[baddbob]

I've recently finished setting up a Ford nine inch rearend for use in my Son's 70 Nova and we plan to use the 95-01 Ford explorer rear disc brakes. I scored the whole setup from a salvage yard for $150! New replacement rotors were only $17 each. The Ford calipers look to have a 1 7/8" diameter piston and the car has the factory front discs already installed. My questions are: is there anyone else here running this setup? How do they like it? and will I need to install a larger master cylinder? Make changes to the proportioning valve or install an aftermarket adjustable? Someone recently told me the car won't need a proportioning valve. Brake modifications are new to me and I'm hoping to get it right the first time. Bob

[Littlered wagon]

Don't use them!The axle flange is to small on the Ford and the bolt pattern on the Chevrolet is 4.75 where as the ford is 4.5 it does not leave alot of matereal on the outside of the flange plus the register is different and the standout also use Corvette roters instead.( I've got a setup like you want to do off of E-bay money not well spent!)

[baddbob]

Well, we've already narrowed the housing and specd it out for use with the explorer brakes, and the wheels we have are the Ford 4.5" bolt pattern. The housing has been built with the Ford large bearings and the pattern is exactly the same as the backing plate/caliper mount on the explorer setup. I don't see any fitament problems. You must have the small bearing ends on your setup which won't work.

[yesgo]

If they do fit, that caliper piston is pretty small for your setup. You probably wont get much braking action back there compared to the original drums. I seriously doubt you would need a prop valve.

[baddbob]

They gotta be way better than the stock drums, heck they stop a 4000lb suv with ease and the stock drum wheelcylinders are much smaller in diameter 1" ? I guess nobody here must be using them, or I posted this in the wrong section?

[yesgo]

It's not about how much weight they will stop. It's about front to rear relationship.

[baddbob]

So basically you're saying if I take brakes from a 1 ton dually pickup and install them on a vega the stock vega brakes will stop the car quicker because they may have a better front to rear relationship? ya right. I realize proportioning and weight transfer does factor into the equation but clamping power must be there first for the brakes to work.

I think the setup should work well, front calipers have pistons that are 2 1/4 inches in diameter and the rears have 1 7/8, both with 11 inch rotors.

[yesgo]

I'm not saying you made a horrible decision, just that it might not be much of an upgrade, and might actually be the opposite. I'm just trying to help.

If the Explorer rear rotor has a larger diameter than your front rotor, then the balance might be fine.
Otherwise, your caliper relationship is about 2.5:1/front:rear. Compare that to every other vehicle on the road with 4wl disc... they range from ~1.5:1-1.8:1. The Explorer had 1.8:1. Your OE Nova front caliper piston area is larger than the Explorer front, but the Explorer ran a slightly higher line pressure, and might have had larger rotors... I don't know.

If, once you have the swap complete, you think it could use a little more work out of the rear, Howe makes a few calipers which are bolt-on replacements for your front caliper, but have less piston area, like the Explorer front.
Then you would also need to run a slightly smaller master for higher line pressure.

If you find the balance is fine for you, great. That's okay with me.

As far as clamping power, the Vega and the 1ton have about the same because the Vega runs a higher line pressure. The 1ton has larger brakes for better leverage, wear, and cooling. Were you talking front, rear, or both? If only front or rear, then yes, the Vega brakes would stop the car better. The other might put it in a spin. Tires stop the car, brakes stop the tire. If you want short stopping distances, you need good tires. If the brakes overheat, you need better brakes.

[yesgo]

Oh, I just read the part about the 2.25" front caliper and rear 11" rotor.

I guess you are already running a smaller caliper up front than stock. The stock one was 2 15/16" which has an area of 6.8sq". A 2.25" piston only has an area of almost 4sq". So you will need a proportioning valve, as your front:rear would be 1.4:1, similar to a 79 T/A, and you will need/have a 7/8" master to match those smaller front calipers. Sorry. I thought you were running stock fronts with a 1.125" master.

Drum brakes don't need big pistons or high line pressure to get braking torque. They self energize. They are tempermental and can fade more easily though, esp up front.

Pie are square

[baddbob]

the car does have the stock front disc setup-I thought they were 2.25 diameter. Are they 2 15/16? I need to research this more I guess.