Aalcon calipers

[R2D2]

I have just had a set of Alcon 4-pots delivered and I had understood that they have been designed to work with standard thickness discs. (I have Red Dot discs which are 9.6mm thick, the same as the standard Caterham)

 

The caliper has a sticker attached to it which clearly states, minimum disc thickness 12.7mm, a fact I find rather worrying.

As the pad location for these calipers relies on a four roll pins fitted to the calipers I am concerned that if the pad wear is very high the backing plate could escape between the disc and the caliper.

 

I realise that it pad wear should probably be checked more often than to allow this to happen but if the potential does exist it is a bit dodgey.

 

I don't have time to make any detailed measurements until the weekend so I would be interested to know if anyone else has noticed this or had a problem.

 

Edited by - chris flavell on 21 Nov 2001 15:38:10

[Casbar]

Are these the same calipers supplied by James W. If so, what does he have to say?

[Graham Perry]

I am pretty sure I read somewhere that James had them made exactly the correct width for the standard Caterham discs, or did I dream that ?

[R2D2]

They are the calipers from James and I have asked him to comment.

 

I also understood that they were designed for the standard disc and I am not saying that there is any specific problem, I am just confused to find a sticker that says "Disc Thickness" 12.7mm and I want to be 100% confident before I bolt them on the car and I think there are quite a few being used so I am just trying to get an opinion.

[Rob Walker]

I could be talking rot but AFAIK James W discs are 12mm thick and are crossdrilled. The stock Caterham / spitfire are thinner about 9mm

[elie boone]

Chris, IMHO 12.7 stands for max thickness for the disc

Pads 16mm is also max thickness for the pads.

Even if your disc is 9.6 the steel pins will still support the pads, i do not think there is a problem.

The difference is 1.5mm on one side, if this would cause problems for the pads on 9.6mm disc's you would have the same problems with 12.7 disc's.

I think that the pad code is MDB1200.

Elie.

[Peter T]

Chris, i have just fitted the Alcon Brake upgrade from James Whiting,and was assured that it is compatible with standard solid disks, the kit was a doddle to fit and has proven to be a worthwhile investment!

 

C7 PWT

[deanteam]

Only just caught up with this one. We have these calipers and have reported our experiences in previous threads. We have standard discs and from that point of view no problems have developed. We had problem as the calipers were first fitted to uprights via a separate plate as on early Lotus 7s. The brakes bent this plate. Since fitting the later uprights this problem has dissappeared. However for track days we found that there was enormous wear on the leading edge of the green stuff pads. We questioned the sizing of the pistons but no one else has reported a similar experience. We will probably go to red stuff next year. We have worn pads pretty thin and they didn't drop out, if that helps.

Perhaps a bit more maintainence is necessary because of the lack of dust seals.

 

http://www.blatchat.com/Topic.asp?topic_id=7743&forum_id=8&Topic_Title=Brake+pads+wear+%3F&forum_title=TechTalk

 

Edited by - deanteam on 23 Nov 2001 10:37:59