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...
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...