How Do You Mount Caliper On Front? Or Back?

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thunderbolt

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i've installed disc brakes on a 1972 dodge dart. using parts from a 1975 dodge dart. mounted the caliper on back side, the brakes wont
bleed ,pedal goes to floor.the caliper bleeder is now about middle ways
should the caliper been mounted on front side ? and if so would this locate bleeder valve at top? any sugestions would be greatly appreciated
 
thunderbolt said:
i've installed disc brakes on a 1972 dodge dart. using parts from a 1975 dodge dart. mounted the caliper on back side, the brakes wont
bleed ,pedal goes to floor.the caliper bleeder is now about middle ways
should the caliper been mounted on front side ? and if so would this locate bleeder valve at top? any sugestions would be greatly appreciated
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I mounted mine on the back too, they work fine after I bled them. Here's how to do it. Pull the caliper off the rotor, leave the brake line attached. Get a large C clamp and clamp the piston in the bore..you don't want it to pop out when you bleed them. Now with the bleeders at the top crack the bleeders and bleed normally. When you get no more air re-install the caliper and repeat on the other side. I have a big sway bar and mounted mine that way for clearance.
 
You shouldn't have to pull them off to bleed them. If the bleeders are not on the top the way you have them on the car now, switch sides.
 
Calipers are available to be mounted either front or back. You have to buy the correct parts to do the job correctly. Get the calipers that are designed to mount to the rear and you won't have any problems. Bleeder will be at the top, hose inlet will be at the bottom.
 
If you run them to the rear, you need to use Valarie calipers. This places the bleeder in the correct location.
 
There aren't more than left hand and right hand available.
Simply switch them left and right.
 
Not true RedFish. There are calipers which are designed to be run on the rear and they are different than the front hung calipers. The guy needs to get the correct calipers and then he will be able to properly bleed the calipers and have the hose routing correct.
 
AndyF said:
Not true RedFish. There are calipers which are designed to be run on the rear and they are different than the front hung calipers. The guy needs to get the correct calipers and then he will be able to properly bleed the calipers and have the hose routing correct.
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Your wrong, my dart had the LBP conversion done but the guy front mounted them in the front and they interfered with the sway bar. I rebuilt the front end,swapped sides on the spindles and calipers no problem.
 
There are about 6 different caliper designs, some will work on both sides and some won't. I'm not sure if it is the 75/76 style or the 73/74 style on the A-Bodies, but one of them will only work on one side.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
Your wrong, my dart had the LBP conversion done but the guy front mounted them in the front and they interfered with the sway bar. I rebuilt the front end,swapped sides on the spindles and calipers no problem.
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No, I'm not wrong. There are calipers that are designed for rear hung applications and they are different than the front hung calipers. Just because you didn't use them on your car doesn't mean they don't exist.
 
SGBARRACUDA said:
73-75 use the same part number. 76 is a different part number. On A-bodies.
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You're correct, I knew 76 was different and I thought 75 was also.



The calipers from just about any Mopar from 73-85 will bolt up except the cop car/taxi brakes which need the bracket to work and a few of the larger cars, the difference being is the bleeder and brake hose location, the rotors are also the same. These rotors are also the rotors that most street rod builders use to get 4 1/2" bolt cir. my disc conversion on my 50 Merc uses these rotors with GM calipers.
 
The only reason there is a different part number is; the 73-75s use a 2.6" bore caliper piston, the 76+ a 2.75 (or so) caliper piston. Physically, either will bolt to the rear or front. Sway bar interference is an issue in 65-72 LCA A bodies when using the stock length, LONG end links. If you convert to the shorter 3" links, there is no caliper / sway bar interference.
 
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