Putting rear disk brakes on a 2000, 2WD with drum brakes
 

A buddy asked me about this late last night. I know there are a couple of kits made for this but I've never heard or read anything good about the kits. I suggested getting a new axle with disk brakes at a salvage yard but did any rear disks in 2000 come with 5 lug wheels? Weren't they all 6 lug? Is there a 6 lug axle the same width as the 5? If he went with 6 lug rear wheels will the 6 lug front rotors fit on the spindles that came with 5 lug rotors so the front and rear wheels match? If not, will the spindles for 6 lug rotors fit the control arms for the 5 lug spindles? Seems like a lot of work and money for little gain.

Edit, Come to think about it didn't all rear disks come with 17" wheels? He has 16's.

I don't think so on the 6 lug. As far as I recall they are wider...pretty sure.

Drums or discs in the rear make no difference imo. The rears just assist vs the front which is your primary stopping power. However, I would most likley go discs in the rear if I needed a axle complete. That's only due to the fact it's easier to find a 99 plus rear axle w/disc set up with low miles vs a 97/98 drum.

Another thing, if you swap to disc in the rear with a 97/98, you should swap the booster as well. The boosters for those set-ups are almost twice the size vs drum.

I'm with you. I think they were all wider too. I did wonder about the proportioning valve with disks compared to drums but didn't give much thought to the booster. Also agree that there's not much to gain with the rear disks if anything. 4WD off road for competition brake steer sure, 2WD on the street? No. Then again, he's a guy that does things just for the sake of doing them. Myself, I can think of a lot of better ways to spend money on the truck before this. Thanks for the info.

Having done a rear end swap at least in part to get 4 wheel disc I would never do it again. Aint worth it and unless you swap every single part from a donar or just get it all new, it will never work as well as the drum set up you have. Just rebuild the drum system. Way eisier and once you have it done righ they will last well over 100k. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll pass this along.

I'm surprised a 2000 model has drum brakes...most are disk after 99. Actually most 99's (150's anyway) are also disc, - all 4 corners.

For my trucks I like standard cabs with a full length bed and the last year you can find them without pulling your hair out was 99' so I've owned a few. All the 2WD trucks like this had rear drums and 16" wheels. I don't ever remember seeing rear disks on 16" wheels. They were always 17's. That doesn't mean disks weren't available with 16's. I think all 4WD's had disks and 17's. Probably true for any of the trim packages above the standard cab too. I'm guessing at that? There were something like 6 different axles or more available at the time also. I don't think gearing effecting any of the axle codes but traction loc did. The trim packages changed in 99' from the 97' and 98' models so this may have played in to this due to model year change overlaps. The front grills are the easiest way to tell the difference between 98' and 99'. They were all still 10th gen's though. My buddy's 2,000 has rear drums and 16" wheels but that may have been because of when it was built. Early in the model year may have carried some 99' with it? I don't know when his was built though. Just trying to explain any discrepancy if drums weren't typical to the 00' trucks. I spoke to him tonight and suggested he forget about the change to disks. He probably won't but it's his truck, money and time. I appreciate the help.

You are totally overthinking this!

On 2000 model F-150s, it was only the XL or Work Series models that got stuck with drum brakes, if memory serves correct. Since there aren’t a whole lotta RCLB truck above XL trim in this generation, I’m feeling pretty confident there.

Just make a salvage yard parts grab of a rear axle and parking brake cables, brake lines and master cylinder type gear and swap into your amigo’s truck. Voila!

Maybe the ABS computer is needed? I’ve never heard that be the case, since these should all be 4WABS anyway.

As for drums vs discs out back, I’ve never stopped better with anything with drums out back, that’s for certain! I’ll take every bit of help I can get!

Ford was using both drums and discs th\u the 2000 model year. Hollander shows all 2001 up with discs.

99 models thru 11/28/99 (2000 year models early) used the 12mm wheel studs. Swapping in a disc brake rear assy would be the cheapest and by far the easiest. I did this to my Red 98 RCSB 4x4. I used a late 2001 limited slip disc brake rear end with 14mm studs. I wanted to put in new front wheel bearings, so I put in the newer 14mm set ups. I also used Expy calipers and rotors to go to the big brake kit. I also swapped in the dual diaphragm booster. Now I can stop my truck, pulling a boat down the hills now and not worry. Before, it was a challenge at 50 to slow down. The rear end swap took about 2 hours, including bleeding the system, in my driveway by myself.

JBrew and I have both done the big brake swap. I know we have both helped others o this upgrade. Well worth the effort. (Cheap if you can get used expy calipers and brackets and rebuild them yourself).

Did you run a thread here when you were making this swap? If so, do you remember the title? What did installing the swapped brackets involve? Someone else also mentioned that some of the swaps might involve the 2 piece drive shafts which have a different pinion angle. That might effect swapping the entire axle because of the positioning pin location.