My disc axle donor is a 2006 E150. 2004-13 E150s use the same 5-on-5.5" lug pattern as all Broncos & most pre-'97 F150s, which is why I chose this for my "factory" rear disk swap. Unfortunately, the spring & shock mounts are NOT in the same locations; the e-brake cables are very different; and these brakes are too large to fit inside 15" rims. So it's not a bolt-in swap.

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My disc axle donor. The axle tag is:
V750R
3 55 88 5K17

My '06 E150 disc axle cost ~$180. I had to make another load for the 16" steel rims (with worthless tires, which I returned that day).

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They're very similar, but the spring perches & shock mounts are in the wrong positions for a Bronco. And the van pinion is farther to the passenger side, making its axle shafts different lengths from the Bronco's (& F150's).

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The new shock brackets are Rusty's Universals, but I had to re-cut them to match the angle of the originals. The new spring perches are Barnes Anti-Wraps, and I had to remove the 3 small bosses from each arc to fit them on these tubes.

I made the rough & 2nd cuts with a thin 5" wheel (Metabo 655334000) to remove the spring perches & shock brackets.

Grinding the tube down smooth is probably the hardest step in this process.

Including the Bronco-specific 7-degree shims, the spring angle is about 19 degrees from the pinion (using an iGaging AngleCube Digital Level or newer cheaper version). Since I'm using anti-wrap perches, I won't be using the factory spring shims - the perches will be welded at this angle.

These squares work perfectly as a big caliper to get accurate measurements across the diff housing. The spring centers are 44 3/8 inches (spec. is 44.59).

I leveled the tube & pinion on my vise table (using an iGaging AngleCube Digital Level or newer cheaper version) and laid out the positions for welding.

See the NEXT pic...

Setting these angles (using an iGaging AngleCube Digital Level or newer cheaper version) & tacking them went quickly, and my welds look better than I expected. I still haven't decided if I want to try this axle on the '83 (which would mean regearing it), or figure it all out on the '93 (which uses this axle's ratio - 3.55:1), and building another for the '83.

After sandblasting & painting the rotors, I turned them at a friend's shop. They were very slightly warped, and the drums were barely tapered.

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I painted the rotors (before cutting) with black (instead of the original silver) BBQ paint. The axle tubes had undercoating before, and now again.

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Ford 8.8" axle uses 10 lug studs D6AZ-1107-A ('83-00)
Dana 44IFS uses 10 lug studs D6TZ-1107-A ('83-96)
Ford TIB axle uses 10 lug studs F4UZ-1107-A ('94-96)

I drilled the new shock mount for the original e-brake cable guide's bolt, and the brake line guide's bolt, so everything is routed & retained just like it should be.

I drilled the new shock mount for the original e-brake cable guide\\'s bolt, and the brake line guide\\'s bolt, so everything is routed & retained just like it should be.

A lot has changed, and a lot of money has been spent, but not on anything that shows...

To put this in my '83 Bronco, I had to regear it. I didn't want to spend the money on new Ford gears (~$350), and I certainly didn't want aftermarket gears, so I took a chance on a take-out set of Ford 3.08s (~$150 eBay), which of course required an install kit (~$40 RockAuto), new axle seals (~$15 RockAuto National/Timken 8835S), and a new pinion shaft lock bolt (~$5 Ford). When I pulled the axles, I noticed a serious groove in the RH axle due to bearing wear. Ford wants ~$250 for a new shaft, so I took another chance on a Dorman ($130 O'Reilly, made in India) which included a bearing (apparently made in USA by KOYO), a seal (no ID), lugs & nuts (no ID). But I bought a MotorCraft bearing (~$30 eBay), and reused the original lug studs. I paid a friend with a LOT of gear experience $150 to set up the gears, and I reassembled the axle. The original oil was clean, and what little metal was in it settled out, so I poured it back in & E6000'ed the sandblasted & painted cover back on. I'm tilting it back & forth to put oil into the wheel bearings before installation. I'll figure out the e-brake cables after the axle is in the truck (which is why I'm doing it to my DD first).

Ford 8.8" axle uses 10 lug studs D6AZ-1107-A ('83-00)
Dana 44IFS uses 10 lug studs D6TZ-1107-A ('83-96)
Ford TIB axle uses 10 lug studs F4UZ-1107-A ('94-96)

If I do this swap to the '93EB I'm building, I won't have to regear it (3.55 already). And if I find one with good bearings, I won't have to spend all that money again, either.

I pressure-washed & reused the pads (4C2Z-2001-BB) & e-brake shoes (4C2Z-2001-BB)

I haven't decided yet whether to replace or reuse the U-bolts...

These factory wheels are apparently made by AccuRide.

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While the E6000 was curing on the disc axle's cover, I got the tires (Cooper AT3s) swapped to the 2006 van rims. Yeah, I know they're not sexy, but I don't care. I cleaned & repainted them, and added TPMS while I had the chance.

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Later, I realized the wheel spacers weren't needed any more, and removed them.

Not a moment too soon... Not only is this shoe disintegrating; the autoadjuster cable is caught between it & the backing plate. No wonder the e-brake wasn't working well!

I expected this to take a while, but it's only been about 1.5 hrs since I drove the truck here. And part of that was taking pictures.

The U-bolts needed washing (I'm reusing them temporarily to find out what length to buy), but while they're drying, I'll put everything else back together. My measurements turned out to be nearly perfect - it just took a little shove on a leaf pack to get the 2nd pack bolt to drop into the axle perch.

The leaf spring & sway bar U-bolts were the last things to go on. The driveshaft angle looks good, but I haven't measured it yet. I reverse-bled the brakes 2x, and I might do it again after the first drive. The last thing to do is figure out the e-brake situation...

The van hose (F2UZ-2282-A) fit the Bronco frame & brake line, and the Bronco sway bar fit the van axle.

I found that the E150 e-brake cables connected directly to the Bronco pedal cable. But it's about 5" too long to lock into the Bronco frame tab, so I have to take up that slack.

This was pretty obvious, and elegantly simple, while still being overbuilt, and easy-to-clean. I haven't tested it yet, though...

The van's Left cable goes straight under the frame (like the original Left cable did) through the frame tab, to the van's Right cable sheath (which is how they equalize). The Right cable connects directly to the Bronco pedal cable (the Bronco extension cable was deleted). But the Left sheath is not clipped to the frame tab - it's in the plate at the back of this short rectangular tube, which has another tab welded on for a bolt to hold it on the frame tab. It's all in compression, and all the force goes to the original tab that was designed to take it, so I expect it to work forever (assuming I got the length right).

UPDATE: Turns out, I didn't. The Left sheath had to go another inch back to the body perch for the e-brake to work, so I'll probably remove the original cable bracket from the frame.

The e-brake cables are drooping because I haven't yet installed their original hanger springs from the van.

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The Bronco sway bar fit the van axle.

The van hose (F2UZ-2282-A) fit the Bronco frame & brake line.

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The Bronco sway bar fit the van axle.