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OK, why a floating caliper when a fixed caliper offers much better performance?
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Looking good. I've always got respect for folks that do it "their way"... or one off as the case may be!
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:lol: at the nylocks on the back of that rotor. That's a recipe for death if I've ever seen one.
Get some locking bolts - Stage8.com is a good source (though there are probably better options specific to brake rotors) -
Floating Caliper:
The caliper "floats" on the two pins. There are one or more pistons only on one side of the caliper. The vast majority of cars came with this type of caliper, including MINIs.
Fixed Caliper:
A fixed caliper has one or more pistons on both sides. More expensive to produce and more common in aftermarket and race applications.
Floating Rotors:
Floating rotors are typically cast in two pieces - the rotor and the carrier. The carrier is bolted to the wheel and the rotor is attached to the carrier using float buttons. The other method of floating a brake rotor is to have the rotor bolted directly to the wheel itself without a carrier, but the bolts have float buttons built into them.
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Nylocks also melt at about 250F as well.
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I prefer the secure fasteners like dba uses but this is also an alternate solution (drilled bolts with safety wire):
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The purpose of both a floating caliper and a floating rotor (different in application and cost as they are) is the same. That purpose being to provide more even brake force distribution to both pads and both sides of the rotor. Is it perfectly even? no but like you said it is cheaper.
Brembo (and most other bbks) for example uses fixed calipers and floating rotors. The benefit of the fixed caliper isn't in the fact its fixed, its in the additional number of clamping points (say 2 pistons per side instead of just 2 pistons) it allows which translates into allowing for more functional braking surface applied to the rotor. One of the down sides to the fixed caliper/multi piston system is the increased chance of piston seize/failure. If that thusly screwed caliper is a brembo or other pricey BBK caliper and you're on a shoestring budget kiss the rest of the autox season goodbye in this economy.
Anyway, in an application like a Mini that is sitting in a driveway on jackstands a large 2 piston floating caliper fixed rotor system is MORE than adequate.
It would even be more than adequate for a performance upgrade on a car that is just under 1000lbs lighter than the donor car. Pair that with components that are cheap as hell and easy to find say one fails, its a win win in my eyes. -
So why does Wilwood still supply hardware and brand new BBK's for a multitude of applications that require safety wire for street applications. Also the way the wire is routed keeps tension on the hardware preventing it from backing out, not so much keeping it in place if it did fall out. The idea is to keep them from loosening and falling out, not to tether the hardware in place when it does fall out.
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You're not a major company selling stuff at retail=you don't know what you're doing.
rrr:
I on the other hand sell enough Harley performance parts around the world to qualify for the same volume shipping discount the Harley-Davidson Motor Company gets from UPS.
The funny thing about the whole safety wire thing is you're both right. Drilling for it does weaken the hardware (which doesn't matter because actual race cars/bikes are torn down and rebuilt after every race with said hardware usually being replaced). The wire is supposed to keep the hardware from backing out (which it still sometimes does due to people not safety wiring correctly). Which is why its secured to the larger part to keep it from bouncing down the track and into someone's head.
Is it needed anywhere other than a track requiring it? No. Is it better for securing high load high heat parts together? No. Does it look cool? Yes. Will someone who occasionally tracks their car benefit from buying a commercially available BBK with safety wired hardware? Yes. Does it matter if someone doesn't want to use it because they won't be racing their car on a track and have no need for it? Not really. -
It is a nice thread, we are able to have discourse and discuss the good and maybe not so good as to the methods and choices. -
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ok that's it I'm getting the garden hose and spraying everyone down
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