[crusty1007]

So Vans post brings to lite the fact that the Wilwood calipers are not being used in a correct fashion...
The booster is causing to much line pressure & the Wilwoods are designed for a Manual Brake setup. No Power brakes.

I guess I haven't read far enough back to see the OP's issues (im assuming locking up the rear tires?)

I may be assuming wrong but wouldn't the adjustable proportioning valve have the ability to rid the rear calipers of the excess pressures?

I have not run the wilwoods in a street vehicle or with a Booster. as a matter of fact both cars are setup full manual and the front is seperate from the rear. Master for the front, one for the rear (plus turning brakes)
They can lock up 33/34" @ speed.

Is the pad compound coming into play? harsher pads need more force/heat to work/break in?

Im not a brake expert by any means and it seems Blaine & Van have the upper hand, Tell me about brakes!

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

If you get serious about this option, I can measure my spare axle that has the Set 20 bearings on it and help you figure out what's needed.

I'm serious... PM Sent...

[SuperWade2]

Update... The "Finance Dept" wasn't happy with another $500, so I'm attempting to work with Wilwood to see if they will fix anything without me having to drop any $$$ (not holding my breath) before I go get the Currie Setup...

So I took the Driver Side Caliper Off, and after one pump (off the rotor) the two inboard pistons are completely puffed out and crooked and no way are going back in (without dis-assembly)... No C-Clamp Action helping at all, even with bleeders open and caliper off and no pressure anywhere. Wilwood mentioned the the brake kit may have sat too long before being installed and the seals might need replacing...(no idea if any truth to that, just what the Wilwood guy said).



also after talking to Wilwood and looking at some metal on metal rubbing on the calipers, I believe the caliper bracket isn't the right size of this axle/bearing set. The Rotor isn't quite centered inside the bracket/caliper. (although I'm not sure if that is Solid's problem for installing them this way or Wilwood's), or maybe I'm imagining things....



So it sounds like Miguel at Wilwood is wiling to help me try to get a resolution, but if that resolution costs anything more than shipping the stuff back to Wilwood to have them fix/replace, I'm going to drop the whole kit.

He did confirm that 1200 of pressure to the back is their "happy spot", although he said they could take more, they just test to a conservative #. I still need to confirm if my stock prop valve o-ring/spring is in place or was removed by one of the shops that worked on em.

I've taken a buttload of pics that Wilwood is looking at, so I thought if anyone else get's excited about looking at brakes, here they are.

http://www.leishman.net/Photos/Jeep/Wilwood3/index.html
http://www.leishman.net/Photos/Jeep/Wilwood2/index.html
http://www.leishman.net/Photos/Jeep/Wilwood/index.html

[SuperWade2]

One ?, since taking the Caliper off and capping the hard line on the Axle, I have about 5% Braking Pedal (goes most of the way to the floor before even a little stopping power) with the other 3 brakes. Does that mean that some Air got in the line and I need to re-bleed everything that's left?

[Vancopbs]

Ugly *** calipers.

Yes, you will need to rebleed.

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by Vancopbs

Ugly *** calipers.

Yes, you will need to rebleed.

Gee thx

I got both of the rears calipers off and in a box ready to go back to Wilwood...I'm pretty sure the Caliper Brackets are not the right size either...

**EDIT** Good thing I got Vanco's up front because they are the only thing stopping the rig right now...

[Vancopbs]

Originally Posted by SuperWade2

Gee thx

I got both of the rears calipers off and in a box ready to go back to Wilwood...I'm pretty sure the Caliper Brackets are not the right size either...

You remind me of a guy trying to screw an ugly woman pretty, don't matter how much you screw with it it'll always be ugly.

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by Vancopbs

You remind me of a guy trying to screw an ugly woman pretty, don't matter how much you screw with it it'll always be ugly.

Ugly Chicks have to try harder...and do things the pretty ones don't...

[Jerry Bransford]

Originally Posted by SuperWade2

Ugly Chicks have to try harder...and do things the pretty ones don't...

But even the ugly ones stop trying harder once they get that ring. That's why brides are always smiling at their weddings, they know they've given their last **.

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by Vancopbs

Ugly *** calipers.

Hey Van....Are these any more "attractive" to you?

[jsmorris]

Superwade, If this system was designed and installed correctly you should be able to pull the cotter pin and swap the pads side for side without any issue (within one caliper). Looks like the mounting bracket is wrong because you're not centered and it doesn't position the caliper far enough away from the axle center line.

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by jsmorris

Superwade, If this system was designed and installed correctly you should be able to pull the cotter pin and swap the pads side for side without any issue (within one caliper). Looks like the mounting bracket is wrong because you're not centered and it doesn't position the caliper far enough away from the axle center line.

That is the consensus option that Wilwood came up with too... Solid Axle installed the Kit on the Axle before sending it... Wilwood said they don't even have a thinner spacer... So I have a feeling that Solid tried to make something work that it wasn't really designed for...not real pleased with their customer service overall, and won't make another large purchase from them because of it....

The calipers were sent in to Wilwood, they replaced the o-rings and cleaned all the "gunk" from the cylinders, tested the pressure and everything is "good as new"... Wilwood said this kit (if Solid gave me the correct part number) should fit Set 20 bearings with 2.500" offset, which is also what Solid said was on the kit... Like you said obviously the rotor isn't centered in the caliper/bracket, so one of them is wrong...

I'm tired of dealing with both Wilwood and Solid...will be removing the entire brake kit next week and installing a Currie Explorer Disc Kit that showed up today (which is what that last caliper pic is from), and will try to sell the Wilwood kit to offset some of the $$$$

[Gabe]

I just got a D44 from 4WP and it came with 35 spline shafts. I went this route because TAP's drivetrain dept said 33 splines weren't gonna be available for a while. I checked stock everywhere and they were right. I don't know how heavier they'll be, but oh well. They cant be that much heavier than a guy running 33 spline shafts with steelies.

That said, I put together disc brakes from a ZJ and I have right under $200 into it including new rotors, pads, misc brackets. etc

EDIT: forgot to add, 35spl were the same price as 33spl which is another reason I didnt care

[jsmorris]

Originally Posted by SuperWade2

That is the consensus option that Wilwood came up with too... Solid Axle installed the Kit on the Axle before sending it... Wilwood said they don't even have a thinner spacer... So I have a feeling that Solid tried to make something work that it wasn't really designed for...not real pleased with their customer service overall, and won't make another large purchase from them because of it....

The calipers were sent in to Wilwood, they replaced the o-rings and cleaned all the "gunk" from the cylinders, tested the pressure and everything is "good as new"... Wilwood said this kit (if Solid gave me the correct part number) should fit Set 20 bearings with 2.500" offset, which is also what Solid said was on the kit... Like you said obviously the rotor isn't centered in the caliper/bracket, so one of them is wrong...

I'm tired of dealing with both Wilwood and Solid...will be removing the entire brake kit next week and installing a Currie Explorer Disc Kit that showed up today (which is what that last caliper pic is from), and will try to sell the Wilwood kit to offset some of the $$$$

I understand your frustration, someone should be owning up to this issue, and it shouldn't be absorbed by the customer. That said, it isn't difficult to determine how to make this work right. Once you get the calipers back you can have some mounting brackets machined to fit. One caution would be to not install things back as they were or you may ruin the new seals.

If it were me I would give that a try before I dumped the kit. Bolt everything back in and take two measurements.

#1 With the pads removed and the cylinders push in all the way, measure the distance between the cylinders and rotor on both sides of the rotor. 1/5 of the difference between these measurements is how far the caliper needs to be moved outboard, so the bracket needs that much offset machined onto the inboard side.

#2 With the caliper removed and the pads installed, measure the distance from the top edge of the friction material on the pad (the farthest distance from the axle centerline) and the closest point of contact of the caliper radially. Right now it appears that you're touching the caliper radially, just barely. Have the mounting holes for the caliper on the bracket moved away from the center line of the axle by that measurement and you'll line the outer edge of the pad with the outer edge of the rotor.

It's some work, but if you give someone your old bracket they can machine a new one to get the dimensions correct. My recommendation would be to use slightly thicker material so when the offset is machined on the bracket you don't lose any strength. A rule of thumb would be increase the thickness by at least the depth of the offset that they'll machine. So maybe 1/16" or so.

Wish I was there, I'd fix this. There are probably people here on the board that could machine it for you if you sent them the two measurements and one of the brackets. How much was this kit and what did it include?

[SuperWade2]

Originally Posted by jsmorris

I understand your frustration, someone should be owning up to this issue, and it shouldn't be absorbed by the customer. That said, it isn't difficult to determine how to make this work right. Once you get the calipers back you can have some mounting brackets machined to fit. One caution would be to not install things back as they were or you may ruin the new seals.

If it were me I would give that a try before I dumped the kit. Bolt everything back in and take two measurements.

#1 With the pads removed and the cylinders push in all the way, measure the distance between the cylinders and rotor on both sides of the rotor. 1/5 of the difference between these measurements is how far the caliper needs to be moved outboard, so the bracket needs that much offset machined onto the inboard side.

#2 With the caliper removed and the pads installed, measure the distance from the top edge of the friction material on the pad (the farthest distance from the axle centerline) and the closest point of contact of the caliper radially. Right now it appears that you're touching the caliper radially, just barely. Have the mounting holes for the caliper on the bracket moved away from the center line of the axle by that measurement and you'll line the outer edge of the pad with the outer edge of the rotor.

It's some work, but if you give someone your old bracket they can machine a new one to get the dimensions correct. My recommendation would be to use slightly thicker material so when the offset is machined on the bracket you don't lose any strength. A rule of thumb would be increase the thickness by at least the depth of the offset that they'll machine. So maybe 1/16" or so.

Wish I was there, I'd fix this. There are probably people here on the board that could machine it for you if you sent them the two measurements and one of the brackets. How much was this kit and what did it include?

Not sure what the Kit Costs... it came as the only (at the time) option on the prebuilt Solid Axle D44 that I ordered in June of 07. I think its the same kit that I've seen around for $750ish by itself...

I'm now on my 2nd set of calipers (one was sticking after the first couple weeks of being installed), I shattered a cheap thin caliper mounting bracket, and now this whole deal... you can only kick someone in the nads so much and have them jump up and ask for another...


I'll offer the Wilwood kit up for sale to someone on here if they want to try to "make it work"...

Wade