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Caliper Mounting Question


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I have a question regarding the mounting custom rotors and calipers. In general when bigger rotors and calipers are used things aren't in the stock location. It seems the general way to do things is to make a custom hat for the new rotor to the correct location and the caliper bolts to the ears on the strut. Yes I think this is a good way to go, however it requires a 6" chunk of metal that must be precisely centered on hub.

 

A simpler way would be to space the rotor from the ears and get longer bolts wouldn't it. I am not saying that this is better just simpler wouldn't it?? The bolts don't actually have a shear force on them as long as the clamping force is high enough. Thought this might be a good discussion.

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Terry / BlueOvalZ has used Supra calipers on a shallow rotor.

 

Your solution would work for a 1-piston caliper with the bulk of material inboard from the rotor centerline. However, it seems that the calipers which offer a performance upgrade (Toyota 4Runner, Wilwood...) are the 4-piston type with material on both sides of the rotor. Moving one of these calipers "out" would probably interfere with the back side of the wheel.

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The bolts don't actually have a shear force on them as long as the clamping force is high enough.

 

I don't think you're going to get enough friction between the caliper and mount to eliminate shear in the mounting bolts. Moving the caliper further away from the mount increases the bending and tensile loads in the bolts and mounting ears pretty quickly also.

 

It could probably be done, but I would be very suspicious of any caliper mounting setup that wasn't well designed and proven. I think it would be a lot better to get the hats right.

 

John

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Well the forces should be easy enough to calculate on bolts adapter and ears. I would imagine offsets to be in the 1" area, it is nice to see everyone using their heads when it comes to brake safety. However I think many ppl underestimate the power of a durability of a chunk of steel.

 

Typically in good engineering practice bolts are never placed in shear loading. The threading portion causes stress risers in the metal and is prone to forming cracks and will snap way before it should. I would imagine the torque specs on the bolts are more than sufficent to provide a clamping force to keep the caliper from applying a shear force on the bolt.

 

In rare cases the bolt will be placed in shear as a safety feature, it will snap like a shear pin protecting damage of more expensive parts.

 

Mabey I wll go through the math and figure it all out one day, good arm chair discussion though.

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