Brake maintenance [Archive] - MercuryMarauder.net Forums

HwyCruiser

12-21-2006, 10:34 PM

I was doing a little maintenance on my TCE "Plus 1" Wilwood front brake kit (>link (http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/cgi-bin/brakes/cginews.pl?record=11)<) and took some pics while I was at it to document how easy it was to R&R the pads.

I swapped over to the BP10 pads a couple of months back and just dropped them in and took off. I went back in today to check everything over and tweak the pad fitment a bit. Over the past month or so the new pads had developed a slight knock when slowly coming to a stop and a minor shudder while lightly braking at speed, probably because they finally wore enough to move around in the caliper more easily. I had cured this for the old Q-pads so I knew it was going to be an easy fix.

First, a couple of pics to explain. Below is a shot of the pistons with the pads removed from the calipers (yup, there's 6 pistons in there alright):

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood6.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood6.jpg)
(click to enlarge)

This pic shows how the pads are held in by the bridge bolt and spacer:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood4.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood4.jpg)

The pads have a groove in the backing plate that the bridge bolt spacer rides in to hold the pads in the caliper. The pad backing plate dog ears needed a little adjustment to limit the pad's ability to rock up and down on the spring clips. I also buttered up the pad backing plate with some CRC "Disc Brake Quiet" which I let it tack up before reinstalling.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood5.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood5.jpg)

These two steps were all it took to get back smooth pedal feel on light pedal at speed and during slow stops. I took the car out tonight and beat on the brakes some to clean up the rotors, but any issue I had with pad buildup with the old Q-pads was greatly reduced by switching to the BP10s. You can see a little pad buildup on the rotor, but I sure can't feel it though the pedal like I could with the old pads.

Here's a few other pics of the front brake setup:

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood1.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood1.jpg)
Front

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood2.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood2.jpg)
Mounting bracket

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood3.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood3.jpg)
Wheel clearance (20 cents worth)

Overall I've been very pleased with TCE's Wilwood "Plus 1" kit. I originally bought the kit during a brief fling with autocrossing, and the vastly improved braking on the street and at the end of the straight track still tickles me to no end. The extra time taken to tweak in the fitment during pad installation will go a long way to ensuring their street manners. After about 2-1/2 years and 25k miles of on the road fun I'm still a happy camper. Now if Santa would just bring me a set of the rear brakes...

Todd TCE

12-22-2006, 06:33 AM

A very nice write up and comments. Nice to see someone does followup also.

This must be an older kit (25k) as I note the older tic-tac-toe gas slot pattern vs the all standard angular hash marks of the past couple of years. Also later rotors were 'pushed' to the 13.1" size to eliminate the pad overhang (which comes from the very tight fit of the caliper ears to the spindle). Won't make any difference in the real world but in the future (another 25K?) when the rotors become worn let me know and I'll set you up with a good deal on new ones.

And if you do get back to the Autocrossing....let's put some Poly D pads in there and really wake it up! Awesome AX pad.

Merry Christmas!
(sorry, rear kit doesn't fit down chimney)

HwyCruiser

12-22-2006, 09:45 AM

Todd, I haven't had any problems with the rotors after having them turned shortly after the initial installation way back when, and then probably only due to not knowing about pad buildup and how to deal with it. These things just need to be beat on every now and then... it's kinda like having a supercharger that you rarely go WOT on. It sure is fun working it off though! The car hauls to a stop like like right now!

As far as the pad overhang, I just chamfer the outside edges with some sand paper before installation. I'll be calling when I get around to needing new rotors, but I'll probably just go smooth & zinc'ed next time around.

BTW, what do you recommend to clean the calipers and hat? Mine are getting a bit of a purple hue to them. I figure it's from the elements, but I don't know if there's something I can use to blacken them back up.

Todd TCE

12-22-2006, 10:08 AM

You'd be surprised at how "under used" most BBKs really are. People seem to feel they'll hurt them. I say put a good pad in there and run the crap out of them! Don't drag the brake to a stop, pick your braking point and stop then. Went through that on a Focus locally. He just didn't get that he could do things differently than before until I took him for a ride. "You drive differently than me". Now he's a track junkie and knows exactly what I was talking about! LOL

The color change is something that won't go away. Black anodizing fade with exposure to heat, UV and some cleaning agents. Best you can do is wipe them with WD40 to clean them off. In the future you can pull them and get them powder coated for a more permanant color. But they retain more heat that way too, part of the reason for the anodizing- like heat sinks.

If you get some down time and want them RED (as is often the case) I run that pretty regularly here. I'll do them for you at cost.

Breadfan

12-22-2006, 12:16 PM

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/th_wilwood3.jpg (http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a203/jdomino/Wilwood/wilwood3.jpg)
Wheel clearance (20 cents worth)

That's 30 cents where I come from. :) :P (Assuming those are dimes!)

J/K of course, very nice write-up and thank you for the pics! Being on stock brakes still I enjoy reading about the various big-brake options and how they've worked out for people, this type of knowledge is really helpful when it comes time to upgrade! Thanks!!

HwyCruiser

12-22-2006, 12:29 PM

Good catch. It was three dimes now that I look closer at the pic. I was looking all around trying to find something to stick in there for a good visual and wound up trying various combination of the coins I had in my pocket...

...then my wife comes out into the garage and asks me what the hell I was doing trying to stick spare change in my wheel. She just doesn't understand the importance of such things, LOL!

HwyCruiser

12-22-2006, 12:34 PM

Todd TCE

12-22-2006, 01:07 PM

There are thin wheel spacers supplied with the kit to offset the front wheels out a bit for the extra clearance. You can kinda see it in front of the rotor in the pics. It would be a really tight fit without them.

It was a zero fit without them if I remember. But hey; they'll only hit for a couple of miles.

merc

12-22-2006, 01:13 PM

Nice review JD. I guess I should look at purchasing a new pair of pads.

jdando

12-22-2006, 01:39 PM

It was a zero fit without them if I remember. But hey; they'll only hit for a couple of miles.

:rolleyes:

Nice write up JD. That is a good visual to show people the clearance of the caliper to the stock wheel. I forgot how "big" the calipers are until a few weeks ago when I tried to fit some aftermarket wheels on:help:

The kit limits you for wheel choices, but it is well worth it;

:banana: I LOVE MY WILWOODS FROM TCE:banana:

Here are a couple of pictures from my gallery.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/3/1/0/2/frontcaliper.jpg
Front brake clearance

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/3/1/0/2/rearwilwood.jpg
Rear Wilwood

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/3/1/0/2/frwilwood_909094.jpg
Front Wilwood

I am at about 17,000 miles on the kit. This includes three driving schools.

HwyCruiser

12-22-2006, 02:35 PM

Dang those rear brakes look good. I'm just about to that spot on my list. ;)

From what I understand Todd provides an assortment of oversized c-clips to get the axle end play within 0.010". Did you have any problem getting this dialed in right? I'm hoping there won't be any issues with the Moser axles.

Todd TCE

12-22-2006, 05:31 PM

That's correct you have three sizes of C clips supplied with the kit to pick from. Or you can take on and have it ground to spec if you really wanted too.

Fourth Horseman

12-25-2006, 01:03 PM

That's correct you have three sizes of C clips supplied with the kit to pick from. Or you can take on and have it ground to spec if you really wanted too.

Just out of curiosity, if I were to drive down to your shop some summer, could your people do the rear BBK installation for me? The front kit was a piece of cake, but it sounds like the rears are a job that's a little bigger than I'm used to doing and I'd be willing to pay to have it done right.

Todd TCE

12-25-2006, 04:16 PM

Sorry but no. I don't have the space, tools and equipment to do it properly. While this may seem odd given the build up of the kit, much of it was done on the bench with parts of the axle, not the full car.

And any kit purchased here is also subject to 8.1% sales tax so keep that in mind too.

Fourth Horseman

12-25-2006, 07:40 PM

Vortech347

12-27-2006, 10:48 AM

Fourth Horseman

12-28-2006, 07:31 AM

Give me a call Scott. I'd be more than happy to come help you out or lend you a space in my garage with tools/etc. We can pull some Marauder Monster Garage. :) Can't be any harder than a modular cam swap.

Thanks, Matt. This upgrade is still some ways off for me (other things higher on the list *cough*forced induction*cough*), I was just planning ahead. But I'll keep your offer in mind. :beer: