Wilwood Brakes

[M10Fan]

Hi all. I have the Wilwood break kits sold by Ireland Engineering installed on my '76 (front and rear). I am getting some significant shudder and am planning on inspecting the rotors and pads. Wondering if anyone else has these kits and if you have done this job before? Any tricks or befuddling issues encountered working on them? I did not install these kits, they were on the car at the time of my purchase. Any advice appreciated. Thanks so much!

[tzei]

Check discs th & runout are within the limits. How much taper pads have? Too much gets you issues. Flipping (regularly) them over gets even wear and thus more life out of them.

[M3M3]

which BRAKE kit?  there are two.

what pads?

what rotors?

 

were the pads bedded in correctly?

 

shudder/vibration is usually NOT warping or runout.  it is usually poorly bedded pads that create an uneven laydown of pad material on the rotor.  can also happen if the wrong pads are used...like running track pads on the street.

 

could also be completely not brake related.  suspension and bearing issues can create this problem.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2023 by M3M3M3

[TobyB]

Yuppers-

check to see if the rotors look or measure uneven.

The Wilwoody kits are so big that under regular use,

a pad that needs any heat to stay bedded may not...

 

Also, to add to what Marshall said, check the wheel bearings

to make sure they're not loose,

and after a drive, check the rotor temperatures to make sure

the brakes aren't sticking.

 

t

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by TobyB

[M10Fan]

Appreciate the feedback folks. I drove the car for 30 minutes then checked the temp of all the rotors. The passenger side front was 40 degrees hottest than the rest. I took the rotor off and took it to O’Reilly’s for resurfacing. There was apparently a significant worn spot (the previous owner had a good time in this thing!). They were able to improve the rotor though not entirely fix it. I reinstalled and the shimmy is 90% better. I’ll be replacing the rotors at some point in the near future. But this helped immensely. 

[Tommy]

That kind of temperature difference tells that brake is dragging in that corner. The pistons should be taken out and cleaned. That usually helps with Wilwoods in my racecar. It's good that the disc is now resurfaced but it's not a fix for the dragging.

[TobyB]

Yeah.  You have a stuck caliper. 

Cutting the rotor will make it warp again sooner.

Call Willwoody, get 2 seal kits, reseal both calipers, 

and see how it goes.

If you have rubber brake hoses, replace those, too.

 

t

it's not rocket surgery.