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Disc brake conversion doesn't fit on SSII 14" X 7"wheels
Before purchasing my single piston front disc brake conversion kit from in line tube I placed a thread asking anyone if it would fit on SSII 14" X 7" wheels and everyone seemed convinced that they would fit. Well after installing them I when to put one of the front wheels back on and once all the logs are on the wheel wont turn at all. Since I don't want to go to a 15" SSII for monetary reasons and before I start cutting or grinding the brackets I wonder if anybody else as had the same exact problem. Any help is much appreciated.
Haven't experienced that exact problem but first check that the wheel center where it is welded to the rim is not touching the caliper. If that looks good then check the sliding pin on the caliper, I know firsthand that if the sleeve at the inside of the caliper is missing then the pin will extend far enough to contact the wheel. It did not prevent the wheel from turning but there was some contact.
Assuming the repro disc brake kit is original size, are you sure your wheels are not earlier 14x7 that only fit drum brakes? Later ones (69 and up?) have more clearance inside. What year is your car?
Assuming the repro disc brake kit is original size, are you sure your wheels are not earlier 14x7 that only fit drum brakes? Later ones (69 and up?) have more clearance inside. What year is your car?
Originally Posted by Octania
Look for the stamped code on the wheels, but it may not be visible with tires in place. 795C, 810, something like that,.
Where Is the date code located ? And how is it read ? I have a bunch of14-7 bolt on cc maybe I can help ?
Where Is the date code located ? And how is it read ? I have a bunch of14-7 bolt on cc maybe I can help ?
Sorry guys, I should have been more specific. It's a 68 442 that originally had front drums with SSII 14 X 7 rims. Purchased a single piston front power disc brake system. The picture I uploaded shows the cad plated bracket and were the bracket comes to a point in two different places the peal of which rubs against the inside of the rim. I may be able to fix the issue with a hammer and a saw but before I do that I want to look at every possibility.
Those wheels are probably 14x6, not 14x7, if they are stock wheels.
SSIIs will clear factory disc brakes, as well as SSIIIs, SSIs with trim rings, and SSIs from 1969 with the disc brake profile.
You do not have a factory setup. I would contact inline tube and explain to them what is going on.
^^^ This!
ALL SSII/III wheels in all factory-available sizes clear FACTORY disk brakes. The 14x6 SSII wheels were factory-installed on 1968 A-bodies with the four-piston calipers and on 1969 A-bodies with the single piston floating calipers. I know from personal experience that the 14x6 wheels clear with no problems. As noted, find out how your aftermarket brake kit differs from OEM, because THAT'S the problem.
Does this aftermarket kit use the original calipers with the 2.75" pistons or the later metric calipers with the 2.5" pistons?
Also, be aware that the SSII/III wheels use the same diameter center disk on every size wheel, so the 15x7 versions don't really provide any additional clearance over the 14" versions, as the center of the rim on the 15" wheels drops down to the same ID as on the 14" versions.
ALL SSII/III wheels in all factory-available sizes clear FACTORY disk brakes. The 14x6 SSII wheels were factory-installed on 1968 A-bodies with the four-piston calipers and on 1969 A-bodies with the single piston floating calipers. I know from personal experience that the 14x6 wheels clear with no problems. As noted, find out how your aftermarket brake kit differs from OEM, because THAT'S the problem.
Does this aftermarket kit use the original calipers with the 2.75" pistons or the later metric calipers with the 2.5" pistons?
Also, be aware that the SSII/III wheels use the same diameter center disk on every size wheel, so the 15x7 versions don't really provide any additional clearance over the 14" versions, as the center of the rim on the 15" wheels drops down to the same ID as on the 14" versions.
Joe, thanks for the info. It sounds like a 15 x 7 wheel would not make any difference clearance wise. I will measure the piston size shortly. From what I can see the brackets could have been made to leave 1/2" more clearance if they were designed differently which would have eliminated the situation.
Joe, thanks for the info. It sounds like a 15 x 7 wheel would not make any difference clearance wise. I will measure the piston size shortly. From what I can see the brackets could have been made to leave 1/2" more clearance if they were designed differently which would have eliminated the situation.
My neighbor let me borrow his 15" SSII spare wheel to see if it will fit on my new brake system and it does fit with 7/16" to 1/2" (hard to tell exactly how much) between the inside of the rim and the peak's of the bracket. I still cant change over to 15" wheels at the moment (nor do I want to). The good news is that mathematically speaking it's a real close call.
truly never measured them but definitely 14" and the good news is that Inline Tube is sending me free of charge a set of different brackets without the raised sharp points at no charge (that's great service) so I am hoping that take care of the situation.
Sorry to resurrect this thread but I searched the forums and this is directly applicable to the question(s) I'm trying to answer. My '69 Cutlass has SS II wheels with 4 wheel drum brakes and I'd like to put discs on the front. From my research it looks like there are 2 main vendors/suppliers: Inline Tube and The Right Stuff. The Right Stuff will be at Charlotte Auto Fair this week and I can pick up a conversion kit with no shipping cost and a 10% show discount. I called them and asked a lot of specific questions about fitment of the kit. The bottom line is they wouldn't guarantee the kit would fit with 14" Super Stock II wheels (14 X 6 I believe) and I asked what measurements were needed.
I pulled her into the garage today, pulled the front wheels, compared them with the spare, and measured the following:
Bottom line is I'm 90% or so sure the conversion kit won't fit 14" wheels as it uses 11" rotors. If this is correct I can only use an OEM setup with my wheels, correct? If so, how can I identify a factory setup at the Auto Fair, swap meet, etc.?
Bottom line is I'm 90% or so sure the conversion kit won't fit 14" wheels as it uses 11" rotors. If this is correct I can only use an OEM setup with my wheels, correct? If so, how can I identify a factory setup at the Auto Fair, swap meet, etc.?
One more time: Every SSII/III wheel ever made by Oldsmobile will clear the factory (or aftermarket duplicate of factory) disk brakes. That means the factory 14x6, 14x7, and 15x7 SSII/III wheels. The stock rotors are 10.75". Most people round those off to 11". I know from personal experience that the 14x6 wheels clear factory disk brakes. The 14x6 wheels actually have MORE clearance than the 14x7 wheels.
Most aftermarket disk brake kit vendors claim you need 15" wheels simply because they don't want to deal with educating the customer about the difference between GM's disk brake wheels and non-disk brake wheels. The factory routinely installed 14" wheels on disk brake cars in the 1960s and 70s. 15" wheels were unusual on A-body cars then.
If the aftermarket caliper brackets are dimensional duplicates of the factory ones, and the calipers are factory-style calipers, they will clear.
If the aftermarket brakes use calipers and/or brackets that are NOT exact duplicates of factory, or if the SSII/III wheels are aftermarket repros in a non-factory size, all bets are off.
Thanks for the clarification. So my best (safest) bet is the factory setup from a late 69-72 Olds A body (single piston caliper). Did the other divisions use 10.75" rotors or was it just Olds?
I am not sure on other GM divisions. Disk brake setups go for about 200-300 depending on what you get with them on here. At a minimum, you need the calipers and hub/spindle/knuckle assemblies. Rotors are nice to have, and you will need a disk brake master cylinder and a proportioning valve from a disc brake setup.
Ideally, you can get three big chunks of metal (caliper, rotor, knuckle)x2, and a master cylinder / booster, and then a valve and some lines.
I need to move mine out of my apartment soon. I should screw with people and park one of my 69 SS1s that will clear the calipers on one of my disc knuckles and put some pictures up.
Thanks for the clarification. So my best (safest) bet is the factory setup from a late 69-72 Olds A body (single piston caliper). Did the other divisions use 10.75" rotors or was it just Olds?
Please read this thread so I don't have to type it all again.
The bottom line is that there are no "11 inch" rotors that fit the stock disk brake spindles. They are all 10.75". The spindles, rotors, caliper brackets, and calipers are EXACTLY THE SAME PART NUMBER on 1969-72 A-body, 1969 F-body, and 1969-74 X-body cars. ALL of those will work with any factory SSII/III wheel. Aftermarket companies who won't commit to that are being stupid and don't deserve your money. (Note that the 67-68 cars used the four piston calipers with different caliper brackets, however those clear also)
Joe: I just read through the entire thread you linked and it was very informative. As I'm going to the Charlotte swap meet Fri I'm trying to figure out how to ID spindle/disc/caliper combos. Where would the OE P/N for the 70-72 Cutlass (405982) be on the spindle? I assume it's cast into it. I would think the Chevelle spindle (3966151) has a similar ID mark on it as well. Would want to verify the part before I buy.
I know I'm kinda late to this thread but I'd just grind the bracket. Had to do the exact same thing back in 2000 when I converted my 70 to front disc. I'm running 14X6 SS3's. It didn't take much grinding as I recall and have had no problems in almost 80k miles. It's cheaper too!
I know I'm kinda late to this thread but I'd just grind the bracket. Had to do the exact same thing back in 2000 when I converted my 70 to front disc. I'm running 14X6 SS3's. It didn't take much grinding as I recall and have had no problems in almost 80k miles. It's cheaper too!
I'm still struggling with why ANYTHING needs to be ground. These cars came from the factory with 14x6 and 14x7 wheels and disc brakes. In over 40 years and two dozen A-body Oldmobiles, I've NEVER had a clearance issue with any size SSII/III wheel and factory disc brakes.
I'm still struggling with why ANYTHING needs to be ground. These cars came from the factory with 14x6 and 14x7 wheels and disc brakes. In over 40 years and two dozen A-body Oldmobiles, I've NEVER had a clearance issue with any size SSII/III wheel and factory disc brakes.
I didn't use original parts.......I think I got the kit from Year One but I'm probably wrong. As I recall the pad bracket had flash on it.......like a plastic part would. About 2 minutes with a die grinder fixed it. I could pull a wheel to see what exactly I ground if you'd like!
I didn't use original parts.......I think I got the kit from Year One but I'm probably wrong. As I recall the pad bracket had flash on it.......like a plastic part would. About 2 minutes with a die grinder fixed it. I could pull a wheel to see what exactly I ground if you'd like!
No problem! Yeah back in '00 I thought sourcing 40 year old parts for this was crazy haha. Although if I had it to do again now I'd go the used parts route because of the cost......I paid WAYY too much for that kit
I just finished the front suspension rebuild and disc brake conversion on my '69 and the kit from The Right Stuff clears the factory SSII wheels. The stainless lines had some serious fitment issues, however. I was able to make them all work but every single one needed some modifications. The worst was the short feeder line that runs to the rear brakes. So I'm happy with the kit but the lines were a waste of $$. It would have been just as much work to make my own from scratch.
January 18th, 2014, 02:50 AM
