When we bought project Buckshot, the last owner told us that it came with “MayGo” brakes. He cautioned us before the test drive stating that the Bronco “may go left, or may go right” – sometimes they didn’t stop much at all. Now, with the Skyjacker 5” lift kit installed and the 35” tall Goodyear Kevlar MT/R tires, we needed to upgrade the front axle brakes to something capable of stopping the heavy beast. A quick call to Tom’s Bronco Parts, and the experts there had the solution for our deceleration dilemma – their vented disc brake conversion kit with a proportioning valve (part # 2433) along with the power brake booster kit (part # 7040).
 Tom’s disc brake conversion kit will convert any ’66-’77 Ford Bronco with a Dana 30 or Dana 44 front axle to disc brakes, and includes all of the necessary hardware to do so, including all new parts such as spindles, rotors, backing plates, calipers and pads, extended stainless braded brake lines, Warn locking hubs, a proportioning valve and bracket, and all of the necessary fasteners. The races come pre-seated in the rotors and the spindle bearings are already packed with high quality grease. This disc brake conversion kit is a very complete kit indeed. The Tom’s Bronco Parts power brake conversion kit is also a very complete kit, which allows you to run vacuum assisted power brakes on your ’66-’77 early Bronco. This kit, unlike most others, requires no fender modification, yet comes with a full-size vacuum booster. Most other kits require fender well modification, but Tom’s Bronco Parts have an ace up their sleeve – an exclusive bracket that offsets the full size booster towards the fender, which gives clearance for a larger booster, providing greater vacuum assist, helping to stop rigs with larger, heavier tires. The kit, not unlike their disc brake kit, comes complete with everything you need: bracket, booster, master cylinder, hard brake lines, brake push rod and vacuum line.
| Installation – Skyjacker’s 5” Suspension System for Early Broncos |
| Time: |
8-10 Hours |
| Tools Needed: |
Hub socket, wrenches, line wrenches, allen wrenches, torque wrench, sockets, ratchet, rubber mallet, etc. |
| Difficulty: |
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Installation
NOTE: Read the instructions thoroughly for this conversion, several times.
Front Disc Brake Conversion Installation
  Start by securing the front axle on jack stands and remove the front tires.
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  Remove the locking hubs, drum and brake components (shoes, wheel cylinder, springs, etc.) |
  Remove the large spindle nuts using a spindle nut socket (you can rent one at most auto parts stores, if you don’t have one already) and slide the hub assembly off of the axle. |
  Remove the 6 bolts on the backing plate with a 9/16” wrench or socket, then removing the backing plate from the axle. |
  Using a rubber mallet, tap the spindle off of the steering knuckle and slide it off of the axle shaft. The axle shaft can now slide easily out of the axle tube.
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   The Tom’s Bronco Parts disc conversion kit requires a good amount of grinding on the steering knuckles to clear the brake caliper. Break out your right angle grinder with the hard wheel and grind the rear-most ear off of the knuckle until you start to see the threads on the steering-stop adjuster. Repeat this process on the other side and your axles are now prepped for the assembly portion of the project. |
 You can then start the assembly by sliding the axle shafts back into the axle housing, until they are seated into the carrier.
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   Install the new spindle (check out the pre-greased bearings – nice!) and anodized backing plate (in that order) onto the steering knuckle and torque to spec. |
 Next, grease the inner hub / disc brake rotor bearings and install the inner seal using a soft rubber mallet – taking care not to bend the metal lip. |
 Slide the new hub / rotor onto the spindle, install the outer bearing and then install the spindle nuts and locking rings using a spindle nut socket.
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  Next, install the new calipers and brake pads (with the bleeder screw towards the top) onto the backing plate and install the caliper retaining pins. Replace the old rubber brake lines with the new, extended braded stainless steel units.
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  Your disc brake conversion is now complete.
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Power Booster Conversion / Installation
  Start by reading the instructions, at least 4 or 5 times. While the Tom’s Bronco Parts kits are incredibly complete and have very high quality components, their instructions will leave you very frustrated and often-times confused. Our frustration could be seen here. |
  Remove the old / stock master cylinder from the firewall, along with the hard brake lines that go to the t-valve. You can install the entire kit with the steering column and steering shaft in place, but after 20 minutes of cramped fingers and forearms, we decided to remove both for easier access. |
 Upon removal of our master cylinder, we found out why (at least in part) our Bronco had “MayGo” brakes. One brake line wasn’t getting any fluid at all – which can be seen in this photo. |
  Begin the installation by installing the new proportioning valve and bracket onto the top of driver’s side frame rail. It bolts right into place quite easily with the steering shaft removed. Then hook up the hard brake lines going to the front and rear axles. You will need to bend the lines a bit to get them to align with the new proportioning valve. |
   Next, remove the new master cylinder from the new power booster / bracket assembly (it reduces the weight and makes install a lot easier) and bolt the power booster / bracket assembly to the firewall. Then hook up the new brake pedal pushrod to the brake pedal and the booster kit. |
  Install the new master cylinder onto the power booster and tighten the nuts accordingly. |
  Install the new hard brake lines that go from the master cylinder to the proportioning valve to ensure a good fit. Don’t tighten them yet, as you should bench bleed the master cylinder before final installation. The new hard brake lines may need just a bit of bending here and there to get a solid fit. |
  Remove the brake lines from where they attach to the master cylinder and swing them out of the way. Using the old brake lines, plumb them into the reservoirs of the new master cylinder and fill it with brake fluid. Pump the brake pedal for a good 4-5 minutes to ensure you’ve removed all of the air from the master cylinder. |
The Verdict
 Tom’s Bronco Parts is a great place to shop for your early Ford Bronco needs. They have wonderful kits available for just about anything you need, all with high-quality parts. They’ve clearly done their homework when it comes to building these complete kits and make them almost pure bolt-on accessories, making installation very clean. The instructions for both kits leave a lot to be desired. The black-and white photos in the instructions are far too small, and the wording is often times very confusing, enough to make you want to pull your hair. If you have a fair understanding of disc brake components (spindles, hubs, calipers, booster, etc.) you may be able to figure it out on your own. Otherwise, I would suggest purchasing a repair manual from Haynes or Chilton for a late ‘70’s Ford truck to augment their instructions.
Overall, the kit contains extremely high quality components (Timken bearings, FoMoCo parts, Warn hubs, etc.) which means you won’t have to worry about replacing them anytime soon, even with severe driving and hard off-roading.
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4x4Review Off Road Magazine
Tom’s disc brake conversion kit will convert any ’66-’77 Ford Bronco with a Dana 30 or Dana 44 front axle to disc brakes, and includes all of the necessary hardware to do so, including all new parts such as spindles, rotors, backing plates, calipers and pads, extended stainless braded brake lines, Warn locking hubs, a proportioning valve and bracket, and all of the necessary fasteners. The races come pre-seated in the rotors and the spindle bearings are already packed with high quality grease. This disc brake conversion kit is a very complete kit indeed. 
