How to Install 14 Inch Brakes on an A-Body (or B/E also)

[72bluNblu]

Ouch!!!

That sucks! What kind of aluminum was that?

 

[Reddartowner]

6061T6

 

[gzig5]

6061T6

7075 aluminum is supposed to have similar strength properties to mild steel, but I think its a good idea to go with an alloy steel. There isn't a lot of web thickness there. You'll want to leave a generous fillet/radius on the inside corners too to minimize stress risers.

 

[MuuMuu101]

And this is why you need to test new designs.....

On run 3 of an autocross at Tavares, Fl on Sunday we had a catastrophic failure of the left caliper adapter. The failure appears to have initiated at the top of one of the counterbored holes (where it is close to the inside corner of the "backbone" on the bracket). So the counterbores will be eliminated on the next revision, and we'll use steel for the brackets, probably 4130.

The good news is the damage was minor... bracket (obviously), trashed caliper, torn brake hose, minor scratches on inside of wheel. Spindle, hub and rotor unaffected.

My son (driving) did say the braking was excellent before the failure.

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View attachment 1715435356

Cool! I was planning on doing something similar in the future even though I have 13" brakes from Dr. Diff.

My suggestion, if possible, add a fillet between the transition from the caliper mount to the spindle mount. That's a location of a huge stress riser and I don't know if that was the issue or the counterbore but it clearly sheared off.

Cool engineering work!

 

[Thom]

Any new progress on this? I am looking at doing a bigger front brake on my Dart