I did a bit of searching here and have found a few mentions about this but no real resolutions (everything from “you need to run ford brakes” to “they’ll work fine”)

After discussing this with moser I've run into an unexpected stumbling block. Moser claims that "there is no way that you'll ever get housing ends that will bolt to any of the '82-92 rear brakes." I asked them about this a few different ways and I couldn't get a clear answer why, just that that era's f-body and g-body rear brakes were unique and ends are not available for them.

HUH?

I was under the impression that most of the GM rears used the same 4 bolt ends (well, 2 different patterns, most got a 4 bolt pattern that is rectangular, where the aussi 9 bolt got a slightly trapezoidal pattern but you could swap back and forth by opening up the holes a little), which included the 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen f-bodies, g-bodies, S-10's... AAMOF, I was under the impression that the '89-97 rear brakes (late 3rd gen WS6/1LE and early 4th gen before the LS1 style with the drum parking brake) were basically the same PBR setup.

Does anyone know what's going on here or what actually works?

Mods: feel free to move this to drivetrain if you think it fits there better… it’s really both, is there any way to get the same thread to show up in both?

 

Your going to need to make the gm brakes fit the ford..They won`t make the rear to fit the gm brakes. First you will need the pattern or end housing style they use and then you will need to have your backing plates drilled with the new pattern and the center bore of the backing plate will need to be opened up to the outside diameter of the axle bearing OD Then the bearings must be pressed on so that the axle flange will line up your drum or disk with the rest of the braking componets

 

I have a Moser 12 bolt with c-clip eliminator 33 spline axles. The ends are actually ford...I just bought wilwood brake kit that moser sells. The kit is actually made for 70's torino's I think..worked well for me.

 

Currie has brackets for PBR calipers on there site http://www.currieenterprises.com/htm...thBrackets.htm

 

Any time I write in about rear ends I get mad. All the money I have spent makes me wanna puke. Anywhoo, there is this guy in town that made Ford 9" rearends fit in anything. Well I dished out the money and got one. Looking back I would def. get one from Strange or some other company instead. Well the rearend is bulletproof. The factory rearend I blew apart 3 times (once taking 6 teeth off the pinion gear) Basically he must have bought all the rearends he could and now he uses the center section and axles but cuts them down to the right size,length, etc. He then drilled the chevy bolt pattern so I could use my wheels. Everything was fine for the first month. Now I'm stuck with a loud a$$ whine (replaced the gears twice) and someone how I managed to twist the splines on the axles. Don't ask me how, I only have ran low 14's in the quarter. I suppose by heating the axle it has made it weaker thus twisting the splines. I'm currently still plotting on how to get this guy back. Make sure you do your research on getting a Ford 9". On a positive note the car did stop alot better with the big 12" brake drum setup.

 

Its fairly simple, the GM 10-bolts are C-Clip axles, so the end falnges don't retain the axles, the carrier does.

On Aussie GM 9 bolts, the axle flanges do retain the axles, but the bearings are still small and weak. Also there are not any aftermarket options to disc brake assemblies for the Aussie 9-bolts. Tracks like to see Disc brake rears on the big HP cars because the calipers help retain the axle in place. Drum brakes allow no further safety margin on retaining axles hence why you can not run a gm 10-bolt and drum brakes- those c-clips break with a drum brake setup and the axle comes right out of there.

The Ford 9' use the very large Torino style bearings, flanges, and retainers to hold the axles into the housings- this is part of what makes a 9" housing so strong.. These are very strong. Every company on the aftermarket brake lineup sells disc brake kits for the 9" rearends.

 

What year and kind of brakes are you trying to put on? You are correct 89 and up ten bolt brakes share the same plates as the fourth gens but the regardless of the year the nine bolt stuff is a inique fit that can be made to work but is a bitch and should be avoided.

 

subcriping to this thread because id like to see a answer also.

I have a 9inch Im fabing up for a vert im building and id like to see what options for brakes. Front I have everything for the 13inch Vette setup. Rear i dono yet. I have a complete 94Z rear end to rip apart for brakes.

 

TPI383 What kind/make of nine inch is it or more specifically what housing ends are on it?

 

I'll have to get back to ya 2morrow. Im on my way out the door for work.

I picked it up fom a buddy So Im not sure what its out of. Big Drums id like to convert to disk. I belive 3.00 gears. I'll get some pic's 2morrow of thing. (for some reason I think he said galaxie) for now It will have to do untill I get better centersection and axles.

 

ewwww sorry to say this dude but you are gonna have to get very creative to get any GM brakes to fit onto a factory Ford rear.

 

If they have factory ford ends on them I'm not sure how it would work. A friend of mine has a 9" in his 83 TA with the stock GM disks but I forget who he ordered the rearend from. I do remember he had a lot of problems with the centersection but the brakes have always worked for him...
As far as the ford brakes I'd just go with them. The camaro in my sig has a Moser housing 9" with rear disks off a '00 explorer. All junkyard parts and they bolt right up. Car stops just fine, and, they're bigger than the stock GM rear disks were

 

Ive thought about doing this also..... Do you have any pictures or more info..

 

Aren't the Explorer rear discs Non-vented rotors?

 

if you're calling a big place that makes thier own housing ends, like strange or moser, either find a diffrent sales guy, or just tell them its for a 4thgen... but you want the 3rdgen width.

they make the housing ends to mount 4thgen brakes (the LT1 cars use the same thing as 3rdgen brakes) but sometimes you get a stupid sales guy.

the 4thgen ones are a boltin, including brakes. so they do have the housing ends.

 

I used the set-up from thee guys where I bought the rear end from, I opted for the cheap GM calipered replacement $199 kit which comes with everything needed to install rear disc's. You do have to cut/grind the caliper mounting bracket since it comes ready to fit a 2.5" axle tube and the Ford has a 3" tube. A little work involved, but it was nice having literally everything I needed in the box to make it happen and not chasing after parts to "put something together"

I then installed steel braided lines that I bought all the stuff locally for $115, but later found out this outfit had a kit already to go for $75

http://quickperformance.com/Brakes.htm

 

Huh… is it just me or does that look A LOT (like as in exactly) like the pre ’89 setup (especially since I have a complete one now, with new calipers, pads...)? Do you have any more pics of that setup? How are the axles retained? I’m getting the impression that there are no axle retaining plates with the moser setup, they just expect you to press the bearing on after dropping the backing plate over the axle, so the backing plate ends up getting used as the retaining plate?

 

sorry dean, I couldnt tell you. I was just told by a few people to look into the explorer disk setup. I havent made it to that point yet to start searching.

 

If your doing the disc set-up the brakes in no way shape or form have anything at all to do with axle retention. Ford axles have always had the horse shoe that holds the axle in. I'm sure there's a brake kits that allow a bracket to bolt upto the ford flange along with the axle retension clip per Ford specs, but I did'nt look. These are GM metric calipers like you find on S-10
s, F-bodies, G-bodies, etc...I have no idea what rotor they used, but it has a really deep offset. A couple buddies came over the other night trying to peice together a set-up, but if you buy all the stuff new like comes in the kit I think they only saved around $30, but then add to that the time it took to run around getting the stuff they really did'nt save too much.

I ordered the rear end through the same company in the link I provided who ordered it straight from Moser, trying to remember the chain of events, but I think the axles already came with the bearings pressed on, I just had to smeer a little silly cone around the outside of the bearing before i slide the axle in. Then the horse shoe is all that holds it in place. That's the only shot I have of the brake set-up out back, nothing real detailed as usual, but I can say the brakes I have on the car now are the best yet. i can EASILY make the first turn off on the strip after doing 120mph and that's pretty good considering they have to slow down darn near 3600lbs of mass in a short amount of space.

 

my moser 9" came with instructions on how to make the 3rd gen discs work with the rear end. It may have been the 89+ brakes, however, not sure if they'd be any different (i'm using ls1 discs on my rear, that took some re-engineering also). But I do remember that it said to bore the backing plates out so that the bearings could pass through and that the axles would be retained by the little u-shaped retainer. And there was something else about a shim, also, but that may have been for the lt1 brakes, i'm unsure of that.

 

Also, my axles are retained by the brake backing plate on my ls1 discs, so my axle doesn't use the horeshoe-shaped thingy, they were put on before the bearing was pressed.

 

Any chance that you can scan me a copy of the directions?

 

Sorry, no pics. I was a slacker when it came to taking pics during the build. Basically they look like your average everyday brakes. Nothing special. And yes, they are non vented rotors. But, they haven't given us any issues with hauling the car down from 140 plus to a dead stop in a little over a quarter mile on some of our late night "tuning" runs. They also have an internal e-brake. They use shoes inside the rotor hat instead of working the caliper so pad changes are much easier. Just like changing front pads now, the piston just compresses. Also, the brakes do nothing to hold in the axles. Like was mentioned, the horeshoe thingy bolts down and does that for you. Simple swap, just get everything from an explorer in the junkyard and you should be good to go.

 

so there is no purchasable bracket for me to buy to mount LS1 brakes on a 9"? there's no way that's true.

 

LS1 and LT1 rear brakes are relatively easy… you just take the stock plate, mill out the back a little bit and it becomes the bearing retainer plate (donno why you can’t just shim it instead…). The biggest problem is that appears to pretty much take out of contention most 3rd gen 15” wheels which largely defeats the purpose of keeping it 3rd gen width.

 

hmm well that doesn't seem all that tough. I could do that with a OEM ford axle i expect...

but why not run 16" third gen wheels anyhow.

 

Most OEM 16’s, with the exception of the GTA wheels, are enormously heavy. My firebird style 15’s with drag tires (28x10.5, I’m pretty sure that the current 275 60 15 BFG DR’s are within a lb or 2) weigh 39#, same wheels with “skinnies” (actually 215 65 15’s, skinny enough and light enough while still being nice to drive on the street) weigh 34#. My formula “high tech” rims (look almost the same as the firebird rims, they are cut in the same pattern) with 245 50 16’s weigh 56# for the rears and 58# for the fronts. That’s 82#/56% difference in unsprung AND rotating weight.

What works at the dragstrip works at the autox, road course and on the street as well as the fact that a tire with some sidewall actually works better in most applications.