I spent 2.5 hours today grinding my d60 calipers to fit my new beadlocks! And I only got one side done!!!!! This is crazy! My question is, how much space do I need for the wheel. Right now I have very little, but the wheel doesn't scrapre anywhere. Is getting a pebble caught between the caliper and the wheels and destroying my wheel a real danger?

J. J.

I would say that little clearance will work, if something manages to get in there it should get spit out just as easily as it got in.
Give it a shot as long as it does not rub you can always grind more later.

Let me see some pics i gots to grind mine soon.

Ian-

I have less than a 1/16" clearance and have had no trouble at all. I Ground mine for the same reason. I say there is no danger at all with running little clearance. In fact, since I did not want to grind any more than I had to one of the wheels even rubbed a little and still no trouble. Go with it!!!

I spent 2.5 hours today grinding my d60 calipers to fit my new beadlocks! And I only got one side done!!!!!

hahahaha, glad I'm not the only one who did that tonight. I'm blowing black snot out of my nose as I type.

I have very little clearance and am leaving it that way, I also have no rub. Tomorrow I will do the drivers side and then the 4th and final beadlock. Then my sh!t rolls for the first time in about 3 months. I just have to let all the air out of the 38's to get her under the garage door.

It is crazy how long it takes. It took me forever to find that one little elusive spot the was scraping:mad3: , but I finally did and called it a night:zzz:

sounds like you guys have worked those grinders to the point were you need a new one. only took me 1/2hour a side and i have about 1/8 of clearance maybe more. i had pics on here a while back, dont know were there at.

2 inch backspacing, no grinding

i have about 3.5 back spacing and dident have to grind much at all...maybe 10 mins on each side..:flipoff2:

3 3/4" bs and it took the whole afternoon.
I was trying to direct the dust into a 5 gallon bucket as I was grinding. I missed most of it (a fine layer of grit all over everything in the garage) but still had at least 2" in the bottom! That really sucked!

Originally posted by patooyee
I spent 2.5 hours today grinding my d60 calipers to fit my new beadlocks! And I only got one side done.

I hear ya dude, I did one side last week and something else always comes up when I start thinking about doing the other side.

I sprayed the calipers with paint after each grind to see where the wheel rubbed figuring I'd grind less but I just ended up breathing burnt paint which made everything blurry after an hour or so.

3.5" BS, all afternoon for one side! Oh well, at least I'll never have to do ti again, right? I'm glad that I'm not running rear steer with another d60. :) Anyway, back out to the garage for me!

J. J.

i did the same thing with the paint. id grind a little, paint then try it on then grind a little, paint and try it on, over and over again. prolly spent more time putting the wheel on and off than grinding

What calipers will require LESS grinding? Ford dual piston or the GM single piston calipers? Seems like the ford calipers are larger but do they require more grinding?

What calipers will require LESS grinding? Ford dual piston or the GM single piston calipers? Seems like the ford calipers are larger but do they require more grinding?

I have the Ford dual piston calipers. I used the calipers from an '82 front instead of '79 (the year of my axle) because they are designed different and there is a lot less to grind luckily someone told me this)

With these '82 Ford calipers there really isn't that much to grind, it just takes time to find the spots where it's touching and rubbing. Now that I have one done I think I can probably do the other side in about 10 minutes:D since I know what to take off.

You'll be ok. Mine has very little clearance too.
Only took me about five minutes to tell my friend Bobby (Jeepclub on here) to grind them. ;)
He is the angle grinding specialist, almost like having a machine shop in my garage :D

Phil

Here (http://www.members.cox.net/russhuffman/grinding/calipers.html) is an article I wrote on grinding calipers. This subject comes up so often on CK5, I got tired of answering and put this together. It also has the wheel debate summary thrown in for the same reason. There are some things I want to update on it, I just never get the time.

Anyway, I've got 4" of BS and I ground it just enough to clear. It is very close. No problems yet...

Oh, Ford (dual piston) calipers require much more grinding than GM. In fact, most people do not consider them a potential for 15" wheels unless you run VERY small backspacing.

Originally posted by bigdude


I have the Ford dual piston calipers. I used the calipers from an '82 front instead of '79 (the year of my axle) because they are designed different and there is a lot less to grind luckily someone told me this)

With these '82 Ford calipers there really isn't that much to grind, it just takes time to find the spots where it's touching and rubbing. Now that I have one done I think I can probably do the other side in about 10 minutes:D since I know what to take off.

Will the '82 calipers fit the '79 brackets?

Originally posted by clc900


Will the '82 calipers fit the '79 brackets?
yes sir.

'79 Dana-60R, same vintage Ford dual piston calipers,2.5"backspacing and very little grinding. Most of the grinding was on the pads and only used a softwheel on the calipers. About 1/8" space between the wheel and the caliper. No problems thus far with anything getting trapped. :beer:
Steve

I have disc both front and rear and it took me about three hours for both front and rear with 3.5" backspacing.

GM calipers, 4" backspacing. First side took about 2hrs...

Second side took 30 minutes. I used a cut-off wheel on the grinder, and just chop-chopped the hell out of it, cleaned up with a grinding wheel.

They were still rubbing, but they'll self-clearance :D

Just following up with some pic like someone asked for. Here is one side almost finished. I had to do a little more grinding after this, but not much. As you can see, I had to grind A LOT! Both sides look like this.

http://patooyee.com/miscpics/DSC00498.JPG

http://patooyee.com/miscpics/DSC00499.JPG

http://patooyee.com/miscpics/DSC00500.JPG

J. J.

i went to the store today and compared an 82' dana 60 caliper to my 79' calipers. my question is how do you fit the 82's on the 79' caliper bracket? i noticed they were the right size to fit the slide groves but there were some cast nipples on the 82' that would not allow the caliper to fit. do you need to grind these down and what other issues would i run into putting these on my 79'.:D

Originally posted by patooyee
Just following up with some pic like someone asked for. Here is one side almost finished. I had to do a little more grinding after this, but not much. As you can see, I had to grind A LOT! Both sides look like this.
(snip)
J. J.
Your's is almost exactly like mine. If you look at the link I posted earlier (http://www.members.cox.net/russhuffman/grinding/calipers.html) you can see more pics like these.

Originally posted by BadDog

Your's is almost exactly like mine. If you look at the link I posted earlier (http://www.members.cox.net/russhuffman/grinding/calipers.html) you can see more pics like these.

Baddog,


this is by FAR the best brake-caliper mod reply to date! thank
you very much for those pics.

I've got a couple other things to try on my brake caliper mods,
but sure like having this info for reference!

--Sherpa ........ :beer:

quick- someone type in something about dually hub conversion to single wheel style so the searchers can find these great conversion pics!!!!!!!!!

Brian, you didn't fall off your roof now did you?

--You almost a papa yet??

--Sherpa

OMFG Patoyee that's a sh!t ton of grinding:eek: :eek: :eek:

You really should see the minimal amount I had to take off with the '82 calipers:p

Seriously a 100% bolt-up with little grinding. I recommend it to anyone.

BTW a master cylinder from an '86 E350 van is also a bolt-up once you clearance the edges and drill the holes to 9/16". It locks those suckers up easy w/38s and the stock YJ vacuum booster;)

You really should see the minimal amount I had to take off with the '82 calipers

Whats with this??? I have 79 and 82 calipers and they are identicle as are the caliper brackets. I think this is due to your wheels.

Sherp: nope and I have'nt fallen off the roof either!!

I have 79 and 82 calipers and they are identicle

I don't want to argue but not the ones I have seen. The '79 has a large lip/edge along the whole outer part of the caliper. the '82 calipers I bought do not have this lip. It is only raised at the ends and that receives a bit of grinding to fit. These calipers can be seen on TTB Fords with dual piston calipers.

I wouldn't post about it if I was just making it up or heard from a friend of a friend of a friend.

I took the '79 calipers and got rid of them. I used '82 calipers and they are a completely different design that require less grinding. I was originally told about this switch by Steve at "Differential Engineering" in Winter Haven, FL. You can find their number and through anwho.com. Call and ask if you would like a second opinion.

I will try to get a digital camera from work, dismount my wheel, and take pics. But with 38's that's a lot of work, so it might not happen:D

bigdude:
Are you talking about the calipers like those shown in my article? Mine are 85 and they are smooth across the top. Take a look at the before shots…

Are you talking about FORD calipers?

I think Aggro is talking about CHEVY calipers.

Originally posted by Eric
Are you talking about FORD calipers?

I think Aggro is talking about CHEVY calipers.

Bingo!! Patooyee is referring to a CHEVY front so, I ASS u MEd the topic was about chevy's.

Me too. I guess I have Chevy tunnel vision. :(

I was talking about Ford, guess I should've clarified, sorry.

I really was just rubbing in the fact that I didn't have to grind much :p

I can't believe you have to grind that much, I though Chevy was easier than Ford:confused:

ok....can anyone tell me if there is anything fubar about this setup im piecing together?
ford knuckles
chevy spindles, drilled to the ford knuckle pattern
new 35spline spicer stubs for chevy/dodge
35spl hubs
ford caliper brackets
1982 ford calipers.

if itll work, i think thats a solid way to go.
thanks
~John

Originally posted by JohnBuuu
ok....can anyone tell me if there is anything fubar about this setup im piecing together?
ford knuckles
chevy spindles, drilled to the ford knuckle pattern
new 35spline spicer stubs for chevy/dodge
35spl hubs
ford caliper brackets
1982 ford calipers.

if itll work, i think thats a solid way to go.
thanks
~John

John, what you're thinking in your write-up won't work.
I know, because I already did a feasibility study on it.

the difference between the chevy/ford app is this:

ford has the caliper bracket sandwiched between the
knuckle/spindle.

chevy is knuckle, spindle, then caliper bracket.
the spindle offset is vastly different between the two
makes.

so, if you want 35 spline outer stub shafts without
modifying them to ford length, you'll need to run all
chevy outer parts.

of course you could run ford knuckles, and chevy spindles
and chevy caliper brackets, but then why use the ford
knuckle anyway????

--I even bought spares based on my thoughts, which
were identical to your writings....

--Soon to have a bunch a knuckle/spindle/brake parts
listed on eBAY

--Sherpa

Originally posted by bigdude
I was talking about Ford, guess I should've clarified, sorry.

I really was just rubbing in the fact that I didn't have to grind much :p

I can't believe you have to grind that much, I though Chevy was easier than Ford:confused:

I don't knwo what to say, other than . . . ITS SUCKED! Ahhh . . . the things we go through to run big tires though. :)

J. J.

Originally posted by SHERPA RIG


John, what you're thinking in your write-up won't work.
I know, because I already did a feasibility study on it.

the difference between the chevy/ford app is this:

ford has the caliper bracket sandwiched between the
knuckle/spindle.

chevy is knuckle, spindle, then caliper bracket.
the spindle offset is vastly different between the two
makes.

so, if you want 35 spline outer stub shafts without
modifying them to ford length, you'll need to run all
chevy outer parts.

of course you could run ford knuckles, and chevy spindles
and chevy caliper brackets, but then why use the ford
knuckle anyway????

--I even bought spares based on my thoughts, which
were identical to your writings....

--Soon to have a bunch a knuckle/spindle/brake parts
listed on eBAY

--Sherpa
well shiot. back to the drawing board. i guess ill just run all chevy outers then. oh well. i wanted to be able to run the 82 ford calipers.
~John

You pricks. I spent years looking for info on how and where to grind these calipers. So I got frustrated and went ahead and did it. It's funny how all 3 of us got pretty much the same results.

15x16! 3.5" BS, beadlocked.


http://www.bogginfreaks.com/phpreaders/albums/MR4WD/abj.jpg

I believe I saw a thread on here where someone was making spacers to do the FORD knuckle CHEV spindle thing

Originally posted by MR4WD
You pricks. I spent years looking for info on how and where to grind these calipers. So I got frustrated and went ahead and did it. It's funny how all 3 of us got pretty much the same results.

15x16! 3.5" BS, beadlocked.



That is extremely funny. What I find even more funny though is that these pics haven't popped up until now and, until now, people have been saying, "grind the caliper, grind the caliper" when, really, you have to grind the caliper, caliper bracket, and some brake equipment, too. :)

J. J.

Well, as for posting the pics, my article was first posted to CK5 about 6 months ago. I've also said many times that the deepest grinding is required on the backing plate.

I'm about to go thru this too. I've got a 96 GM d60. Some fawker at the tire shop was giving me shit about it telling me i am going to fawk up my brakes. Does this affect heat dispersion (sp)?? I also found this http://www.wagonermachine.com/15wheeldiscbrake.htm
A little pricy, but no blood boogers. too rich for my blood.