View Full Version : New Wilwood 6 piston front brakes
I finally received the final shipment of parts from FFR, my front and rear Wilwood brakes. Upon inspection, the front brakes (140-12048-D) are no longer utilizing the top load retaining clip to hold in the pads. I now have to take the caliper off (held in with red loctice per instructions) to change the pads from the bottom, as there is simply not enough room to move them in place. The rotor hat interferes requiring you to take the caliper off to remove the pads. Is this a new change, and if so, any idea why? Seems like a big downgrade for changing pads compared to the prior design. Comparing the instructions on Wilwood's website (https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKitsProdFront?itemno=140-12048-D) with those from factoryfiveparts (http://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Wilwood-front-brakes.pdf) confirms that the new parts are not like the old ones, despite the same part number.
JJ
Hoooper
03-07-2023, 04:16 PM
Got pictures? The calipers shown on the wilwood website link you posted have a removable bridge to allow taking the pads out through the top. If it used to not have a bridge and now it does thats a good thing, without a bridge it would flex more in heavy braking.
Blitzboy54
03-07-2023, 04:18 PM
I know this isn't the OP's point but since we are talking about it, if you remove old pads through the top how do you compress the pistons to make room for the new pads?
Hoooper
03-07-2023, 04:20 PM
I know this isn't the OP's point but since we are talking about it, if you remove old pads through the top how do you compress the pistons to make room for the new pads?
Pry the pads toward the pistons to retract the pistons before pulling the pads out
q4stix
03-07-2023, 05:52 PM
I got my kit and Wilwood setup 5 years ago and they have the integrated bridge across the top too that's shown on their website. The Dynapro series is aimed at competition so that's probably why they chose stiffness over ease of a pad change. While I agree the that solid bridge across the top isn't ideal for changing pads, I'd hope it's not going to be a frequent task.
Hoooper
03-07-2023, 07:11 PM
Found better pictures, certainly looks like if you pull the bridge bolt out there isnt going to be any removable bridge in there. I guess Wilwood couldnt figure out how to make the bridge removable and keep the stiffness like all the other caliper manufacturers do
Here is a picture. This bridge bolt may be able to be removed, but the bridge cannot. It is solid, not like the bridge on the rear 4 piston calipers.
181265