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So I am finishing up my restored chassis and mounted my calipers, minus the pads, and rotors to check for alignments. These are Wilwood D8 calipers. See my thread on getting these calipers to work. Anyway, 3 of the 4 were perfectly centered. However the right front, as seen in the picture was not. However, the rotor was parallel to the caliper but the inner edge was almost rubbing. Like the caliper was to far out from the spindle, or the rotor was too far inboard. So, to possibly eliminate the rotor as the problem, I just took the right front rotor and caliper and mounted it on the left front and it was perfectly centered.
So what am I looking at here. Since it is still parallel I figured that ruled out a bent caliper bracket. These are newly restored/rebuilt spindle assemblies. So what should I look at or measure to figure this out. Thanks,
Bill
Last edited by 69ttop502; Nov 24, 2018 at 07:39 PM.
Shim them. I had to do this on my Cobra. They were not centered but they provided “washers” for shimming them. My rear caliper on the drivers side was rubbing real hard. A couple of .020 shim washers took care of the problem. The rotor now spun freely. I had to do this also on another Vette I did. One of the front calipers needed .030 shim to center the rotor in the caliper.
Thanks, no it is a front rotor. Since the front calipers mount in front of the bracket, don’t see how you can move the caliper inward unless grinding some off the caliper mounting bosses. I know the rears mount to the rear of the bracket so you can move them in by shimming. Thanks for the help guys. Can’t understand as this rotor and caliper center perfectly when I move them to the other side, but the left front rotor and caliper have this same problem on the right. Tells me something is off in the spindle assembly. I think that swapping from side to side eliminates the rotor or caliper as the problem, but I am probably missing something.
Last edited by 69ttop502; Nov 24, 2018 at 09:39 PM.
Yes moving the caliper inwards is not a shim issue. Is there any possible way the mouning bracket is a little bent? I know the Wilwoods are a pretty close tolerance. Have you called them yet?
I was editing my last post but yes I did swap this rotor and caliper to the other side and that side to the problem side and nothing changed so that would eliminate the rotor and caliper I believe. What I mean is, this caliper and rotor centered perfectly on the other side. Other side rotor and caliper had same centering issue on bad side. Haven’t called Wilwood, just ran across this problem this morning. Thanks guys.
Going to have to look at the bracket. Assumed since rotor is still parallel to the caliper, the chance was small it is the bracket.
Last edited by 69ttop502; Nov 24, 2018 at 09:50 PM.
So the caliper didn't have enough clearance on BOTH sides when you tested the wheels?
When you say rebuilt spindles- did you do it- or have it sent out?
I've gotta think with the oversize studs- somebody didn't do some thing right as the rotor is in too far...maybe a 68 spindle- as it spindle used the small bearing spindle and hubs but the steering knuckle holes were 1/2?
Don't know- but I would definitely take measurements side to side.
Doubt it's the bracket- but I've got an extra set if needed...and can measure- just let me know.
Thanks Richard. This all started because I found my wheels didn’t clear the calipers on the outside. So while doing some grinding I was taking the wheel and caliper on and off testing clearance. Checked them all then and none cleared but noticed the right front was the only one where the rotor wasn’t centered in the caliper. Going to get on it this morning. Sent you a pm.
I can only assure you the calipers themselves are not the issue. Good news is that if you figure out what's messed up you may NOT need to grind on it as it appears you'll have an increase in wheel clearance by nearly an 1/8" to work with. In addition to the brackets I'd also suggest you lay the rotors side by side and also measure the hub/bearing height on both side. Even the wrong inner bearing or shim under it would shift the alignment
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Well, figured it out. Caliper bracket was bent. Gave it a few good whacks and it moved right into place. Thanks Todd. Yea definitely no problem with the calipers, they are things of beauty. Only wish they would have fit better but again, that was my fault for not measuring. All done grinding on them and got all to fit.
I had a similar issue with an auto parts store caliper. In my case I rebuilt the original caliper and it fit perfectly. Ended up returning the auto parts store caliper as a core.
I did grind on the auto parts store caliper ears because I wanted to drive while waiting on rebuild kit. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...over-disc.html
Help! Rotor/caliper centering issue
