1998 front brakes upgrade

[Flame]

I know it has been discussed on here but I cannot find it. In June I'm heading out on a 3500 mile round road trip. I want to upgrade my front brakes on my 1998 concourse. I understand 2008 and newer is a much beefier and larger brake system. I understand I would be replacing brakes,rotors,and calipers. Do you know if I have to replace the complete front hub also? What about brake hoses? Do I just tell my parts man I want brake parts for a 2008 E-350 instead of a 1998? Please advise and anyone who has part numbers of what they used would be great!! I really want to go with motorcraft parts if I can. I can do the labor myself. I just need to know what parts to order.

[Scott]

Hi Flame,

I have not done this, so I'm a keyboard jockey here. But from what I've read, you can retrofit the 2008+ brakes without doing a full front-end swap.
If you want the FoMoCo parts, this is what I've gathered. Other options (probably better) below.

1 8C2Z-2B120-CR Rt Caliper, OEM/Motorcraft equivalent
1 8C2Z-2B121-CL Lt Caliper, as above
2 8C2Z-2B292-C Cali Bracket, OEM (New Take Offs eBay)
4 N811625-S101 Cali Bracket Bolts, OEM
2 8C2Z-2C150-C Cali Hardware Kits, OEM/Motorcraft equivalent
1 8C2Z-2078-BR Rt Flexible Hose, OEM
1 8C2Z-2078-BL Lt Flexible Hose, OEM
2 386493-S439 Flexible Hose Clips
1 UP-8440-M NAPA Ultra Premium front pads
2 Take Off's Rotor/hub assemblies (New Take Offs eBay)

Or:

Powerstop kit KC471736 includes calipers, pads, rotors/hubs.

Then get reman brackets (ebay) p/n 8C2Z-2B292-C, probably brake lines (cheap), new hardware, bearings (why not).

I would want everything to get acquainted before a long journey, but it seems pretty straight forward.

HTH

Scott

[Flame]

I will check with my local wrecking yard and just see if he happens to have a 2008 E-350 I could rob parts from and then order the rest from o'rileys. I have an account with them. Thank you. From 2008 do you know what other year models would work?

[Flame]

Well so far so good. I ordered all new front brake parts to fit a 2008-2017 for my 1998 Concourse. I have one side completly done and am waiting for the second rotor/hub assy. to get here. I was able to use my original hoses and backing plate and bearings! They were all replaced about 6 months ago. Well, I did not replace the backing plate. Original brake rotor/hub assy. with bearings weighed 40 pounds. New Motorcraft assy. without bearings weighs 61 pounds!!! The calipers are much more beefy and I bought special NASCAR brake pads! Only thing I had to send back and exchange was the grease seals. They had a metal extended dust shield on them and would not let the rotor/hub slide all the way on. Easy fix was ordered another set of grease seals for 1998 and they still fit the hub perfectly! Nice part on my calipers was they came already mounted to the caliper brackets! So just stick pads in and go! Through o"rileys auto parts they were only about $89 including bracket each!! Hub/rotors were about $200 each. You could buy cheaper aftermarkets but would defeat the purpose of bettering your system. The Motorcraft hub/rotor is sooooo much better! Thanks everyone and especially David for all the advise and furnishing me with part numbers to get me started!!

[Flame]

Oh, and thank you Scott for your part numbers as well!! I am doing all the work myself but I have been a mechanic for most of my life. Pretty sure I saved myself a lot of money! Hah!

[FatBuoy]

Awesome to hear, Flame. Hope you're doing well these days. We still need to meet one day, since we are so close.

So, in all, you are talking about $500-$600? I have been talking with Quadvan. They remove 08 and later front ends all of the time when they do a 4x4 conversion. He sells the complete front end for about $600. (Typically off of a brand new vehicle) But then I would have to get it shipped. That would run about $500ish. Then the R&R of the whole front end. I suppose the upside is that I would have brand new everything up there. Hmmmmm.

[Flame]

About $700 with a GOOD set of brake pads from Motorcraft or my NASCAR pads. Pads run $80-120 a set but that's what you need if you want the performance your after. So hub/rotor assy $200 each (ONLY USE MOTORCRAFT) Pads $100 Calipers with mounting brackets (aftermarket rebuilt from O'Rileys) $100 each. That's $700 grease seals were only $10 each (National brand). I did all the work my self on a floor jack and battery operated impact wrench. Didn't even need an air compressor!!

[Flame]

well, I have a update. the second brake rotor/hub assy. finally arrived and I installed it and buckled everything in about another hour. Bleeding lines, road test to seat the pads in and all I probably spent 3 1/2 hours. for the complete front brake conversion!! And I must say I swear it stops TWICE as good as it used to and there are no pulls to either side!! I paid a buddy $100 to help me from start to finish so including his labor I have $750 total in the job! Me happy Camper!!! Thank you everyone again for all the great advise and info. Part numbers especially!!

[deppstein]

Nice goin Flame! Glad it went well. Now that you have the new brakes, can new steering stabilizer, shocks, and sway bar be far behind?
David

[Flame]

Already did all that!! I had a shop install the rear shocks though because I didn't have a jack strong enough to lift the rear end up off the frame to install the special "coil over shocks"!! I did everything else myself.