fordsbyjay
Active Member
I want to replace my Wilwood solid rotor front brakes with something that works a lot better. How do I tell what spindle my tube axle has? It is a TP car with a round tube axle.
Spindle identification
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fordsbyjay
Active Member
Out of the kazillion pictures I have Ron non are of the spindle/brakes. I will take one tomorrow and post it up.
This is like what I am after. These little puck brakes squeal and do not work for crap half the time. It seems like they get glazed over then barely work then sometimes they work fine. Kind of scary at times though.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Wilwood-1937-1948-Ford-Heavy-Duty-Disc-Brakes,41970.html
This is like what I am after. These little puck brakes squeal and do not work for crap half the time. It seems like they get glazed over then barely work then sometimes they work fine. Kind of scary at times though.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Wilwood-1937-1948-Ford-Heavy-Duty-Disc-Brakes,41970.html
john dioli
Member
if your goning to be selling your old stuff i may be interested let me know please
thanks john
donsrods
Member
Over the years TP used various spindles on their axles. Some were Econoline, some were 49-54 Chevy and some were their own. I am not sure what the TP brand spindles were designed like, they could either be the Chevy or Econoline knock offs.
In addition to the pictures Ron asked for, take some measurements of the spacing between the 4 mounting bolt holes. Measure the centerline to centerline on the two going up and down, and the same on the ones going horizontally. That will help narrow it down.
Don
In addition to the pictures Ron asked for, take some measurements of the spacing between the 4 mounting bolt holes. Measure the centerline to centerline on the two going up and down, and the same on the ones going horizontally. That will help narrow it down.
Don
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Sorry I have not posted pictures. We are cruising the coast in Biloxi and have been putting on the miles since first thing this morning. Speedway had a trailer at the swap meet and he told me TP used a Econoline king pin with a Ford spindle that used 49-54 chev bolt pattern for the caliper bolt pattern. They felt that it was not worth keeping when they bought TP and scrapped the whole deal. Problem is only half of a Ford & Chev kit is needed. I was looking at it and I don't see why I can't just change rotors and I might have to make my own caliper bracket.
john dioli
Member
that sounds like a much simpler idea
fordsbyjay
Active Member
High quality iphone pictures.
I think they are the Total Performance spindles. Total had their own design of spindles. They used the Chevy four ear brake mounting, Ford bearings (37-48) type, then used the Econoline king pin and axle boss. I would contact Jim at Wintec, he has a lot of the Total parts.
donsrods
Member
I think Ron is right, but here is how you can tell for sure. Measure the kingpin diameter. Chevy has .867 and TP has a smaller pin at .742. The boss length of the axle is also different, the Chevy is 2.125 and the TP is thicker at 2.250. Here is a picture of the original Chevy spindles.
But you may be throwing out the baby with the bathwater here in wanting to get rid of the existing brakes. What is wrong with them ? A lot of guys on here run Wilwoods and love them ( including my Son, and his only complaint is squealing, but that is a different issue). You may be able to just upgrade the ones you have without all the hassle of replacing spindles and all that.
BTW, I would address the rust starting near the ends of your axles before it becomes more than cosmetic. Just sayin'.
Don
Damn, that is the wrong picture, here is the one I tried to post !
Now I can't seem to remove the first picture !
But you may be throwing out the baby with the bathwater here in wanting to get rid of the existing brakes. What is wrong with them ? A lot of guys on here run Wilwoods and love them ( including my Son, and his only complaint is squealing, but that is a different issue). You may be able to just upgrade the ones you have without all the hassle of replacing spindles and all that.
BTW, I would address the rust starting near the ends of your axles before it becomes more than cosmetic. Just sayin'.
Don
Damn, that is the wrong picture, here is the one I tried to post !
Now I can't seem to remove the first picture !
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Don the brakes are terrible and have gotten worse the more I drive it. The pads seem to get glazed over to the point where they hardly work all of a sudden. Then after awhile they start working ok again. Plus the squeal is annoying as heck. The fellow at Speedway said they make some different pad compounds but I don't feel like changing pads every 3000 miles.
fordsbyjay
Active Member
I can stand on the pedal as hard as I can and it will just slow the car. Not good in tight traffic when you need to stop fast. Then two or three stops later they will work ok again.
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Look at the 5th item down.
http://www.tperformance.com/total-performance-brakes.html
The pedal is not spungy it is rock hard so I don't see why it would be the M/cyl. I didn't build the car so to be honest I am not sure what it has for proportioning valve etc. it does have a gm m/cyl though.
http://www.tperformance.com/total-performance-brakes.html
The pedal is not spungy it is rock hard so I don't see why it would be the M/cyl. I didn't build the car so to be honest I am not sure what it has for proportioning valve etc. it does have a gm m/cyl though.
2old2fast
Active Member
Crap/sludge in the system ... some M/C's have built in residual's- faulty... bad seals in part of the M/C. Sticking pistons in the caliper's , Rear brakes not functioning properly.. I'm guessing those wilwood calipers went on many T's w/out issue.. Reason I started w/ the M/C is that's the "begining" of the system...
dave
dave
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Thanks Dave. My friend had the same system on his Pinto and he didn't care for them either. I'm going to pull the pads out and scuff them and see if it makes a difference.
fordsbyjay
Active Member
Well we made it back from Cruising the Coast with only minor issues so that was great. I did find this diagram on speedways site but unfortunately it is not the same as mine. My width is 3 1/8" but my height is 3.850".
http://static.speedwaymotors.com/images/charts/TPSpindles.jpg
I put the car up on jack stands to follow up on some of the suggestions posted above (thanks) and here is what I have. A M/Cyl of unknown origin. There is no proportioning valve or residual pressure valves. The lines come straight out of the m/cyl and go to the front/rear where they are T'd. I have had this car for 5 years and the brakes worked ok at one time so while the setup my not be ideal it used to work ok except for the squealing. Next I followed Dave's suggestion to check the m/cyl. On these cars it is a real bugger to get to that's for sure. Not to mention the builder ran the fuel line right over the m/cyl cap it needs to be on jack stands to work on. Anyway, the brake fluid looks like crap now, all rusty swamp looking. Last time I checked it was about a year ago and it was crystal clear.
The m/cyl bolt spacing is 3 1/4" so I will probably call Wilwood tomorrow about some different pads and a new m/cyl suggestion. I would imagine for how rusty my fluid is the inside of the m/cyl must not be very good either. I would actually like to go with a plastic reservoir with screw on caps so that it would be a lot easier to check thru the floor.
http://static.speedwaymotors.com/images/charts/TPSpindles.jpg
I put the car up on jack stands to follow up on some of the suggestions posted above (thanks) and here is what I have. A M/Cyl of unknown origin. There is no proportioning valve or residual pressure valves. The lines come straight out of the m/cyl and go to the front/rear where they are T'd. I have had this car for 5 years and the brakes worked ok at one time so while the setup my not be ideal it used to work ok except for the squealing. Next I followed Dave's suggestion to check the m/cyl. On these cars it is a real bugger to get to that's for sure. Not to mention the builder ran the fuel line right over the m/cyl cap it needs to be on jack stands to work on. Anyway, the brake fluid looks like crap now, all rusty swamp looking. Last time I checked it was about a year ago and it was crystal clear.
The m/cyl bolt spacing is 3 1/4" so I will probably call Wilwood tomorrow about some different pads and a new m/cyl suggestion. I would imagine for how rusty my fluid is the inside of the m/cyl must not be very good either. I would actually like to go with a plastic reservoir with screw on caps so that it would be a lot easier to check thru the floor.
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