Some use Thunderbird Calipers;
Replacement, 78 Thunderbird & hoses in an 86
Source: by Sixlitre
Thunderbird vs Stock pic in a 78
Source: by bronczilla
Some info;
by Rockfrog; "...The front brake calipers on our Broncos are weak because of their small 2 7/8" pistons. The phenolic (plastic) piston is also undesirable. These calipers are another major factor of our Broncos poor braking. The brake calipers we want are off of '73-'78 Ford fullsize cars. For the sake of arguing, I will be calling these fullsize car calipers the Thunderbird calipers. These calipers have a thicker casting, a huge 3 3/32" steel piston and are a direct fit replacement on our Dana 44 axles! The Thunderbird calipers even use the same brake pads. What will amaze you more is the clamping force of these calipers. In order to put its power in proper perspective, we need to understand what's called a caliper's piston area. caliper piston area is the measure of a brake calipers clamping force. It is found by first finding the decimal equivalency of the piston diameter and multiply it by itself to find its "squared" value. Then multiply that figure by .785 and the result is the caliper piston area. Let's first compute the Bronco's caliper piston area. 2.875 X 2.875 X .785 = 6.48 square inches of clamping force. If we compute the dual piston caliper of an F350, the only difference is finding the piston area and multiply it by 2, because this dual piston caliper uses two smaller 2 3/16" pistons instead of one large one. 2.187 X 2.187 X .785 X 2 = 7.50 square inches.
As you can see, the F350 dual piston caliper has over one square inch of piston area and in terms of hydraulic pressure, one square inch is a very potent difference in clamping force. Now let's compute the Thunderbird caliper with its 3 3/32" piston. 3.094 X 3.094 X .785 = 7.51 square inches of clamping power! Remarkably, we have just swapped in a brake caliper equal in strength to an F350 dual piston caliper and it fits inside the 5 lug, 15" wheel!
The only implication is plumbing the Thunderbird caliper. It has a 7/16"-24 inlet hole as oppose to a Bronco caliper having a 3/8"-24 hole. The Thunderbird caliper also never used a banjo bolt, the hose itself threaded into the caliper with a crush washer. We need the ninety degree angle a banjo bolt provides, in order to clear the upper ball joint on our Dana 44 axle. Since a banjo bolt was never used and 7/16"-24 is unusual, we need to convert to a #3 AN fitting.\
The last bit is the part I solved by locating the proper banjo bolt (and a simple mod to the caliper)
- hit the wreckers looking for the right banjo fittings .... Dodge Ram 100 4/2wd hoses are the perfect fit, looks like all dodge brake fittings are 7/16" banjo's .... Vans and trucks all work. Have a friend making me new SS lines so I'm after just the fittings (I'll use the van lines I bought for the rear disc)
added to total - 4 x dodge used brake hoses..."
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& as BB33 advised; look in my
site for Master Cylinder & Booster Installation, from F350 installation Links.
GL!
