i heard you can run your brakes off of you power stearing. how hard is this to do and how much does it cost? will the feel be much different from vacume brakes?

 

F*rd had a system that did exactly that, back in the 70s. It was called Hydro-Boost IIRC. Seems like it came in T-Birds or Lincolns or some of their other larger more expensive cars like that. It used hydraulic assist from it for the brakes rather than vacuum assist. You might want to look at that if you can find one, learn what you can from it.

Couldn't begin to tell you about the cost... seems like it could be fairly cheap if you could find some of the stuff at the local car buzzard.

 

GM did this a lot also. Using a similar Hydraboost system.

Mainly found on 3/4 ton and up trucks and vans. You can also find the system on just about anything with a diesel including the full size cars.

It might be cheaper to just add an electric vacuum pump like GM used on early 80's 4 cylinder Cavaliers to assist in power brakes. Another option is to use a vacuum reserve canister. The last option is to convert to manual brakes. All are cheaper and easier than converting to a hyraboost system.

The last time I checked, a new hydraboost (just the part behind the master cylinder) was around $500 and that was years ago. You'll need all the hydraulic lines also.

Hydraulic assisted power brakes feels the same as vacuum assist however if the power steering belt slips, the brake pedel will pulsate.

 

The newer 96+ Mustangs use the same thing.