Hydro boost brakes

[2tractors]

I'm installing 84 vette ifs/irs in a 57 tf truck and have found a donor dodge dually that has the hydro-boost brakes. Can someone tell me what all I'll need from the donor such as calipers,lines, etc or just the unit by itself?

[dwcsr]

I would get as much of the plumbing you cam. Most of it may not work for the swap but you may need the fittings and hoses to make templates from. Make sure you get the unit, mater and the push rod that is in between the master and the unit. Some call it a booster pin, its not made anymore and hard to find separately. measure from the dodge pedal pivot to the push rod so you get that lever ratio correct for the new install.
fell free to use this as a reference. You can also email me if you have questions
http://www.thehollisterroadcompany.com/hydroboost.html
There are also several good how to's here if you search for them.
I recommend you use the master type that measures the same pin depth as the one on the boost unit where the pin goes into it. Hopefully its the same bore as the vette master to match up to your vette calipers, and you would make the other brake lines or find lines that work.

What ever master you choose remember that given that everything else is the same the smaller the master bore the higher the line pressure but the lower the volume of fluid pushed, meaning the pedal needs to travel further to get the same fluid volume of a larger bore. So try to stay close to the master size used on the vette calipers. or what ever calipers you use

[OrrieG]

Question, will he need the Dodge PS pump and plumbing too, or is a standard GM PS pump adequate??

[dwcsr]

If you can setup the brackets for the dodge pump then use it but if you use a GM Saginaw then make sure its from a vehicle that had hydro boost not a vacuum booster.

Dodge may have used Saginaw pumps with different pulley and brackets and if that's the case then a GM pump would be fine.

I would take all of it from the pump to the firewall just incase. Then you have cores for exchange on new items if needed. The booster pin and spider ring usually does not come with a reman boost unit so keep that if you exchange the unit for a reman

[_Ogre]

Can someone tell me what all I'll need from the donor such as calipers,lines, etc or just the unit by itself?

can't say much about the dodge setup, i used an 03 mach1 mustang hydroboost in truk
i used gm calipers on all 4 corners and grabbed only the hydroboost and was able to find adapters at my local napa
if the truck has anti-lock brakes, i would discard all of that as they typically use a computer and wheel sensors

as orrieg mentions, you may need the dodge pump, but check what pressure it needs vs a gm pump
i used a gm pump with a flow reducer to get the twitchyness out of the mustII rack (not the hydroboost)
if i had it all to do over i would have used the ford pump appropriate for the rack

that said... unless the hydroboost is free look at gm or ford hydroboost setups
dodge parts tend to get hard to find or expensive as time marches on

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

. unless the hydroboost is free look at gm or ford hydroboost setups
dodge parts tend to get hard to find or expensive as time marches on

Sometimes "free" is not the least expensive option in additional dollars and time. Also need to look at what you could get in Backroad North Dakota to repair it if it fails on a road trip...

[_Ogre]

assuming your using the hydroboost under floor; here's truk's setup

on the bare frame. i did not change the pedal pivot points and everything works fine



i did change to a remote reservoir using an early nissan quest/mercury villager reservoir on adapters on the mach1 master cylinder
the reservoir is in this pic behind the mc



reservoir



more pics of my bracket and fabrication in my build thread

[2tractors]

Thanks guys for all the info. I'm gonna pass on the dodge unit and scrounge up a chevy truck or van unit so most of it mates up. Long way from needing brakes, just put the flat out front cross member in mocked up with the tires hitting the frame on turns.Thinner rims with spacers probably. Any ideas??

[918733]

I am planning on Hydro boost brakes and I got everything off a a 2000ish chevy truck and it has a cooler like a trans cooler and now I'm re thinking about not doing it for lack of room for the cooler I haven't been able to find anyone who can say yes it has to be there or no you don't need it and being it's part of the braking system I wanna do it the correct way

[dwcsr]

If it has a cooler I would use it, you can relocate it to a place its not in the way. That system gets very hot running the brakes and steering so if they put a cooler on use it

[mr48chev]

I'm planng on going with Hydroboost on mine but haven't decided on the donor. Probably Astrovan as the local wrecking yards seem to have an endless supply of donor rigs.

One thing to remember is that hydroboost setups have an extra return line to the power steering pump reservoir that needs to be adressed if you use a pump that came without hydroboost.

The whole setup on my one ton dualie is pretty simple with just a T in the pressure line and an extra return fitting to the pump. One might tie a T in the return line from the steering and have it work ok but I haven't done any checking on the advisability of that.

Looks like it isn't a problem to put a T in the return line according to this. Hope this is the right video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqjHXbgtszA

[_Ogre]

not sure about the astro setup, the ford has 3 lines in the hydroboost
1) pressure from pump, 2) pressure out to the rack and 3) return
i T'd the return line to my gm pump, though gm has some housings with 2 return lines

the pump does run hot, though no hotter than a normal non-hydroboost gm pump
a cooler in the return line sounds like a good idea