We love the look of a lowered truck cruising down the street with some big wheels filling the fenders. However, we don't like being in front of one of those trucks performing a sudden stop and watching the truck creep closer and closer in the rearview, due to the anemic factory brakes trying to play catch up. Driving a truck with 20s or bigger with factory brakes is like playing Russian roulette. Sometimes you get lucky, but more times than most, you lose.
For our '01 Ford F-150 SuperCrew Project Sinatra, big brakes were never an option, but a must because we're driving this truck everyday. We contacted Stainless Steel Brakes Corp. (SSBC) for a set of its Force 10 big brake kit that features a large four piston aluminum caliper, 14-inch slotted two-piece rotors, and Hawk street brake pads. The kit came with everything we needed for a straight-forward install, though we did go ahead and replace the wheel bearings, seals, and hardware. After all, putting new parts on pieces that have more than 77,000 miles on them isn't a good idea.
Check out the easy install we did in our driveway one Saturday afternoon. If you too have big wheels on your driver or show truck, then contact SSBC. It's better to be safe, rather than push the brake pedal and hope. For the rear disc install and braking performance numbers, check our upcoming Volume 33 Issue 11, in two months, when we go to the track to see how well the radar gun says we are stopping.
Opening the multiple boxes...
Opening the multiple boxes revealed a brake setup that was perfect for our Ford F-150. It was equipped with 24x10-inch Giovanna Merano wheels and Pirelli 285/35R24 tires that combined to weigh in at 94.5 lbs. With 14-inch two-piece slotted rotors and lightweight aluminum four-piston calipers, the new SSBC brake system is sure to stop our Project Sinatra with sport truck-like performance.
With the truck safely supported...
With the truck safely supported on jackstands and the front wheels off, we started the install by removing the factory calipers. Years of service and many, many miles of abuse made them difficult to remove, so we used a 1/2-inch ratchet and 18mm socket.
After cutting the top off...
After cutting the top off of an old wheel-cleaner bottle to catch the brake fluid, we used a line flare wrench to loosen and remove the stock brake-hose bolt from the caliper.