Front brake heat

garrett

Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
I installed Willwood 6 piston calipers and 13 inch rotors some years ago. Life got in the way, and I stopped driving the car much In fact, I only drove the car for very short trips, 1-2 miles at a time. I would start the car and let it go through heat cycles, but I never went on long trips. I have recently retired, and now I have more free time. I want to start driving the car more frequently. I recently drove the car on a couple of 10 mile trips, without problems. I did notice the front rims were a little warm. I decide to test the temp with a infrared thermometer. The calipers tested at 180 degrees, the center section of the aluminum rims were at 125 degrees. the outer edge of the rim was at 110 degrees. Is this considered too hot or normal?
 
I know calipers can get upwards of 400 degrees or more with heavy braking. The rotors are really just big heat-sinks an that is going to transfer to the wheels. It wouldn't hurt to check to make sure one of the calipers isn't sticking and the bearings are good though.
 
bearings have only 10 miles on them and both sides are the same temps. I'm probably being over concerned. Thank you for the response though.
 
For what little effort and expense involved why not take the wheels off, repack the bearings, make sure everything is kosher
and set your mind at ease.
Hey, you're retarded now, I mean retired now so why not make the most of your time working on a TB. ;)
 
For what little effort and expense involved why not take the wheels off, repack the bearings, make sure everything is kosher
and set your mind at ease.
Hey, you're retarded now, I mean retired now so why not make the most of your time working on a TB. ;)
I’d repack those bearings with a synthetic wheel bearing grease. This should be able to withstand much higher temperatures than standard grease
 
I installed Willwood 6 piston calipers and 13 inch rotors some years ago. Life got in the way, and I stopped driving the car much In fact, I only drove the car for very short trips, 1-2 miles at a time. I would start the car and let it go through heat cycles, but I never went on long trips. I have recently retired, and now I have more free time. I want to start driving the car more frequently. I recently drove the car on a couple of 10 mile trips, without problems. I did notice the front rims were a little warm. I decide to test the temp with a infrared thermometer. The calipers tested at 180 degrees, the center section of the aluminum rims were at 125 degrees. the outer edge of the rim was at 110 degrees. Is this considered too hot or normal?
I think you've answered your own question.

The calipers are the hottest spot in the assembly, and the temperature goes down the further from them you are. So, it's not radiant engine heat or everything would be the same temp. It's not heat from a bad alignment causing the tires to scrub or the wheel would be warmer than the rotor and caliper. It's not bearing, either, or the rotor and hub would be warmer than the caliper, and a bearing bad enough to heat the entire wheel would make a ton of noise.

You have dragging calipers. But not by much. 125 degrees on the rotor isn't very warm. Depending on the caliper model, they may also have anti-knockback springs that will apply a small amount of pressure to the pad. There's also a chance there's some corrosion build up on the pads themselves from sitting, which would make them slightly thicker and cause a drag. If that's the case, several hard stops from 45MPH to get them nice and hot would clean them off and solve it. They also could have some corrosion on the pistons from sitting. You can pull them off and use a C-clamp to push the pistons all the way back in, then put them back on the car and mash the pedal a few times to see if you can knock them loose. Or you can ship them back to Wilwood for an overhaul. Or overhaul them yourself if you feel froggy. They'll sell you a new set of pistons and seals.
 
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