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I've finished installing and bleeding a CPP front caliper kit on my '49 Ford F1. When I did a test fit of one of the 15" wheels the truck came with, (wasn't able to source 16" OEM) to check clearance, I noticed a slight amount of scrubbing between the wheel and the caliper.
I can either take an angle grinder to the part of caliper that rubs or add a 1/8" wheel spacer to push the wheel out far enough to get the needed clearance. Before I pick a route, I thought I'd ask if anyone else experienced this with a disk brake conversion and what you did to fix it.
Any comments and suggestions are appreciated as always!
Could be the back spacing is slightly off. I had custom rims made by Centerline and one rim had a 1/8 inch mistake and took 7 months to get a replacement. What happens if you switch the rims side to side..?
May be a slight issue with the wheel balancing weights if you do the inside with those stick-on weights. Disregard if your wheels have already been balanced when you notice this issue
I am just in the process of the front disc conversion from Speedway. They state you need a minimum 15" wheel but I have been informed that there will likely be interference with the caliper. The recommended solution seems to be to grind off the caliper until clearance is obtained.
John, it's the same on both sides. From what I understand, 15" wheels weren't stock on the F1 but nonetheless worked fine with drums. I'm not sure by who or when they were installed on my truck, but they were on it when I bought it.
Looks like the consensus is to pull out the angle grinder and go at it so I'll look into doing that and try to figure out how much to remove.
I've run several different styles of 15" wheels on my truck; slotted mags, Cragar SS 5 spokes, and currently Ford factory 5 spoke mags. I've never had an issue with rubbing on the calipers. However, my buddy has a 49 F1 front axle in his hotrod and we had some rubbing issues with his wheels. He's using the old steel white spoke wheels. We had to grind the calipers slightly. No biggie
John, it's the same on both sides. From what I understand, 15" wheels weren't stock on the F1 but nonetheless worked fine with drums. I'm not sure by who or when they were installed on my truck, but they were on it when I bought it.
Looks like the consensus is to pull out the angle grinder and go at it so I'll look into doing that and try to figure out how much to remove.
Thanks for the feedback!
Ron
For as little as it looks to be rubbing I'd do the grinding too then..
Just make a note that you ground the caliper if that's the route your going. Should you need to replace them for some reason, You won't be able to purchase an off the shelf caliper and slap it on after that.
I had a rubbing on the back calipers of my 53. At the time everyone attributed it to the stock riveted wheels. Ended up being too long mounting pins/bolts. Who knew there were two different lengths.
Somedays it's one step forward two steps back on these ole trucks. But ain't the challenges fun?
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