I intend to put on disc brakes on the rear of my truck. It's a 1997 F150 with drum brakes. I'm wondering if there's a rear master cylinder needed to be fitted? Or will the current master cylinder work? The information I found so far only talks about gear ratios in the differential. Is there a benefit? Also the ABS valve is easily blocked, is there a better version that can be fitted easily?

 

Unless you are using this truck on a track, just leave it be with the rear drums.

They work fine.

When I had my '99 they were extremely reliable and needed a LOT less maintenance in my climate of sand and salt. I would take rear drums any day over rear discs....

 

I live in a non sand / salt environment. The truck has done >200k miles. I have all the service history from my late father-in-law. He kept everything. (not that there was much to keep). The rear brakes were never changed in its life. You may think that's a good thing, but I took a look at these brakes a couple of years ago and when I pulled off the drums everything was seized. It looked like the shoes had no wear at all on them. So after replacing the pistons and cleaning up the other mechanical bits and bobs I put on a brake bleeder only to discover that the ABS valve was clogged. I suspect either the pistons or the ABS valve had clogged/seized early on in its life, because there was no wear on the brake shoes at all. I'm thinking when that happened the front disc brakes did all the work. Now that it's been a few years the rear brakes are not kicking in again. So I'd rather just upgrade. Also from experience I've never had much luck with drum brakes in any cars or trucks I've had over the years. Granted I don't drive real fast so my stopping power doesn't need to be extreme, but I'd at least like to know a hard stop is there when I need it.

 

a rear master cylinder? i honestly think you need to stop

simply stop and leave the truck alone before you render it unusable

 

I wonder why disc brakes are even installed on the rear of our trucks because they build into the rotor drum brakes for the emergency brake????

 

Sigh, if someone could say something positive it would be greatly appreciated.

 

https://dufftuff.com/product/rear-di...-f150-1997-up/

Master cylinders are different too.

 

Check all the part numbers between your truck and a truck with rear disc brakes and go to a salvage yard and get all the parts you need to swap out. You might be able to check the part numbers on line. Just for info, you can buy a complete set of preformed stainless steel brake lines at the parts stores made by Dorman. I bought the set and the one long line I installed fit perfectly.

I once bought a used 79 V8 manual Mustang. That was the first year and they had a rear brake premature lockup problem. I found out that the NHTSA tried to get Ford to recall them but Ford refused but said they would fix the problem on any cars that consumers brought in with that complaint. I checked with both Ford dealers in my area and they denied all knowledge of the problem or Ford's "promise". One even said they called Ford "engineering" and they denied all knowledge. Sooo, I went to the dealer parts counter and checked all of the part numbers between the 79 and 80 Mustang. The only part number that was different was the proportioning valve. I installed the 80 part and fixed the problem.

 

Thank you. I'll head to the local scrapyard. And figure it out from there. I have a flare tool to make my own brake lines. I bought it for something else a while back. I haven't had much issues with Ford customer service here in Texas. Mainly because they only diagnose issues for me. They said they don't have parts for my truck anymore so they don't repair it. I like the truck. Real basic and reliable for the most part. Who doesn't like a cassette player? And I like the window wiper switch. You have about 10 selections on it. How cool is that? You don't get that nowadays. And a battery gauge. I like those. All things that car manufacturers think it's better without. The modern cars nowadays..Tsk tsk. I really hate those rearview cameras they install on modern cars. Makes it seem like the "lazy" driver is the way it's going. Would it kill ya to turn your head round to check what's behind yah? I can see why they use it for trailer hitch, but if I'm hitching I got the Mrs out to work doing the direction. Make her feel useful. No sense in her sitting there watching the bachelor or something stupid :|. Anyway that's my rant for today. Thanks again for the help!

 

I'm sure you know that brake lines have to be double flared?

 

it’s going to cost more than it’s worth, not to mention the research is already beyond your skill level.


to keep your six month project to a decent timeline I’d strongly urge you to just replace what you have