Focus Brake Mounting

[Ersatz36]

I see that you specify non-st front calipers, have you tried this with st calipers? Might be able to get some use out of the ones i took off my car when the rs brakes went on...

[my8950]

Got mine today! Looks great!!! Can't wait to get this done!

Please take and post photos!

[reddy2300]

Got mine today! Looks great!!! Can't wait to get this done!

Please take and post photos!

Will do. Still waiting on some caliper mount brackets. I bought some ebay calipers that showed the brackets and hardware in the auctions he had but then saw fit to not include them in the shipment. Lol.

[my8950]

I see that you specify non-st front calipers, have you tried this with st calipers? Might be able to get some use out of the ones i took off my car when the rs brakes went on...

Compare the difference between the suggested caliper and what you have.

[tcwell]

Tim,

Do you still have any of these kits available?

Would it be feasible to keep the early master and still have good brake response?
I am really trying to avoid making the switch if I have to.

[timxr8]

I see that you specify non-st front calipers, have you tried this with st calipers? Might be able to get some use out of the ones i took off my car when the rs brakes went on...

That's the purpose of the change in the hose, so it'll fit the ST. THe issue is just the rotor, as it's 5 lug. I do have a "jig" (rear XR hub with 3 drill bushings and a bolt to hold the rotor) to drill the 3 bolts in the 12+ focus rotor. Also, the rotor offset is different, so a different spacer will need to be used. On the XR, I would recommend opening the holes to 14mm (9/16") and using stock bolts.

Tim,

Do you still have any of these kits available?

Would it be feasible to keep the early master and still have good brake response?
I am really trying to avoid making the switch if I have to.

I sure do. I'm getting the spacing for the above mentioned option, but I have a few "kits" ready to go right now. If interested in the rears as well, I'll combine the shipping. Please PM me as I don't get on here as much as I used to. PMs get me notified in my email.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

This thread needs a bump too. While junkyarding a few weeks back I came across a 2014 Focus that had the front wheel ripped off. I peered in and started thinking it would be nice to be able to use the factory brake lines, not just the flex line but also a portion of the hard line. The factory Merkur hard-line could be cut and a union used with a clip of hard line off the donor Focus. Also supplied by the Focus could be the little "L" bracket which can be readily removed from the Focus with a grinder. I managed to bend one off the car, if only to remind me to add to this thread. Here's a pic, oriented as it is in the wheel well, attached to the inner fender...

P3306622.JPG (977.5 KiB) Viewed 6521 times

[whitelx]

This thread needs a bump too. While junkyarding a few weeks back I came across a 2014 Focus that had the front wheel ripped off. I peered in and started thinking it would be nice to be able to use the factory brake lines, not just the flex line but also a portion of the hard line. The factory Merkur hard-line could be cut and a union used with a clip of hard line off the donor Focus. Also supplied by the Focus could be the little "L" bracket which can be readily removed from the Focus with a grinder. I managed to bend one off the car, if only to remind me to add to this thread. Here's a pic, oriented as it is in the wheel well, attached to the inner fender...

P3306622.JPG

Brad, will the end of that hose fit into the XR4Ti chassis hole? Just wondering if one could use that Focus hose and clip and cut off the old XR4Ti hard line fitting/flare and place the focus fitting on and flare the existing XR4Ti hard line.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Brad, will the end of that hose fit into the XR4Ti chassis hole? Just wondering if one could use that Focus hose and clip and cut off the old XR4Ti hard line fitting/flare and place the focus fitting on and flare the existing XR4Ti hard line.

I'm not sure - didn't try. For some reason I jumped right to the idea of using everything from the Focus, including the body mounting hardware. But it would certainly make sense to at least try working with what's already there.

The one odd thing on the XR is the way that there's a short intermediate hard line on one side but not on the other. Depending on how the routing worked out, I was thinking I'd create a intermediate line on the side where there wasn't one and re-fabricate the other one with a different fitting and perhaps routing.

[timxr8]

The one odd thing on the XR is the way that there's a short intermediate hard line on one side but not on the other. Depending on how the routing worked out, I was thinking I'd create a intermediate line on the side where there wasn't one and re-fabricate the other one with a different fitting and perhaps routing.

I'm guessing Ford did that as the original design had the hose going through the fender, so there was probably some tooling involved they saw easier to make that little intermediate hard line vs remaking the whole thing. Who knows when you get into mass manufacturing. Saving .05 over hundreds of thousands of cars adds up, or not spending the thousands on retooling. Lots of crazy stuff goes on.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Who knows when you get into mass manufacturing. Saving .05 over hundreds of thousands of cars adds up, or not spending the thousands on retooling. Lots of crazy stuff goes on.

Yep, we had a similar discussion with Steve Saxty two weeks ago, talking about how they built the Scorpio body "too big" for the what is essentially the Sierra rear-end assembly, resulting in rear wheels that are tucked in too far under the body. There's several easy, inexpensive solutions, but Ford choose none of them.

[whitelx]

Brad, will the end of that hose fit into the XR4Ti chassis hole? Just wondering if one could use that Focus hose and clip and cut off the old XR4Ti hard line fitting/flare and place the focus fitting on and flare the existing XR4Ti hard line.

I'm not sure - didn't try. For some reason I jumped right to the idea of using everything from the Focus, including the body mounting hardware. But it would certainly make sense to at least try working with what's already there.

The one odd thing on the XR is the way that there's a short intermediate hard line on one side but not on the other. Depending on how the routing worked out, I was thinking I'd create a intermediate line on the side where there wasn't one and re-fabricate the other one with a different fitting and perhaps routing.

I think I may go that route with making a short line on the right side and completely replacing the line on the left side (it's not long or complicated anyway, which is likely why there isn't an additional short line on that side). This would allow be to revert back to factory lines if ever needed.

I took a look at the focus brake hoses. I think they may fit the XR hole with minor modification. The hole will likely need to be opened up and some minor filing done to accommodate the fitting. However, this would also make trying to go back to factory line difficult as they may no longer lock into position. Will need to take a closer look once I have a focus hose in hand. I had pulled one at the yard, but tossed it aside thinking I wouldn't need it. The focus hose does have a bracket mid-hose to attach to the strut. Not sure if that is going to pose any issues at this time.

I've got my 1/2" spacers and Ecosport front calipers. Now I just need some M12 bolts and a 12mm drill bit, unless a 1/2" drill bit would be acceptable. I'm worried about too much slop in the caliper mount with a 1/2" bit, but I don't know what is acceptable.

[reddy2300]

Got mine today! Looks great!!! Can't wait to get this done!

Please take and post photos!

Finally, I'm getting ready to do this tomorrow. What should I take pics of?

[my8950]

Got mine today! Looks great!!! Can't wait to get this done!

Please take and post photos!

Finally, I'm getting ready to do this tomorrow. What should I take pics of?

Any and all, the more the better.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Finally, I'm getting ready to do this tomorrow. What should I take pics of?

Aside from the basic shots, details on the plumbing would be great.