Lightnings came with super duty front brakes, same size rotors but thicker and vented, and SD calipers. Can anyone tell me if the SD calipers have more clamping force? The thicker rotors by themselves wouldn't make any difference as I'm not worried about fade, just feel and emergency stopping distance. Anybody upgraded to Lightning fronts?

 

the stock brakes have dual piston calipers. lightning are probably just larger pad surface which would clamp better i would think.

 

The Ls did NOT come with super duty brakes. The L's came with a thicker and larger diameter rotor, equivalent to what was used on the 7700lb capacity Light duty 250/heavy-duty 150, but with 5-lugs instead of 7. The caliper anchor plate is slightly different, but as far as I know, the caliper itself was the same as the standard F-150s.

-Joe

 

Thanks for the clear-up. I found about 10 sources that called them super duty brakes, but most were things like old reviews in Motor Trend articles so they could have easily been incorrectly named. Having the same calipers means no need to bother looking at L brakes as an option. I can't believe there aren't any reasonably priced upgrades for these trucks, only thing I've found is a Baer kit that has 14" rotors and relocates the stock calipers, but of course they've discontinued it.... Everything else is $1700, $1900, $3500, etc....

 

There are options, but they're limited to primarily other materials and pad compounds. Check out www.rotorpros.com for your (severely limited) options.

The other issue is that in order to accommodate any significantly larger (and hance, more useful_ brakes, you'd also need to run larger wheels and tires to fit them in there. The stock 16" rims are a tight squeeze, and most standard 15" wheels won't fit (although there are a few, but very few) over the OEM brakes to start with. THey really are physically almost as large as practical for the application, which makes their marginal performance quite disappointing.

-Joe

 

Most newer F150s come with 17s minimum, which will typically fit a 13" rotor just fine, but I've only seen one 13" kit available and its $1750.... I've got some Hawk HPS front pads that I've been waiting to install as I look for other options, I'm about ready to throw in the towel and just do the pads. If the fronts make a decent difference I'll do the rears too, though I don't expect much out of them....

 

if anybody is interested in doing the lighting front brake swap I went to a local ford dealer a couple months back trying to get them to put lighting front brakes onto my 2001 F-150 lariat Super Cab.

you need lighting spindles, rotors, callipers, calliper mounts, pads, bearings etc to make it all work properly and bolt right in.

but it is a possible swap.

 

Wow, thats a huge amount of pain for what really isn't much of an upgrade at all. Thicker rotors may resist fade a little better but doesn't sound like there's any hardware involved that would actually increase stopping power. Do you remember the total cost?

 

I think it was close to $850 for all the parts PLUS installation.

I did a cross check and the rear brakes are the same on all the 5 bolt F-150's I know from personal experience that the lightnings will out stop a regular F-150 and they do resist fade better in stop and go driving.

 

As I mentioned in my first reply, the rotors are both thicker AND a larger diameter. The larger diameter is what produces the greater stopping power, and also what necessitates the use of at least 18" wheels.

-Joe

 

I am running 20" harley truck wheels on both my trucks so when they need brakes I'll be doing the upgrade.

 

All the replacement rotors I've seen anywhere are the same size for L and reg. F150, 12.13 inch for fronts.. The L rotors are only thicker, which by itself does nothing for emergency braking. I'm not worried about fade, not planning to open track this whale.....

 

I could've sworn I remembered reading something in the sales literature about the larger diameter, but I guess not... I've been wrong before... this is hardly a first.

-Joe

 

Hey Guys,

I heard that you could put a set of F250 front rotors and calipers on a F150 as an upgrade with more stopping power. Ever hear of this? I would try it if possible.

 

Uuuuh, no.

The 4x4 LD-250 front hubs are 7-lug, and the Super-duty fronts are a completely different setup, and 8-lug. Not a chance.

-Joe