Full Suspension and Brake rebuild w/disc swap

[tylerb43]

So I’m to the point in my project where I need to lean on you guys for a little advice and knowledge. I’ve got a ’69 F100 Ranger 2WD, non-power drum truck. I’m putting the suspension back together and I’ll be totally rebuilding the braking system, including swapping in a disc brake front end from a ’73 F100 with the booster and brackets from a ’69 F100 donor that had power drums.

Rear - So far I’ve bought:
Hardware kit including the adjuster hardware
Wheel Cylinders
Drums
Shoes
Monroe shocks
Brake Hose
Energy Suspension 4.2139G Bushing kit (I have the Flex-o-matic shackles) any tips on installing these?

What I need:
Fabricate brake lines
Shackle Bolts – can’t seem to find them anywhere, and I struck out at the hardware store matching up to the old ones. Any ideas?
Parking Brake Cables – I can’t find the RH one, apparently no one makes it. Both cables on my ’69 donor look good but I haven’t taken its drums off yet. Any concern with using these if they’re in decent shape?

Front – So far I’ve got:
Complete suspension from ’73 donor including coils
New LH and RH Brake hoses for a ‘73
New LH and RH Rotors for a ‘73
LH and RH Brake hose brackets from ’73 donor
New Brake Pad set
New Monroe shocks
Brake proportioning valve with bracket from ’73 donor
Brake booster from ’69 donor with power drums with firewall brackets
Energy Suspension Axle pivot bushing set
Energy Suspension Swing arm bushing set

What I need:
Calipers (plan on O’Reillys)
Wheels bearings (plan on O’Reillys)
Fabricate brake lines
Master cylinder – I assume I need a master for a ’73 with power disc/drum? Will it mate to the ’69 booster?
I’m told I need the steering box and pitman arm off the donor ’73 to dodge any potential issues with that, that’s a direct bolt-in replacement, right?

And regarding the proportioning valve, where to mount it? It doesn’t look like it will fit where it was on the ’73. I’ve seen some pictures that look like the valve mounted to the top of the steering box (without the frame bracket of course) Is this what’s recommended, or was this a factory position on some of the later dentsides?

I know I have a ton of questions, but if you guys can start helping me knocking them out, I’d really appreciate the help!

[thorn1968]

The '73 disk master will bolt up to a '69 power booster. I just did it. 7/16" fitting for the rear brakes and 1/2" fitting for the front brakes. I ended up using a 7/16" to 3/8" reducer on my master and reflaring the hard line for the back brakes with a 3/8" fitting. I'll fix it later when I replace the hard lines. I can't help you with the rest, cause mine was already converted, although incorrectly. They had left the drum master on my truck which resulted in locking front brakes, pads that wore out prematurely, and warped/undersized rotors. Oh yeah, and they hadn't used the correct hoses as they didn't use the '73 hose/frame mounts.

Your list looks complete...now you just need to decide if you want metal or composite pistons for the calipers.

[72stepside]

Go to the Project Updates section and do a search for "Uncle Fester" and you can see in my thread how I replaced the rear Flex-O-Matic bushings.

[fordman]

for the master all yo have to do is remove the little restrictor inside of the fitting on the rear master. if it is a large and small resivor master. if they are equal in size you need a different master.

[tylerb43]

Thanks for the responses guys, I have a couple answers so far, I'll post up some pics as I get going. This place has been such a huge help, so the least I can do is try to return the favor.

Metal or composite pistons? Really? Looks like I've got some more searching to do on that subject..

And Chris, wow, thanks for pointing me to your thread, I can definitely use a lot of the information there for my build. Did you just reuse your shackle bolts? Mine are really worn, so they're not going back in.

Thanks! - Ty

[fordman]

i would go metal. they can rust. but composite isnt as good.

[67mann]

And Chris, wow, thanks for pointing me to your thread, I can definitely use a lot of the information there for my build. Did you just reuse your shackle bolts? Mine are really worn, so they're not going back in.Thanks! - Ty

http://npd.dirxion.com/WebProject.asp?B ... flx&from=2

Don't make this mistake


Paint them or some kinda treatment

[72stepside]

And Chris, wow, thanks for pointing me to your thread, I can definitely use a lot of the information there for my build. Did you just reuse your shackle bolts? Mine are really worn, so they're not going back in.

Thanks! - Ty

Mine were fine so I reused them. Change them if your's are bad.

And yes, paint your caliper. I had to go back and do mine on the F250 cause it looked like crap.

[69rangerf100]

one thing that i noticed that you dont have on your list is a new king pin set this would be a good idea to do aswell i disassembled both my 73 donor and my 69 front end and was actually able to use the 69 suspension and just swap out the spindles. just an idea to consider

[tylerb43]

Ah, David - I knew someone would ding me on the lack of king pin replacement. I've decided to leave them alone as I couldn't feel any play in them at all. They rotate smooth and tight. I just don't see the justification unless someone can convince me that it's totally asinine not to. I'm also reusing the coil springs from the donor '73, which is being discussed over on my build thread.

Oh - and 67mann, I bought some high-temp caliper paint from Eastwood that I'm going to try, thanks for the tip!

Here's one side as removed from the donor:


Here's the pair stripped, cleaned up and painted with EW Chassis Black:


More pictures over on the build thread...

[tylerb43]

Oh, and I checked with NPD on the shackle bolts, they are out of stock on the ones for my truck, and may not have them again. WTF. I guess I'll just wait for my bushing kit to get here and then find something that will work. I new Fastenal store just opened, it's on my drive home, I may check with them after I have the bushings in-hand.

[69rangerf100]

Oh, and I checked with NPD on the shackle bolts, they are out of stock on the ones for my truck, and may not have them again. WTF. I guess I'll just wait for my bushing kit to get here and then find something that will work. I new Fastenal store just opened, it's on my drive home, I may check with them after I have the bushings in-hand.

thats what i did except i went to ACE Hardware and got some grade 8 bolts that match the shackle bolts i think i paid 2.75 for all 4 bolts

[fordman]

the reason to replace the kingpins now. is becaue it might be easier than doing it later. but then it might be just as easy if it was mounted in the truck too.

[tylerb43]

Okay guys, I've got the front suspension back together, installed the new poly swing arm bushings, and bolted it to the frame. Kind of a pain doing it by yourself, had to use more of the supplied lube to get the end of the swing arm bushing (I-beam) to slide up into the hanger on the frame. Then you have to wrestle it a little to get the hole lined up perfectly for the bolt to go through. But I got it there.

Then I moved on to the rear suspension. To remove the old spring eye bushings (all 8 of them!), I used a 1.25" hole saw and cut out the rubber, and with it came the inner metal sleeves. -The smell of burning rubber reminded me why I need to stay focused and finish this project!

I then used the sawzall to cut a slice in the outer metal sleeve, then employed the air chisel to fold up and push out the sleeve with the help of some PB Blaster. I cleaned up the ID of all the eyes with a die grinder stone to ensure a smooth surface. The new poly bushings (Energy Suspension 4.2139G) went in fairly easily with ample amounts of the supplied lubricant again. Used a C-clamp to seat them fully, and then installed the 9/16-13x4" bolts (grade 8 - $3.20 per bolt!) I found to replace the very worn originals.

I was then able to install the new rear brake hose and shocks (Monroe Gas-matics).

I starting working on the rear brakes last night, and ran into a road block. It seems during the teardown and cleanup, I swept up 3 small brake parts that do not come in the new kit! I'm not sure where to get these now. I'm missing 1 wheel cylinder plunger, 1 spring, and 1 spring retainer.

I'll get some pictures up later to show you guys the progress!

[67mann]

I starting working on the rear brakes last night, and ran into a road block. It seems during the teardown and cleanup, I swept up 3 small brake parts that do not come in the new kit! I'm not sure where to get these now. I'm missing 1 wheel cylinder plunger, 1 spring, and 1 spring retainer.

Here check out my post in this trhead http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =5&t=56169

Don't know about the plunger I may still have my original brake parts or someone might