Wilwood brake conversion

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no1newb

no1newb

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I bought some wilwood brakes today, i got some 14in crager ss wheels, and im not sure if i am going to need new rims or not. wilwood said 15 in min and some 14in wheels. i was looking into the details and it has a 11 in rotor and there is a ssbc kit that allows a 14in wheel and its rotor is 11.25 in. do i need to start looking for wheels or has someone used this kit or think i should be safe.
 
no1newb said:
I bought some wilwood brakes today, i got some 14in crager ss wheels, and im not sure if i am going to need new rims or not. wilwood said 15 in min and some 14in wheels. i was looking into the details and it has a 11 in rotor and there is a ssbc kit that allows a 14in wheel and its rotor is 11.25 in. do i need to start looking for wheels or has someone used this kit or think i should be safe.
Click to expand...

i had to shave some out of the back of the Cragers to work with the SSBC and they were 15"
 
The Wilwoods will not work with 14" wheels. They use 1/2" studs too, so if you plan on using small bolt pattern check for lug nut clearance.
 
ok, so i get these rims and you think i should be fine?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRR-61715/?rtype=10

with these lug nuts.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/CRR-KN2121/

I dont know that much about wheels and all the measurements and stuff. like i dont know what backspacing i need or have or whatever.

all i know is that i have stock 9 in drums with some cragar ss wheels, as far as i know has a 5x4 bolt pattern, but the wilwood support 5x4 and 5x4.5, so yeah. it might not look right with rear 14 in wheels, but is there anything i can do about that that wont require me getting new brakes, axles or anything, since they dont really have wheels out there with the 5x4 bolt pattern any more?
 
I feel your pain newb, having faced the same dilemma myself, and wanting to keep things simple and cost-effective...the best answer I found was to find a used kelsey-hayes disc setup that was an available option when our cars were new...so you don't have to change wheels and bolt patterns and axles and such. I've seen several sets for sale here on FABO. You might be better off returning the Wilwood stuff...don't throw away the packaging just yet til you think this through.
 
no1newb said:
ok, would this be worth the buy?
im not sure how much to expect to pay for some that would work, if i get the majority of my money back, they wont be much more than the wilwood were.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mopa...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cb27c54fa
Click to expand...

I have seen the setups for sale by FABO members for around $400, that's what I paid for mine. But they haven't been installed yet so I can't tell you how whether I'm happy with them or not...we shall see.
 
I have a 70 duster with kelsy hayes disc that I would like to convert to wildwood maybe we can do some swapping if your intrested.They have the correct 4 in bolt spaceing.
 
since i have them i wanted to check, and i dont know guys, i feel like this could work. unless anyone has some disappointing information i may be missing?

and i know it doesnt look centered but it wasnt hovering, the caliper was sitting and the disk was laying uneven.

 
yeah, i need new brakes whether its these disks or not, specially after what i found when i took the drum off.

this might explain why my brakes pull one way when i brake hard enough right?
that is suppose to automatically adjust my pads when they wear away right?

 
Ok guys, puting the rotor and hub together and holding the caliper, i feel like there is enough clearance, so i started taking everything off the spindle. and there is ONE nut holding stuff together and i cannot get it off, cant use vice grips, wrench not even a deep socket. and it is now all stripped to hell trying to get it off. does any one know if this bolt is important or if i can just take a dremel or hack saw and cut the whole damn thing off?

 
I put the front disc brake conversion kit with the small bolt pattern setup from SSBC on my 68 Barracuda and I needed to put on wheel spacers, because the steel rims were rubbing the calipe a bit. I'm running 14" x 6" on the front, other then that the kit is perfectly fine.
 
Commando66 said:
Doesn't the Wilwood kit replace that bolt with a new one?
Click to expand...
They did on my 67 dart with 9" drums. Don't take those bottom ones out what ever you do Until you have a jack under the steering link that they hold to that spot. do one at a time aswell. leave the bolts in place so you can do the swap. they should come with the lower bolts, but again I stress, do one at a time.
 
Got it off, had to use a dremel and 4 cutting blades before i got it off. got the mount on it, now the grease seal wont go in right, bent the hell out of the first one, so im going to half to buy at least one more, any suggestions on putting the grease seal in the hubs guys? man i did not plan on this being more than a 2 day project yet im not done with the first wheel and have to go on to day 3 thanks to daylight savings and no garage to work in.
 
OK guys, this is really starting to piss me off, I cant get the damn grease seal into the hub and it is starting to pick away at the hub. should i sand the hub down a little or what should i do, i do not want my car to be stuck up on jack stands all winter without a wheel on it.
 
ALRIGHT, after about 8 days, 2 wasted grease seals, and 20 mistakes later, i finally got the first rotor on. caliper, and hoses are tomorrow, and assuming they fit ( if they dont i will SH** Bricks) ill have the second one one in about 2-3 hours and will be able to drive the barracuda one more time before the ice and snow after 2 weeks of nothing but sitting on jack stands or just in the driveway in general.

 
Now that you have all the learning out of the way the other side will be a cake walk.
I did this same conversion about 3 years ago and they work fine.
Good Luck.
 
WHOOOOOOOO!, this is the first thing that has made me happy in the past 3 weeks. i got the caliper on, i still have to install the flex line and i still have to do the other side, but i got the caliper and rotor mounted and got the wheel on, it spins the same way it does withought the wheel on, i have a little rubbing on the mount, i just need to get it more flat, but compared to all the other BS ive had to put up with, that will be pretty easy.

 
OH, and This i s a big middle finger to the 15in rim diameter requirement to Wilwood. :p given when i ordered it, i thought i had a 15in rim with a ruler, but the tire says otherwise, unless the tire rim size is smaller than the actually rim size.
 
How has the Wilwood kit worked for you thus far no1newb?

I'm looking at doing the same process w/my 65 and also have 14" cragar SS rims....
 
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