Little Shop Mfg Disc Brake Conversion for 1994 Ford F-150 - Installation Tips & Initial Impressions
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2021
- Update of my experiences with the Ford's brakes post-conversion:
• 1994 Ford F-150 Brake ...
Finally got tired of dealing with drum brakes and invested in a USA-designed and made disc brake conversion kit from Little Shop Mfg.
This video goes over my brief but exceptional experience with Little Shop as a company as well as giving you some tips which would have greatly shortened my install time.
Quick note on the grinder. While I don't recommend it, I had to pull the guard on my grinder in order to access the areas needed. Again - polycarbonate face shield. Also, I only had a grinding wheel and not a cut-off wheel on-hand, so that made the job slightly more difficult.
Little Shop doesn't have instructions for this kit yet. They provided me with a CAD drawing, some tips, and referenced C1500 instructions (starting at Step 10). These were enough to get me through the install.
Overall, I'm happy with the kit. Having only put on a dozen miles or so, I can't really recommend it yet, but so far so good - I would do it again.
Little Shop Rear Disc Brake Kit - www.littleshopmfg.com/ford-79... - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Just ordered this kit for my 84’ c10 I already cut the backing plates off, yes it was a pain but a fresh Diablo blade ripped right through. Looks like a good kit for the price
Just what I wanted, AWESOME vid!!!👍👍👍
Thanks for watching! Very glad I could help.
Great video just finish mine on a 1993 bronco thanks for your help
Thanks, Derek - really hope the process went well and that you've noticed a difference.
Very helpful video, Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback, Matt - really appreciate it! Finally going to get the brake bleeding procedure filmed and posted this coming weekend (I sincerely hope).
How much for this kit??
Looks like you have a 9" axle??
What for rotor is that from??
Im just asking because, I might just want the rotors.
Ask yourself what would Grumpy do
I just did the rear brake shoes on my 94 F150 5/22, took 45 minutes to replace both sides! got to be the easiest drum brakes in the world to work on.. 190,000 Mi is how long the original rear brakes lasted.. .
Just did mine and I get brake juddering when braking hard with the new drums and linings direct from China.Drum on drivers side seems out of round.Cheers from Canada
Is there any reason you didn't use a plasma cutter instead of the saw and grinder? And isn't there a cheaper kit which requires you to remove the axles? To me I would like to check my differential and put new quality fluid and gasket anyway. I would probably put new seals in too so everything is good for a long time. but thanks for showing us how its done. Greatly appreciated!!
Evening, sir. Thanks - happy to help! A plasma cutter would have been amazing - unfortunately that's still on the wish list. Maybe Santa will bring one this year : )
I don't believe there is a cheaper kit. The backing plate is the only thing which brings that into play. I completely agree that, if doing it again, I would pull axles. The diff maintenance needs done anyway, and would have about broken even on the labor.
Sweet, Thanks for the walkthrough. I bought a kit for my 1991 Econoline ( different vendor/manufacture but same calipers and stuff same principle) . My concern was mostly the E brake but this made me realize its pretty straight forward ( pending adjustment). Do you know that if you have a Rear ABS valve system that you need a proportioning valve? I've read on truck forums that the rear ABS acts as one so I wouldn't but not sure. Also how is it? Did you notice improved braking without upgrading master cylinder?
Hi, d s. Sorry for delay. I do have a great ABS module I had to replace. However, I'm not sure whether or not that acts as a proportioning valve. The rear brakes certainly seem to work, but I wouldn't say they are better than the drums. However, I've not towed with the truck since putting this kit on, and drums are typically as effective as discs until they get too hot. So I haven't pushed it to the point of telling a difference.
@@rckclmbr85 oh ok, yeah the ones in my kit are drilled/slotted so all 4 of my discs are now. Maybe that will help a bit. The 92+ econoline actually had dual piston calipers up front and I guess the spindle would have to be changed to ever do that but single piston all around. but yeah I have read that they're not going to be noticeably superior unless you upgrade the master cylinder which I believe is more capacity... Did you end up cycling the parking brake like to set the piston/pad distance to rotor? I'm glad someone posted that video I'd never seen that.. so at least I'll know. I doubled the horsepower of my van NA (yet to all be assembled) then was going with a supercharger so I had to upgrade a lot like I trussed the axle tube to tie in the pumpkin and got chromoly axles .. and this was a good alternative to a C clip eliminator ( which you cant seem to find for the vans axle hub is a little different.) but now the blower ( ironically ) I realized wasn't going to clear the master cylinder so back to NA but its still twice the power so I needed to do this. I mean maybe I'll look into which master cylinders work / brake booster etc. and possibly be able to do that before its all done and can report back .
2 years later (with slight Spanish accent) would you recommend installing a porportioning valve? 🤔
I didn't keep the truck, so don't have a long term review to offer. When I sold it, the brakes were working well without a proportioning valve (and the Little Shop instructions didn't recommend one). However, I never was able to do the parking-lot-lock-up-the-brakes test. I suspect that's going to be the only way to know for sure if you need one or not.
@@rckclmbr85 👍
Hey great video!! I am looking to do this on my 96 F150 as well. This may be answered elsewhere but see you are pretty active on responding. If you need to replace the rotor are they same as front or at least easy to get?
Evening, J. Had a similar question a couple days ago. I don't believe they are identical, but don't quote me. I still need to bleed them, and I'll get to that in the next couple of weeks. When I do, I'll pull part numbers for you. If you're in a hurry, Little Shop Mfg. replies insanely quick to emails, and I'm sure Skyler would know off the top of his head.
So far, even without bleeding them properly, I'm very glad I did it. So I'm expecting things to be even better once the excess air is purged.
Evening, J.
Not sure if you reached out to Little Shop or not, but there are no part numbers on the generic parts. I have a newer video on my brake saga, and I ended up upgrading to their Wilwood calipers.
In either case, the rotor size is 1.04" x ~296 mm. The latter was measured with the wheels on, so it's approximate, but any place, such as Napa, should have rotors that size available. Pads I'll be getting from Wilwood.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for making this video. Been thinking about doing this on my 91 F150. Any reason you couldn't flip the brake line bracket so it would reach on the drivers side? Is there a replacement caliper and rotor that can be sourced from a parts store in the future?
Evening, Joe. Sorry for the delay. Life's gotten a little crazy lately.
So, I don't think you could flip the bracket, but I do think you could likely take their bracket, cut the tab off, and weld your own tab to the other side (meaning "toward the rear of the vehicle"), and that would allow you some leeway in the brake line. That would also likely allow for easier brake bleeding, a process I still have properly tackled. They may be a separate video.
As for the parts, they are definitely readily-available off-the-shelf items, but I will try to get part numbers for you when I bleed them. Hopefully in a couple of weeks.
Evening, Joe. I dropped the ball on this response. Been a journey (see new video for details). Anyway, the rotors are 1.04" x ~296 mm. I measured the diameter with the wheels still on, so that's a little bit approximate. But any place, such as Napa, should have rotors that size.
There are no part numbers or names on the calipers or pads. I actually ended up upgrading to the Wilwoods. So I'll get pads from their website for the D154 calipers.
Hope this helps.
@@rckclmbr85 I'm pretty sure that the calipers used in most of these kits were for 1960s GTOs and such.
What did you do for a pro porting valve and emergency brake cables
Evening. The kit didn't recommend a proportioning valve, so I kept the factory setup. Brake performance was good without that adjustment. I do know that Summit sells one for conversion kits. Also used the factory e-brake cables.
@@rckclmbr85 ok thank you this helps a lot
those were really good backing plates, you could of changed the diff oil , pull the axles , unbolt the backing plates and put them up for sale online , get back some of your money , those of us who live in the rust belt would jump at a chance at those clean plates. thanks for the upload , I myself am considering this upgrade to my f350 .
Correct as I had stated
I have a question did you end up having to change your master cylinder or brake booster? everywhere I've seen it says you have to change the master cylinder as well I'm just trying to see if it's true cause i want to do this swap and also do you have any info on the parts kit like what vehicle would you have to look up if you needed to replace the rotors and pads?
Evening, Brannon.
I did change the master cylinder, but that was actually not needed - I was troubleshooting an issue. I have a second follow-up video I posted about this. It was quite a journey. I ended up going with the Wilwood calipers after I couldn't get the other ones to work correctly. However, if you check the comments on that video, it's possible I didn't have them adjusted correctly. Impossible to tell at this point. You shouldn't have to change the master cylinder; however, I have read some things about changing proportioning valves. I can't tell you whether that needs done or not - all I can say is that I think my brakes work acceptably and I didn't change anything with that system.
I believe the calipers that came with the kit are Right Stuff Detailing brand. However, that's not on the calipers anywhere and I don't know the part number. However, like I said, I ended up not keeping those and upgrading to the Wilwoods. Another video coming soon on the parking brake adventure.
The rotors that came with the kit are standard 11.75" x 1.04"; however, I'm not sure what the offsets are. I'll be pulling these again tomorrow, so I can check - there may be a part number on them.
So no axel swap, and no master cylinder swap? I’m liking to doing a conversion on a 97 f150 because the drum breaks on mine are absolutely terrible and no one can fix them.
Neither of those is needed, but you may want to consider a replacement proportioning valve. I did not do that on mine, as it was stopping fine, but I've seen other folks recommend it.
You may also want to view my two follow-up videos on this topic...it was quite a journey...
There are also a lot of useful content in the comments from other viewers. Some of their suggestions are things I did not try, so I couldn't verify if they would have addressed my issues or not.
@@rckclmbr85 thanks man I appreciate it a lot!
Did you ever finish adjusting your parking brake I plan on doing this to an off-road rig and I have a manual transmission so the e-brake is super important. Thanks for the video!
Evening, Chris. I never did get those calipers to work. However, I have a second video explaining some issues, and that has a lot of comments about what I may have done wrong as far as adjusting them. I can't verify, as I gave up and decided to use Wildwood calipers instead (and that's a whole other video you can check out, if desired). Video with the helpful comments:
czcams.com/video/Z5i01HkBHN8/video.html
Agreed - with a manual, the e-brakenis critical, so good luck on the conversion!
When it comes time to replace the pads and rotor how do you know what to buy?
Evening. An excellent question. I do wish Little Shop was a little more clear on replacement parts.
The rotors are 1.04" x ~296 mm. I'm 100% on the width, but the height was measured with the wheels still on, so I would call it "approximate". So basically you can buy any rotors that size (from, say, Napa).
So I have an updated video on my brake saga, and I ended up upgrading to Wilwood calipers. So for pads I'll just buy the Wilwoods off their site to match the D154 calipers.
Hope that helps, man.
Rotors are 1.04" x 11.75"
How come you did not use the black brake lines that come with the kit?, I’m looking at doing this to my 95 f150, just wondering.
Evening, Chuck. I actually did. The lines that come with the kit are just extensions that allow you to close the gap between the factory lines and new calipers.
Overall I'm still happy with the kit. I still have yet to properly bleed the brakes according to their special procedure. Which tells you they are working relatively well even without doing that. But I do want to do it properly someday soon, as the pedal is still just slightly squishy.
@@rckclmbr85 ok that’s good to know, thanks J.C.
Did you not use the supplied rubber brake hoses in the kit?
What issues were you experiencing with the drum brakes.My new drums and linings give shake and brake action.No-one in this corner of Canada turns drums anymore.Might try a known good used from a salvage yard.CHEERS from here! P.S. mine is 1995
Morning, Darryl. The passenger drum always got very hot - never could get it to act normally, even after having an actual mechanic check it out. Looking back, I definitely would have put more effort into it, though - the conversion was quite a chore and isn't even done yet, since I still don't have a parking brake. That project is being tackled this weekend. Should be interesting. I'll be posting a video of that build as well. Good luck on the salvage, and thanks for reaching out!
@@rckclmbr85 Got it! THANKS
Do you have to buy special pads when replacing from LSM or are they univerisal?
I believe they are Right Stuff calipers, so should be available from any seller of those (such as Summit Racing).
After the disc conversion, did you notice better braking power? since now you have disc brakes on rear instead of drums, please comment on that.
Morning. I admit that I have not really seen a huge improvement. I still have not bled them according to their procedure due to the PITA factor. I have not done heavy towing with the truck, and I don't drive it hard. All I can really say is that the truck stops and I'm still glad I did the conversion. I realize that's probably not too helpful. I wish I would have been able to do a before and after stopping distance test, but I didn't have access to a good place for that.
I definitely would have pulled the axles and replaced the seals and made this way easier and more cumplete. I would have left all the brake drum pieces in tact and unbolted the entire backing plate assembly and possibly sold it to recoup money.
The whole point of the conversion kit is so you don’t have to take the axles out . That’s what they claim on their website.
I'm with Mr. Middleton. If I could do it over again, I would pull the axles and keep the backing plates intact. I didn't realize they don't make those any longer - ones in good shape are worth something. And pulling the axles is easy compared to cutting the backing plates off.
@@rckclmbr85 Yes brother. We live and learn dont we. Ive done similar things that I regret but I just crack a beer and laugh about it.😆 I pulled mine off and put them on used victoria without a bite. Still sitting here all in great shape. I rewelded the pieces I cut off where it fits around the axle, so its all fully bolted and had to do other grinding modifications to get the bracket to fit on the inside weld of the axle plate and then had to shim the caliper and so forth. All works great and smooth. I also had to cut down the original ebrake cable to fit and grind a groove around the cable to fit the clip and then solder a round bar of stainless steel nugget on the end. Lots of work. More than what most guys are sayin. I have to replace the front cable and put in a mid way adjuster now because the ebrake is pretty weak.
@@GueroMendezZz Yep thats partially correct however youve got to get the old backing plates and shit off first my friend and most dont tell you that, so we have to begin there. And whilst doing so, you may as well change the gear oil, inspect the diff inside and replave the axle seals at the same time and possible axle bearings if you so choose. By the time I was done, it cost me 800 canadian to do the job and the cheapest parts came from the junk yard at 25$ a side. I used the mustang rear brake lines but im unhappy with them so im going to get some steel braided ones done up as well. I cleaned all my parts and gavicoat sprayed the calipers and other parts and copper never seized everything as well. I fucking despise corrosion. Especially here on the west coast.
@@quevicular Thank you for the context! These kits are way more work than the instructions make it seem. I'm about to post a video on the long and painful e-brake fabrication, installation, and adjustment process I've been going through. Finally got it sorted, I think. I didn't replace the cables, but that likely would have helped.
What will you do when you need to replace a seized caliper.? Will you forever have to go back to Little Shop for replacement.
I ended up switching to Wilwood calipers, as I never could the generics to bleed (see my follow-up video for more details). But generic replacements could be obtained from Little Shop or I believe Summit Racing has some that look identical. I do trust Little Shop to provide good customer service. Just couldn't get the generic calipers to work for me.
to which disc brake conversion kit did you use in the ford the normal one that you put in the link or the 9
Evening, Guillermo. Thanks for watching! I personally ended up with this kit with the red Wilwood calipers:
www.littleshopmfg.com/ford-80-96-f150-bronco-rear-disc-brakes/
I started with the parking brake calipers, but never could get them to work. See my follow up video and the comments - there are some helpful ones about adjusting the parking brake calipers if you go that route.
How much does that kit cost
For what is covered in this video, I think approximately $650. I have two additional videos up on this topic you may want to check out...
where can I buy the kit for my 1989 ford thanks
Hi, Berto - thanks for watching. I ordered directly from Little Shop's website, and they treated me very well.
littleshopmfg.com/
I would recommend watching my follow-up video on this topic and reading through the comments. Gives you an idea of what can go wrong and what you can do to fix some issues. I'm also getting ready to drop a video on fabricating custom parking brake brackets for the Wilwood kit.
Did u replace master cylinder?
Hi, Arnie. I did not. I've actually had quite a saga with the brakes recently. I've bled them according to the Little Machine Shop recommendations, and I'm convinced there's no air in the lines. I removed the factory master cylinder, tore it down, inspected everything, and bench bled it. Same pedal feel. So I think this weekend I'll be replacing it. I'll update you. Fingers crossed! : )
@@rckclmbr85 does ur vehicle have a porportiong valve? If u do u might need to replace it with disc/disc porportiong valve
Good day, sir. It does. It has this style proportioning valve:
www.partsgeek.com/catalog/1994/ford/f150/brake/brake_proportioning_valve.html
Expensive little buggers. What is the disc/disc style?
Never mind - disc / disc vs disc / drum - gotchya.
However, would the proportioning valve cause a pedal feel issue?
I think a plasma cutter would have made your life a lot easier
I have one now : )
Does your abs still work or is the light on forever.
Evening. ABS light works fine. I guess I'm not sure on the actual ABS. Haven't yet occasion for it to kick in. It was very unhappy after initial install, but after going through the unofficial bleed procedure, it stopped throwing an error. "Unofficial" meaning just a standard bleeding and not doing the "rotate-bleeder-valve-to-12-o'clock-position" procedure.
I know it is a little late, but my plasma cutter would have it cut in less than a minute.
I finally picked one up. Hoping to run the electrical circuit and air line this weekend or next.
@@rckclmbr85 I have a 1994 Ford F150 XLT Super Cab converted. Works great. By the way my Ford is the same color.
@@jlhomestead954 Love the truck. Really wish the brake conversion would have gone more smoothly. Still have to build the brackets for the separate parking brake calipers. Will post a video when I get to it.
Hopefully not LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
never make video again without showing the work