building the caliper brackets/lowering plates for the rambler and,well, i've got room on the front side AND the rear side of the spindle. i'm leaning toward the rear BUT, what say you? and why? looks are NOT important, function is!
ok,why? i KNOW it'll stop the car no matter where i put it but i'm thinking airflow with the caliper at the rear may cool the rotor better but it ain't gonna be a road racer...
I know that '79 -'81 Firebirds with disc brake rear ends had one caliper in front and one in back on the rear axle. I bought a set of front disc brake conversion brackets about 20 years ago from Danchuck for my '57 Bel Air that bolted to the stock spindles. It used '68 -'72 GM A-body calipers mounted toward the front, the calipers were swapped left to right in order to put the bleeder screws at the top. Doesn't matter if they're at the front or rear.
OK you got me, all the oem' s that Iv'e seen mount caliper to rear on front brakes, all the after markets the same deal. Maybe it really dosen't matter as long as bleeder screw is accesible, but Id mount rearward if possible.
It doesn't matter, as someone posted already. If you have an early Rambler they will HAVE to go to the front. Why? Clearance. Not enough in the rear, mount the calipers there and they hit... something. I've done several Rambler conversions, but don't recall what gets in the way. It's the same on pretty much all 69 and earlier cars, it's the way the steering knuckle is made IIRC. You can swap the brackets from side to side to change front or rear location and keep the bleeder screw on top/
If it really doesn't matter physically to the clearance, bleeders or hose, then I would say put it in the back so the brake dust is closer to the "exit."
well, it SORTA matters. there is a reason why calipers are generally put to the rear. under hard quick braking if you look at the leverage points, the wheel will try to rotate around the caliper. if you have them in the front that rotation will try to lift the wheel (minutely mind you) off the ground. transversely in the back it will plant the tire on the ground. these are not HUGE differences, and i've never done a comparison one way or the other to see the change, but that is the way my ch***is builders have explained it to me.
That's a relief. Due to clearance issues, my disk brake conversion kit for my Econoline has the calipers up front. Some friends thought it was odd, but couldn't offer a reason why it would be bad other than "that's the way everyone always does it"
That would be kind of like lifting yourself off the ground by yanking up on your socks..... There is an effect called anti-dive that uses the rotational force of the brake to cause the suspension to "lift" and preventing the nose from diving under braking, but it's done by placement of the control arms and has nothing to do with the location of the caliper. The main reason for sticking a caliper in front would be for clearance (or if you had some supercar with two calipers). BTW, my Mazdaspeed Miata, my son's Protege5, the wife's Camry, and my daughters Mazda3 all have forward mounted calipers. So did my Bonneville, Grand Prix, and Jaguar. I think all of them were like that simply because it was easier to package that way, so its not uncommon.
I had to mount mine to the rear on my 65 to clear the anti-sway bar. Guess this means that 76 dodge darts may be stock to the front..hmm...
A guy in our car club called and talked to Wilwood about it and they staid that it was okay to go either way.
I don't think it makes any difference I have seen a lot of foreign and domestic cars with them mounted front and rear. I personally like them mounted to the backside of the wheel on older stuff as I can make a much neater looking installation. I don't like having calipers and all the related plumbing hanging out in front on a nice looking old car.
either way is fine... early motorcycles all had them in the front, now they're all in the rear, but it is not a huge deal either way...
I work as a brake engineer at an OEM. We put the calipers where they fit best, front or rear doesn't matter. I'm working on a program that uses the same caliper on 2 different vehicles. One has the caliper mounted on the front and the other mounts the caliper on the rear. Decision based strictly on clearing "stuff". Just pay attention on how you route your brake lines and hoses.
If it doesn't make a difference then mount them on the side that the steering arms are on. Front steer, mount them in the front, rear steer, mount them in the rear. You want the m*** of the caliper close to the steering for the best stability while braking. It does make a difference. Rex
ok, what if the steering arm is in the way of the lower caliper bolt if i try too put mine on the rear side, it looks funny on the front side, but i guess there is no option for me
Racers put them up front because it's easier to route the cooling duct to the caliper shroud that way. The duct has to mount to the front fascia, and the coil over or damper usually prevents you from running the hose behind the upright to get to a rear mounted caliper, so we mount them on the front. This can get a little busy if your car has front steer spindles and/or a front mounted anti-roll bar, but it's still less busy than trying to snake a 3"-4" duct hose between a coil over damper ***embly and the spindle (while keeping it from getting mashed flat during suspension/steering movement). Other than that, it really doesn't matter.
I mounted my front brake calipers on the back side, and the rear brake calipers to the front side of the axle on my '66 Chevy Truck. Why, that is where they were located on the donor vehicles. I have seen many imports with them located in the opposite positions, I really dont think it matters as long as the bleeder screw is at the uppermost part of the caliper.
Another thing to consider is how the brake lines are routed. Having flex lines cross the spindle over to the hard line is usually a good thing to do as it stresses the flex lines that much less.
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