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Ranger/Explorer FRONT brakes upgrade


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Tee Rev

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way thank you sir.

i'm going to look myself but i assume that the rotors are different and the ball joints are the same.

that would be a bummer seems as how i just replaced them(rotors not ball joints)
The rotors will probably work fine. The actual spindle hasn't changed, just the knuckle. Even the new Rangers use the same spindle.

As for the other stuff, I take a stock rotor & machine it down to a hub that will accept the Cobra 13" hat style rotor. I also machine billet aluminum caliper brackets for the I-beam & SLA Rangers that mount the Cobra/PBR two piston calipers.
 


pssnmn1

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rat_ranger

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take a look at the cardomain link in my sig. its got a couple pics of the cobra brakes installed. It is a bolt on deal and works pretty good. big thing is you need 17s to clear them.
 

pssnmn1

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thanks but not looking to go quite that crazy
 

fordxranger

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Question: I have a 92 explorer d35 going into my 89 ranger, I want to know if the brake rotors/spindle/jeep hubs will work on the 95-97 knuckles? Im getting a set of new rotors and pads for the 1992, and i'm not yet ready to start on the 95-97 knuckle swap cause I can't find any in my area without buying a whole truck. so if the rotors won't change over I'll most likely just resurface the ones I have and run them till I get a 95-97 setup.
 
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AllanD

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No, the 1995-97 rotors are different, the "hat" of the rotor is shorter.

In essence the friction disc has been moved outwards relative to
the bearings by approximatly 8mm.


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Black P-38

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I'm gathering pieces for the install of '95 to '97 twin piston caliper brakes on my '91 2wd Ranger.

What about the master cylinder? Do I go with the Gen II unit or can/should I upgrade to the '95-'97 master?

I converted to manual/non boosted brakes and if it makes any difference, I'm also planning the 10" rear brake upgrade. Either way I'll be installing a new master just need to know which one to buy.

Thanks,
Mike
 
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AllanD

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I'm running the Gen2 master cyl in mine and it's fine.

BTW, don't assume that anyone actually checks for replies
against these "stickied" posts

If you have a question make a new post.

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AllanD

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The 1995-97 D35 steering knuckles that use the bolt-on caliper brackets for Two piston calipers will fit any earlier D35 front axle including the D35/28 Hybred axles
from 10/89 through the end of the a994 model year.

On 2wd Rangers several different ball-joints were used so the least complicated
method is to grab the entire I-beam from a 1995-97 to retrofit to your earlier
TIB Ranger...

As there are ISSUES with brake hoses that complicate the swap, like on late 88-up 2wd trucks the upper end of the drivers side brake hose which clips to the shock/spring bracket
is actually used as the T-block to divide the fluid to both front wheels, but 4x4 trucks with the two piston brakes in 95-96 are ALL 4wheelABS so have separate hard lines from the ABS pump to each front wheel...

There are two "outs" for most would be converters to these brakes, one is that earlier ('83-87) Rangers used a T-block mounted to a clip that attached it to the upper frame rail flange, the other its that some 1997 Rangers were sold without ABS and thus a 1997 Brake hose that incorporates the 1989-94 NON-ABS T-block at the upper-end of the left side brake hose.

I'm using the 1997 Hoses on my truck. It was simpler for me because I used a 1993 engine cross-member and used the 1988-93 non-ABS hard-line routing.. but I MADE new hard lines from Stainless steel tubing (No rusting hard lines!!!), though it was an absolute bastard to do all the double flares.... even using a hydraulic flaring tool made for the purpose...


The only hard-line on my truck that is not made of stainless steel is the line on the rear axle
and that one I will do after I switch to disc brakes... which will be after I track down either
a 2010 disc brake axle OR an FX4-L2 axle, because that will decide which disc brake setup to use...
the 2010 Ranger rear discs or the Explorer Discs....


AllanD
 
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