'66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

The place to talk Slicks. All we ask is that discussion has something to do with slicks...

Moderators: Kid, Casey 65

Post Reply
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

'66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

Well, I am a new owner, and had to change a leaky wheel cylinder. I pulled the drum, and did not see quite what I was expecting. I am used to seeing the shoes held in place by capped springs over the locating pins coming through the backing plate and shoe. Is this a hack job, or is this the way it is supposed to be? It works, and so I put it back together the way it was after replacing the wheel cylinder. My drum brake refrence only goes back to the early '80s, so maybe this is just how it was done back in the day. Any insight would be appreciated.
Image
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
ratrapp
Posts: 111
Joined: November 28, 2016, 6:25 pm
Location: buena vista,va

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by ratrapp »

I know that's how most ford 3/4 1 ton brakes are.at leaest in the 80s and 90s anyway.
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

Thanks! All the drum brakes I worked on in the past were light duty -Crown Vic, Town & Country Wagon, Bronco II , and the like.
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
User avatar
FarmMotorSports
Posts: 431
Joined: November 13, 2010, 6:55 pm
Location: KS, Lawrence
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by FarmMotorSports »

Yep, my 61 F250 had the same set up with single action cylinders.
I'm hoping my front disk conversion has less fade than the drums...
61 F250 Unibody
5.9 Ford Diesel / Allison
Disk brake straight axle
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

I am toying with the idea of a power/disc conversion. Leaving the rears as drums would be fine as far as braking goes, but the rear brakes are a lot more to deal with than the fronts since you have pull the axle shaft just to access the brakes. I think that if I go to disc it will be 4 wheel. I also want to keep the original bolt/lug pattern. From cursary reading, it sounds like most conersion kits are not 8 lug. A 3/4 Ton should have 8 lug wheels IMO.
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
User avatar
FarmMotorSports
Posts: 431
Joined: November 13, 2010, 6:55 pm
Location: KS, Lawrence
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by FarmMotorSports »

You are correct, all the kits I know of are for 5 lug. Most all of those kits use Chevrolet single piston calipers.
Of course with a twin I beam truck the switch to disks is as simple, (not always a simple job) as robbing a latter model disk brake Ford donnar, of its front suspension.
I plan to work my 3/4 ton straight Axel on a play time basis, tow an RV and etc, so I kept it 8 lug.
I made my own home brew kit with off the shelf Ford parts. Other than pure LAZINESS, I have no idea why anyone would produce a disk brake kit with Chev parts :cussing: . Ford has been using bolt on bracket, two piston calipers, for several years now.

As for the rear brakes, the proportioning is so front heavy an a truck, that I do two or three front brake jobs before even checking the rears. For my self that is once every ten to fifteen years. I'll suffer with tearing down and inspecting the rears that often, I should probably do it more often just because.
61 F250 Unibody
5.9 Ford Diesel / Allison
Disk brake straight axle
jamesdfo
Posts: 1637
Joined: February 15, 2011, 10:32 am
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by jamesdfo »

I just looked in my 1966 Ford/Mercury Factory Shop manual, and to my surprise, it looks like it's mostly the way it should be, but they don't show that horizontal blue spring at the bottom?
If you'd like to see it, I took a pic with my phone, so PM me an email address & I'll fire you pics of the 1966 F100 & F250 front & rear brakes.....

James
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

PM sent. I appreciate it James!
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
chris401
Posts: 880
Joined: October 31, 2011, 2:37 pm
Location: Waco, Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by chris401 »

'66 Camper Special wrote:Well, I am a new owner, and had to change a leaky wheel cylinder. I pulled the drum, and did not see quite what I was expecting. I am used to seeing the shoes held in place by capped springs over the locating pins coming through the backing plate and shoe. Is this a hack job, or is this the way it is supposed to be? It works, and so I put it back together the way it was after replacing the wheel cylinder. My drum brake refrence only goes back to the early '80s, so maybe this is just how it was done back in the day. Any insight would be appreciated.
Image
If that is stock there were some changes from the 65 year model plain F-250. I do not remember what the 65 spring design looks like but it seems the 65 grease catcher sheild is somewhat funnels toward the bottom. The Dennis Carpenter tech said self adjusters were not available till sometime in the early bump-side models. When I repack my bearings I will look into the 65 F-250 and 66 Camper Special brake shoe inner change and see what self adjusters will work with my existing shoes.
Chris
jamesdfo
Posts: 1637
Joined: February 15, 2011, 10:32 am
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by jamesdfo »

Brian: A buch of electrons are heading your way!! :)

James

'66 Camper Special wrote:PM sent. I appreciate it James!
User avatar
FarmMotorSports
Posts: 431
Joined: November 13, 2010, 6:55 pm
Location: KS, Lawrence
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by FarmMotorSports »

:shock: Those are self adjusting, the small cable wrapped around the pivot on the rear shoe, pulls the lever against the star wheel adjuster, if there is enough travel.

That has been updated! If it is not working, disassemble and lube the adjusters. Check that the correct star wheel adjuster is on the correct side of the truck. It wouldn't be the first time I found parts swapped side to side, and that will cause them to adjust toward loose not tight.
61 F250 Unibody
5.9 Ford Diesel / Allison
Disk brake straight axle
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

Chris, here are the pics that James sent me from his 1966 Ford/Mercury Factory Shop Manual. The first is for the F100, and the second for the F250. My issue now is that what looks possibly wrong to me seems to be right, but what seemed perfectly ok seems to most likely be wrong.
Image
Image
Last edited by '66 Camper Special on July 16, 2017, 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

Well I googled images of Dana 60 drum brakes, and a bunch of the images show that blue spring. My rear end is a Dana 60 with 4.10 gears. Were other rear ends an option on a '66 F250? The only difference I see in the Google images of a Dana 60 brake set up, and the manual is the blue spring. Perhaps prior Dana 60 experience led someone add it in the back, and the only difference from front to back is the parking brake, so why not add it in the front as well? Where is the smiley that's scratching it's head? So far the brakes are functioning well, so it doesn't seem to be causing any obvious I'll effects.
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
chris401
Posts: 880
Joined: October 31, 2011, 2:37 pm
Location: Waco, Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by chris401 »

I appreciate the shop manual information. There was a miscommunication somewhere when I was ordering my other parts.


I am not aware of any other axle for slick 3/4 ton but there are two versions of the Dana axle. One is a 1/2" pinion offset that can only go as high as 4.56:1 The 5/8" pinion offset can go as high as 3.54:1. There was a greater offset years latter. As far as I know it is not as popular as the 5/8".
Last edited by chris401 on July 24, 2017, 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Chris
bruceandersson
Posts: 906
Joined: August 12, 2009, 9:44 am
Location: Ohio

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by bruceandersson »

You can covert over to disk brakes by scavenging the parts from any 68-79 F250 and retain the wheel pattern. I have not done this on a 250 but am working on the 3rd F100 conversion. My preference is to swap out everything complete radius arms and all. This is also the opportunity to add power steering form the same donor if you want it.
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

Now all I need to do is get a deal like James got, and pick up all of the needed parts for a disc brake and power stearing conversion from a donor truck for $100. That is the kind of deal that would fit well into my budget!
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
jamesdfo
Posts: 1637
Joined: February 15, 2011, 10:32 am
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by jamesdfo »

Brian: HA!....that may have been a good score, but none of my lottery tickets since has paid out, so I may have used up too much luck on that deal:)
And, to make it even sweeter, all the parts were already removed from the truck, which was a relatively low mile barn find which the new owner has converted to 4WD. He said EVERYTHING came apart without any penetrating oil, or heat:)

***But I did not get the PS box, column or pump, just the beams c/w discs, radius arms,tie rods & draglink, MC c/w booster & prop valve.......and all 4 non beadlock wheels with Radials.

James
'66 Camper Special wrote:Now all I need to do is get a deal like James got, and pick up all of the needed parts for a disc brake and power steering conversion from a donor truck for $100. That is the kind of deal that would fit well into my budget!
User avatar
Toyz
Posts: 4333
Joined: March 22, 2011, 6:23 pm
Location: Baja Houston Taxes
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by Toyz »

Brian, I'm a little late in noticing your post. First of all, it was nice meeting you and your wife and seeing your Camper Special. What you have with the lower spring is not terribly unusual; in fact some hardware kits included it, being universal for both front and rear. If you will shoot me your axle code from the warranty plate; I can readily tell you what gear ratio it came with. Also, if ever in need of info from the factory manual, just let me know. There is only one Dana 60 case used in the slicks to my knowledge, with ratios ranging from 3.73 to well in the 5's numerically. I would expect yours to be a 4.10 with the six and four speed, but could have other ratios. As to the disc, power steering upgrades, they are out there; Bronco Tom is always looking and finding; I have enough which "just show up" to not be actively looking, but will let you know.
Paul
The Ford Orphanage
Life's too short for boring vehicles!
My quest to develop a universal solvent is held up by the lack of a storage container.
Paul
User avatar
'66 Camper Special
Posts: 26
Joined: July 15, 2017, 5:11 am
Location: Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by '66 Camper Special »

It was nice to meet you as well Paul! The axle code on my warranty plate is 24, which as I understand it means it does, as you surmised, have 4.10 gears. I did take to Facebook after the cruise-in, and I have a set of Camper Special inserts that will be headed my way next week. I am pretty excited about those! Definitely keep me in the loop on the conversion parts. I am not actively looking for them yet, but if the right deal comes along, a little spare space could be found in my garage. Just don't let my wife know, if I get too deep into working on the truck without making some progress on the Vette for her, I may get into trouble.
1966 F250 Custom Cab Camper Special
chris401
Posts: 880
Joined: October 31, 2011, 2:37 pm
Location: Waco, Texas
United States of America

Re: '66 F250 Front Drum Brakes

Post by chris401 »

chris401 wrote:I appreciate the shop manual information. There was a miscommunication somewhere when I was ordering my other parts.


I am not aware of any other axle for slick 3/4 ton but there are two versions of the Dana axle. One is a 1/2" pinion offset that can only go as high as 4.56:1 The 5/8" pinion offset can go as high as 3.54:1. There was a greater offset years latter. As far as I know it is not as popular as the 5/8".
I edited the gear ratio. Assuming this link is correct it is more in line with what few of these old I have seen in the field.

http://www.axlebuilder.com/dana_60_rear.html
Chris
Post Reply