What's the best front disc brake setup for a 32 highboy ? I like the look of socal setup with drums over disc brakes , but way to much money.
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What's the best front disc brake setup for a 32 highboy ? I like the look of socal setup with drums over disc brakes , but way to much money.
I'm not a disc brake guy normally, but I do like Wilwoods. For the money they are made well and for the weight of a Deuce I think you would want the 4 or 6 puck model. But Wilwood is great on the phone and can advise you for sure.
Probably some of our Deuce guys on here and others might have different opinions, so we'll see what folks who really know suggest. :)
Don
I've got 9000 miles on my High Boy with 4 puck Wilwoods on the front and stock 8" Ford rear drums. It stops good, no complaints even with "big and little" tires. You just need a proportioning valve in line.
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1431429642.jpg
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1456602170.jpg
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1638161690.jpg
I also have the Wilwood setup on my 32 3W coupe. It works GREAT :)
I have a 9 inch Ford rear with 11X2.5 drums in the rear. I have a djustable proportional valve ( Wilwood also ) and the 2 lb and 10 lb residual valves.
I like it :D
When someone looks under the front fender ... the chrome backing plate looks a LOT like a regular backing plate that has been chromed.
You can see more on the 32 3W in this journal
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/jour...ge=5&reverse=1
I have previously and am currently running Wilwood discs
Rears:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...ild/Brake1.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...DSC_0038-1.jpg
Fronts:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...d/DSC_0027.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...DSCN0453-1.jpg
If you are on a budget and cannot afford Wilwood brakes, there is a much less expensive alternative. I used this kit on my '29 Ford roadster twenty years ago. It is available from Speedway. I had the brackets chrome plated.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedw...2-BC,7677.html
Best? As far as what. Brand, cost, looks, working, fixed, floating, floating rotor, for street, racing, cornering/handling?Quote:
Originally Posted by 32highboy54
What type use is it going to get?
Pat
street, racing, cornering/handling, loading on and off a trailer ( or is that a trailer brake???)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry clayton
Only someone that doesn't know, would ask such thing!
Are you saying you don't know the difference?
Pat
One IMPORTANT thing that rumrumm did not mention is ...Quote:
Originally Posted by rumrumm
Parts for that conversion are WAY more available ... if your car has a brake problem hundreds of miles away from home.
I have a spare set of Wilwood pads, bearings and races for mine ... that travel with me.
But IF I had a rotor failure, a wheel bearing that killed the rotor or any other SERIOUS brake issue ( caliper failure ) ... I will have a LOT more difficult time finding the parts when out in Bum Rap Arizona on the way to or from a rod run. :o
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1828128612.jpg
I took this photo ... on the way back home to the Carolinas on my last trip to Los Angeles for the LA Roadster show. :D
I have always carried a set of bearings and a seal with what ever street rod I've had, but really doubt that a set of pads or rotor would fail unless a caliper failed, then you really are screwed to the wall. I am considering a loaded caliper as part of my travel kit for this car.
I had a fellow ( who had Wilwood brakes on his 32 roadster ) tell me he had a pair of Wilwood pads go bad in less than 2,000 miles. He was having trouble finding a set :confused: even at the show. Wilwood was not there. He was at the LA Roadster event ... and I was there in my roadster. The 3W was not yet on the road ... ( 2007 ).Quote:
Originally Posted by IC2
I now have less than 2,000 miles on the 3W ... but as a precautionary measure I got a set ... before I ever put it on the highway.
You must keep in mind that 2000 miles is a lot on a set of race brakes--they have so many compounds for specific uses that the wrong choice is going to be extremely short lived--like maybe even a couple HUNDRED miles
It is very hard to beat OEM stuff as the brakes are one system that probily have more engineering work than anything outside the exhaust smell
Wilwood supplies enough different pad compounds that you have your choice of what kind of life expectancy you want.
When I did the back brake install, I tried to find out what compound I had to do a best match for the fronts and even Wilwood couldn't tell me for sure without actually seeing them. They, at least at that time, didn't manufacture their own pads but subbed them out to several different companies. My backs are Hawk, but the color is wrong for that number.
The reason that sometimes disc brakes from a larger American car aren't ok is weight and rotating mass. Those brakes are designed for a 3-4,000 pound car and weigh probably twice as much as an aftermarket set like Wilwoods. Not so critical on the original car but on a rod that weighs a lot less and probably has a beam type axle setup heavier brakes can cause some ill handling issues.......like deathwobble.
We were told by Mickey from Total Performance that we were not going to like the GTO disc brakes we installed on my Kids T bucket, but we had them and they were chromed (:D) so we used them. He was right, the car handled very badly and after switching to Wilwoods it was so much better.
Stock brakes aren't very pretty either IMO, especially in a fenderless car.
Don
Two words .. Unsprung Weight ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Louey
On a light car, I like to have everything that is unsprung weight, as light as possible. I even have a aluminum 9 inch center section ( with a aluminum Daytona pinion support ) and a aluminum driveshft. :D The aluminum center section saves 22 pounds over a iron one. The aluminum driveshaft saved 10 pounds.
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1772828870.jpg
The photo shows a BLACK painted driveshaft ... but it has since been replaced with a aluminum one ... :)
I also like to use aluminum parts wherever possible. I have aluminum heads, aluminum water pump and aluminum intake on the SBC.
http://hotrodders.com/journal_photos...1630215272.jpg
A small starter ... saves over 10 pounds ... ( but it is sprung weight ... like the engine stuff :whacked: ).
http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sel...D0190_SIDE.jpg
I do use exclusively drum brakes on the cars I build, mainly because I like them...........oh, here goes that word again.........traditional.:) But, there is a reason most if not all newer cars come with front discs (at least). They stop better. My drums work fine because I use all new parts and keep them adjusted, but I have to admit when they get wet they aren't as effective as they should be. Even after washing the car the first few stops are dicey.
For the kinds of cars I build for me discs just look too modern IMO. I also don't like disc brake dust.
Don
Quote:
Originally Posted by Itoldyouso
Don, I thought you had the Death Wobble because these reasons?
We also rushed building the car for Daytona Turkey Run, and built it in 88 days, start to finish, so we missed some things in our rush. As soon as the car hit the street we had handling issues. I have built a few cars and they always ran right down the road right out of the chute, so this one really puzzled me. The worst problem was death wobble that was very violent and you never knew when it would happen. You had to hit the brakes hard to get it to stop and it would scare the bejesus out of you.:eek:
So we pulled the car off the street for a complete suspension and brake redo. I found the wheelbase was off 9/16 of an inch side to side, so we realigned that. Our Flaming River steering box had too much play, which we adjusted out. Our caster was way too much at 9 degrees, so I took it back to 6. Toe in was off, it was 3/16 instead of 1/16 to 1/8. One brand new wheel was bent out of the box. Coker sent us a new one and we painted it today and will install it this week. We had all the wheels spun balanced on a very sophisticated machine.
We also found our spindles had been machined badly and the outer wheel bearing had 5-6 thousandths slop, so we pulled those and bought new forged ones from Speedway. While we were at it, we scrapped the GM brakes and have ordered a new Wilwood setup from Speedway too.
Bottom line, everybody seems to agree that for some reason the GM brakes are too heavy or something to make them work well at speed. I see lots of buckets with them, so some must work, but there are many people who don't care for them. We just couldn't take a chance and decided to go with the lighter Wilwoods. We should know this week how all of this worked out when we test drive the car again.
Don
Freds thinking was precisely our thinking in not putting the GM brakes back on. For $ 700 the Wilwoods cost it wasn't worth going through installing the GM's back on the new spindles and wondering if and when the problem would reoccur. I wish the GM's would have worked as they are all plated and painted up, but my Son's life comes first, and I don't want him driving a car that might get him hurt.
Don
There are many different kinds of light weight calipers & rotors out there and cheaper to buy. Who ever said anything about "larger American" cars???
I am using disc's & rotors from a '91 Nissan 300ZX on all 4 wheels on our "T" (With the name removed) They are light weight calipers, & rotors as many factory cars have. New calipers only cost $70.00 with pads, (rebuilt are about $36.00-$40.00) and rotors were $25.00 and I can get parts any where, they are a shelf item. And they fit most aftermarket mounting plates for 4 puck fixed calipers.
I have used VW calipers, and they also were light weight.
People just need to go and look some where other than in catologs, or just because someone else says that is what you need to use, odds are, they are only using it because someone said it was the only thing to use!
There are many small cars that can stop on a dime and give you change, and that are shelf stocked parts for less $$$$
As far as Unsprung Weight Thats great if you want to save weight, but from the looks of what you used, it didn't look like the parts you changed were for the weight, or are you saying that everyone else out there is having unsprung weight problems? I would rather have the IRON pumpkin, and I'm using two marine electronic water pumps which weighs less, but I not using them because of that.
Pat
Yep, those were some of the causes, but even after correcting all that stuff the wobble would still occur occasionally. We pulled the brakes and put Wilwoods on there and it hasn't happened since.
We did have another problem where the brakes were dragging and creating a lot of dust. Speedway graciously sent him a new set of rotors, different pads (purple) and a proportioning valve. We haven't had a chance to dial in the new stuff because he got sidetracked on his boat project the last year.
Don
I have the So-Cal set-up on mine. It's been there for 10 years & just recently changed pads, bearings & turned rotors.
As for price, it only hurts for a little while. ;)
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL22/.../260345043.jpg
[QUOTE=Steves32;377483]I have the So-Cal set-up on mine. It's been there for 10 years & just recently changed pads, bearings & turned rotors.
As for price, it only hurts for a little while. ;)
Steve - aren't there Wilwood discs inside all that aluminum:LOL:
I considered that setup before I ended up going full fendered w/IFS and decided it was a waste to hide all that pretty sparkly stuff (but ended up with a full TCI Stage 3 regardless:eek:)
Yea- Wilwood 4 piston calipers hidden in there. Probably overkill on this little car.
I was just noticing that pic. Tires are spaced out a whole bunch. I had a tire shop break down the tires & rims for polishing & for some odd reason- they installed 1/2" spacers between wheel & drum. Idiots. I think I drove around for a year before I found out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steves32
....but they do stop it tho. Now, if you want overkill go back to #5 entry - and this is the brake setup on my '31:LOL::LOL: I have them on all FOUR corners.
Steve, I'm just finishing up my 3-window, and I had to use 1/4" spacers between my early Eric Vaughn wheels and the So-Cal drums because the glue on wheel weights inside the wheels hit the finned drums. Perhaps your tire store was concerned about that if they used the glue on weights.
I hope my coupe turns out half as nice as your roadster!
Mick
You have to use lead weights. The new steel ones are twice the size as the lead.
Damn nice 3 window there!
Baer has come out with a 2 piston Corvette setup for the early front spindles that looks really good and stops even better. I'm using them with 11 x 2 rear drums.
hey don!! i was thinking of switching to drums on the front,what set up do you like the most? peteQuote:
Originally Posted by Itoldyouso
I think it depends on the car. Full fendered car- whatever fits.
Mine? Everything shows so I only had one option I would even consider.
The So-Cal setup. Great looks & Wilwoods, all hidden from prying eyes. ;)
Driveway makes car look crooked. It's not.
Wow, old photo, no repaint or flames here. Just pinstriping.
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL22/.../260345044.jpg