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can i grind a hair off my wilwood calipers??


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Hey guys,

 

I just got my new panasports (16x7, 11mm offset) I got the 11mm offset due to the fact that I need a little more fender clearence with the car so low. I was told that these would be perfect and was infact what they put on all there z cars.

 

Anyway they rub my arizona z car wilwood setup just a hair in the back. My zero offset wheels didnt rub at all, I dont know why this is. But at any rate both sides rub just a little bit on the top and bottom corners, they are rubbing the inside of the wheel. i talked to a couple people who had some exprience wit hhte calipers and said there was plenty of meat in the area to take some off.

 

Looking for more opinions on the matter before i start grinding!

 

thanks

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Any material removed from the bridge of the caliper is gonna weaken it somewhat, leading to more caliper deflection and possibly breakage. You are your own engineer and test pilot here. Having said that, I've seen 1/16th or so removed off superlights with no detectable bad effects. It's a good idea to finish up with a pretty fine grit to leave a smooth surface with no stress risers.

 

Have you considered a thin wheel spacer, say 1/16 or 1/8? If that small amount would give you clearance, it might be a better route, although I'm not a fan of thick wheel spacers at all.

 

John

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Right, it would be the outside corners like on the top and bottom towards the outside and i would guess about 1/16 of an inch give or take a bit. Seems to be the farthest away from any machining in the caliper. I'll try and get a picture today.

 

Also if i get wheel spacers, where could I find something like that. Having a custom set made looks expensive although i think i could get it done myself at school.

 

-Austin

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Try putting washers on the wheel studs till you get the desired clearance. This is a pretty good indicator of how thick a spacer is needed, or how much needs to come off the caliper. I think you can buy cheap generic spacers at some of the custom wheel shops, and I have made my own out of 1/8 aluminum.

 

Is the caliper centered on the rotor? Any possibility the mount isn't quite right in some fashion? Are you getting a full pad wipe on the rotor?

 

John

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Don't get cheap tire store wheel spacers would be my advice, because you'll need something lugcentric for the back and the cheapies are usually hubcentric IME (and the hub size is wrong for Z's too). I'd suggest you have a machinist make them for you to the thickness you need. Or you could buy the Coleman Racing 1/4" billet spacers http://www.colemanracing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2161. That's what I have, but they're more expensive than I feel they should be.

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AIght I just ordered the .25" spacers off ebay. Doesnt seem to be too bad a deal. Ack they charged alot for shipping though 10 bucks. I didnt really wanna grind on my pretty calipers lol. I think this will be much better. Ill let you know what happens.

 

PS. Just out of curiousity I dont see how changing the offset affects how close the center section is to the calipers. has anybody else run the AZ rear brakes with a 16" panasport rim and had this issue?

 

-Austin

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It depends on where the wheel's hitting the caliper. If the outside edge of the calipers hitting, it will help; if it's right in the center it may not, unless the wheel has some taper to it. Did you try the washer trick?

 

John

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It is hitting the outside corners not the center. Ans it contacts the wheel where there is a slight taper up toward the center section. With the wheel seated I can turn the wheel with just my hands so its hitting ever so slightly.

 

No I didnt try the washer trick, I'm back at school for the week soooo tryign to figure it out here. I know they wont hit with 1/4" spacer because one of my stubaxles isnt all the way seated, its about 1/8" out and it doesnt hit.

 

Ive been waiting for my wheels to torque the stub axles down so i could do it with the car on the ground.

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