not large, but I take my 6yo out with me and safety is definitely a concern.

Rest of the system is D60 rear with chevy 1 ton discs/calipers and a stock J-10 master/booster if you think this is relevant...


Thanks

I have the same axle as you do. I use to run it in my old Ford Ranger cab truck 15 yrs ago. The axle had been sitting for many years, and I recently went through it in order to put it in my Jeep and decided to freshen everything up. I couldn't easily find rebuilt calipers on the shelf for the 78-79 Ford D60 at my local parts stores, so I bought the kit from Lugnut4x4. I stepped up to the larger calipers that he offers because why not right? The kit was very complete and everything looks high quality. I haven't finished the rig yet to give any feedback on performance though.

 

[ANGELO]

Hydro boost. Make sure the rest of the brake system is fine, but hydro boost makes a huge difference

 

[JohnnyJ]

I had a variation of the lugnut kit on a 78/79 ford d60. There was a guy selling caliper brackets on ebay at the time. Lugnut seems like a good deal for $300 if you are getting brackets, rotors, calipers, and pads.

 

[truckin222]

Thanks for the feedback guys.
I just ordered the Lugnut kit plus replacement rotors for the rear (They are highly suspect too).
I'll update once it's all done.
Tryin to make a ride 3rd week of July.
Fingers crossed...