Brake upgrade options

[SMT]

Hello,

This is my first post on the forum.

I have a 2002 E350 EB Sportsmobile with a Quigley conversion that I purchased 1 year ago. I’ve been searching the forum and reading posts on the topic of brake upgrades. My current setup is what came from Quigley/Sportsmobile. I occasionally tow a track car (miata) on an aluminum open trailer and braking is subpar and at times downright scary. There have been many threads on this topic that I have read, however, I still have some questions.
1). Per Quigley, I have a K30 Dana 60 front axle. It looks like my only reasonable option short of an axle swap is to upgrade the rotor and/or pads. I’m not able to upgrade to the Ford ‘08 bigger brake kit correct?
2). Best options for pads for front and rear are Ford SD, Hawk SD?
3). Any other ideas that I failed to gain from the forum?

Thanks for your help. This forum has been very helpful to me so far.

[Twoxentrix]

Pads help, but you're a lot better off with larger rotors and calipers: Might consider Ujoint Offroad's SSBC Brake upgrade for 99-04 Fords (I know one member here just recently ordered it & had a local shop complete the work - very happy with the results)

https://www.ujointoffroad.com/produc...brake-upgrade/

There are several other similar options available out there, just need to conduct a search. But, if Chris is using the SSBC for his builds I believe in his research he's selected the best...consequently he's already done all the leg work for you.

[SMT]

Thanks for the info.

I emailed Chris earlier today and he stated that the SSBC kit will only work on Ford axles unfortunately.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by SMT

1). Per Quigley, I have a K30 Dana 60 front axle. It looks like my only reasonable option short of an axle swap is to upgrade the rotor and/or pads. I’m not able to upgrade to the Ford ‘08 bigger brake kit correct?

Sure, why not?

I have a 2008 E-350 with a kingpin Dana 60 front axle. It had Chevy calipers and rotors on it when I got it (installed by the 4WD converter). I have since upgraded to 2008+ calipers (which were on the van when new) and F-450 14" rotors. Dodge 3500 Rotors slip right on; the F-series rotors require drilling a new 8 x 6.5" lug pattern since all the F-series have been 8 on 170mm for a long time.

I had to design and fabricate new caliper brackets to do this conversion but it's very doable depending on your skill level. I recall one or two places selling caliper brackets to do an larger rotor upgrade but it's been years.

The K30 setup(at least the ones I just googled) looks exactly like my kingpin setup with 6 bolt spindle shafts, etc. I'm not an expert in axles but if you have an old school setup like this search for upgrade caliper brackets.

Here are the gory details of my upgrade (I've never done this before either):


..starting at post 192....


https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...-10808-20.html

[boywonder]

https://torqmotorsports.com/product/...rake-brackets/


https://northwestfab.com/products/fo...ke-bracket-kit


https://shopspeedhouse.com/parts/spe...-dmax-kit.html

[SMT]

Thanks for your input. I’ll spend some tome tonight looking at the sites you posted and hopefully put a comprehensive plan together for bigger brake setup.

[boywonder]

Originally Posted by SMT

Thanks for your input. I’ll spend some tome tonight looking at the sites you posted and hopefully put a comprehensive plan together for bigger brake setup.

I would crawl under the front axle and confirm that your caliper brackets bolt on like these and are not part of the knuckle casting.....Again I know little about 4WD axles but if the caliper hanger bosses are part of the cast knuckles then all of the above won't help you.

If you do have caliper brackets that bolt on behind the spindle shafts confirm that the spindles are held on by 6 bolts......that's Chevy/Dodge. The similar Ford style has 5 bolts.

[Steve C]

And following along... I also find braking to be hazardous, especially on city streets when those dang signals switch from green to yellow right before getting to the intersection. Good thing that traffic signals are rare where I live.

Please keep us updated to your progress SMT!

[SMT]

I’ve attached a picture of the Quigley front axle diagram. It looks like the caliper brackets might work based on what I’m seeing.

[boywonder]

Congratulations if that's what you have under the van .......Dana 60 kingpin! ....I would climb under and confirm before buying any parts. ...and also confirm that's it's a GM (6 spindle bolts).


Most any of the GM Kingpin Dana 60 caliper brackets will work. You just have to decide what calipers and rotors you want based on what combos are out there.