I bought some wilwood 4 piston calipers for the new buggy and was wondering how thick of material I should use to make my brackets ?

i'm guessing at least 3/8,,, mine are 1/2

_________________
If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

I used 1/4" and have had no problems. I copied and modified a Jamar stamped steel bracket.

1/4" is what everyone around here uses. As long as it is mounted to the arm well you won't have any problems.

_________________
Aut Viam Invenium Aut Faciam!

Oh,,that's why my buggy is so heavy

_________________
If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

Depends. Are you drilling and tapping or just running a nut and bolt?
Drilling and tapping, the thickness should be the same as the thickness of the nut for that size bolt.
Nut and bolt, 1/4" will do.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Yea,,,that's why I used 1/2,,,I drilled and tapped mine,,,MM your a genious.

_________________
If your clutch ain't slippin,, you probably got it adjusted right!!!!!

I am running Willwood 4-pistons also, I used 2" x 2" x 1/4" angle iron, it works great because of the flat spots on the back of the trailing arms, I drilled and tapped 3/8" holes, tighten up the bolts, then jammed the bolt with a nylock, can't go anywhere.

_________________
"Loud pipes saves lives"

I used 3/16 thick pre made tabs with a grade 5 nylok nut n bolt. No problems 2 yrs. Same on my old buggy, 3 yrs no problem. Same I'm gonna use on my sons buggy for his Wilwoods he got for Christmas. You are just stopping a woodsbuggy.1/2" unsprung weight? holy crap.

Larry

I said:
Drilling and tapping, the thickness should be the same as the thickness of the nut for that size bolt.

Answer still applies Larry. Since you nut and bolted your stuff, 3/16 is no problem. If you were to drill and tap 3/16" plate with a 3/8-16 TPI you would only have 2 or 3 threads in that thickness, not enough to do anything.
Drilling and tapping a piece of 1/2" with a 3/8-16 would give you 8 threads within that thickness, a little more than a 3/8" nut is thick.
There are rules in fabrication, that's just one of them.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

To add to Mikes thoughts on this I would also use a fine thread bolt in lieu of the 3/8" 16 for the additional strength it offers in steel. With fine thread you could actually get away with 5/16" plate. Your dealing with shear and not so much on the thread pull (forgot proper term lol)

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

OK, FabMasterMike (sounds like a rappers name, dont it ), I didnt say you were wrong.

Use 1/2" and tap it = overkill, more work and heavier, why use it? All I was sayin. Jeez.

Larry

I just used .040 cold roll and aluminum pop rivets with washers...


Really use something thicker than .250 if you can. The arms I just replaced had .250 brackets welded with nuts but the calipers were the wide bolt pattern and both brackets were cracked above the weld. I would rather have over kill on the brake brackets. Going from .250 up to .500 on a small bracket can’t be that much more weight. When I put on my new arms I didn't have any .500 other than 4140(Extremely hard to drill tap and weld with my equipment) so I went with .395 that I had and tapped it with fine thread 3/8" I haven't tested it yet but it should hold up.

I've had 3/8 steel to hold my wilwood calipers on, when I blew out the bearing on the trailing arm, the steel was so rigid, so the tabs on the calipers bent, i think it would be cheaper to use a thiner steel. and let the steel flex some.

I agree. That has happenend to me, and having 3/16 mounts saved an expensive caliper.

Larry

1/4" is thicker than stock backing plates isn't it? VW used stamped sheet metal so 1/4" should be more than sufficient for a woods buggy.

Perhaps I had that comming to me.

_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
M
A
G
A

Bad VW I am running the same arms you are and had already bought some 2x2x1/4 angle but wasnt sure if it was heavy enough

did you make 1 long bracket and clearance out the center for the caliper or a smaller bracket for each mounting bolt ?

http://www.aa-mfg.com/pdshop/shop/item.aspx?itemid=12

This is what I used. I trimmed it up to fit my trailing arms. And off i went . seya

What in the hell did you do to that trailing arm?DAMN

Just a thought on the angle iron. Most of it I have seen has a taper on the inside so it would need to be ground parrellel.

_________________
Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

Yes, it should be fine.....I know that Madmike says that the rules of fabrication says to use the thickness of the material as thick as the size of the nut. I used 2 different pieces and had the insides clearanced just a little to clear the ears on the caliper.......it has been working great for me so far.....I have been checking the bolts and the brackets and never showed anything wrong yet, Pipedope is using the same setup and ran it for 3 years and no problems and he is using Sentry calipers. There is nothing wrong with using 1 long piece and have it clearanced to fit the caliper and weld the opposite end on the trailing arm, I was just looking for ways to keep the weight down.

_________________
"Loud pipes saves lives"

Not if you mount the caliper on the back side of it, but you are right, you will have to mill it down on the inside to mount it that way.

_________________
"Loud pipes saves lives"

well I took all yall's advice and kinda put it all together and this is what I did .
Do yall see any problems with what I came up with ? The brackets are 1/4 and I have lock nuts on the back side.

Looks good but would recommend 2 small triangular braces. imo.