Ralls

iTrader: (32)

I've been slowly putting my car together over the last couple years. Today I decided to install my new brake lines that were custom fitted to my rear end. It is a Midwest chassis fab 9inch. I went to bolt on my brake calipers and there is like a 1/4" space between the backing plate and the caliper.
Here is what I'm talking about




This is a picture I took of the backing plate when it was on the stock 10 bolt.

I don't know why there is a gap. Could my axle be too long or something? Maybe I didn't press the bearing on far enough so it's sticking out too far?

ski23

iTrader: (21)

Looks like the axle is not in enough. Measure the distance from end of axle tube to hub of the axle on stock 10 bolt. Then measure new setup. Im sure Eric will chime in

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

your calipers float within the bracket that bolts to the one on the housing. are the caliper slides frozen in place(common issue w/ rear disc)? we have had a few cases where the axles were not machined properly for the caliper spacing though... I fixed a few here and Moser fixed some. rare cases, but it is possible.

Ralls

iTrader: (32)

Thanks for joining in Eric. The calipers do float but they are not stuck and it's not the issue.

The part that is red in that picture is solid (doesn't float). The further I try to get it to the backing plate, the caliper itself hits the rotor. That "C" needs to be centered on the rotor.. which leaves a gap between the mounting surface.

Either the axles were machined wrong. Which is possible since they were also cut to long because I had to grind down the length to work with my Tru-trac.
Or I didn't press the bearings on far enough. But that seems unlikely because I pressed them on until they stopped.

The only thing I can think of for fixing this is to use a spacer. I would need to find someone who does CNC work and make a ~1/2" spacer to fill in the gap. I just wasn't sure if that's the right thing to do. Will there be any issues with doing this?

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

did your axle bearings have a lip seal on the outside edge or was there an o-ring on the od of the bearing? there is a chance the axles were machined for the lip seal type and you have the o-ring bearing on the axles. this will cause the issue you are having, and i have run into that before with those type of axles. also... take a measurement from the outside of the axle flange to the backside of the brake backing plate where the surface is flush wit the housing end(12 o'clock on your third pic should work). this measurement should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.75 inches.

Ralls

iTrader: (32)

Uhhh I want to say lip seal bearing. Just looking at it I see a lip seal on the outside. I remember a rubber seal on the outside diameter of the bearing but it was flat. It wasn't like your average circular o-ring that's removable.

I measured 3-1/8" from the outside axle flange to the inside backing plate (or housing end).

Ralls

iTrader: (32)

I found a shop that will mill me an aluminum spacer. I was going to do that today but I don't want to be too hasty.