Need some help with my Bendix brakes.

[Canadian1968]

My 68 charger came with the bendix brake setup. The rotors are shot and could not turned any more. I took the dive and bought a pair of the year one repos. I know they had bad reviews but I figured I might as well try them .

After getting them I checked them out did a few measurements and honestly they are a pretty good reproduction ! Maybe they have improved their tooling since they first came out.

But current problem is . When I install the new rotor or even now when I put the old one back in place the rotor is not centered in the middle of.the caliper. It is much closer to outside of caliper. With the new rotor being thicker it actually rubs on the caliper . And now checking the original rotor I feel that if it was brand new qnd thicker it would be rubbing to ? I was driving the car last year with no problems other than the pulsating of the warped rotors. And I can't say that I ever noticed if the rotor was perfectly centere when I took it off over the winter.

My question . Should the rotor not be in the center of the caliper.? And if so what could possibly be wrong ? It's a pretty straight forward setup .

I pretty sure I could clearance the caliper where it's rubbing without an issue, but don't understand why it is so far to one side ?

Here are bunch of pics of original and new rotors installed

 

[pnora]

How does the caliper bracket mount to the knuckle? If the bracket is between the knuckle and the rotor you could shim the mounting bracket.

 

[Canadian1968]

There is no bracket for the Bendix calipers, they mount directly to the spindle. The only way, would be to shave down the mounting service, shimming it would pull the caliper even closer to the rotor. I/m wondering if I some how have the wrong inner bearing maybe? There are only a few things that could be wrong..

 

[pnora]

If everything else checks out measure how much the rotor needs to be moved. Then you could have the hub cut a little deeper so the race would fit deeper. That would move the rotor on the spindle. That would be my last resort. Maybe you have some mis-match on components. In 69 there was Bendix and Kelsey Hayes. Not sure of all the differences.

 

[pnora]

Are those calipers original or some sort of rebuild?

 

[Canadian1968]

They are the original Bendix to the best of my knowledge. Car has been in the family since 1969. I pulled them apart and put in new seals this winter.

 

[pnora]

Did the new rotors come with the hub?

 

[Canadian1968]

new rotors are 1 piece design.

 

[pnora]

new rotors are 1 piece design.

FSM picture shows the rotor centered. If you trust pictures. It is odd your older hub and rotor are close but not rubbing or did not rub. I would double check wheel bearings and races. If that does not find a cure you might just get the rotor machined to clear the caliper. How far is it off?

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

Did the new rotors come with the hub?

The repos are one piece,unless you get the ones made in California at 400.00-500.00 each. To your question about the inner bearing,That would not cause that problem.They were like this from factory.The inner bearing sits against the spindle.I have a set of two piece rotor if you want n try them to see if any difference.Im not far from you,PM me if interested.

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

new rotors are 1 piece design.

show a pic of the calipier bolts that hold the two pieces together.There should be three.

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

Are both sides like this.You would be further ahead to measure the difference to centre the calipier and machine a few thousands of the inner half of calipier mounting surface to spindle.That would move it away from hub.

 

[pnora]

Are both sides like this.You would be further ahead to measure the difference to centre the calipier and machine a few thousands of the inner half of calipier mounting surface to spindle.That would move it away from hub.

That is an option. It would not be my choice only because they are fixed and most likely have been correct. The hub and bearings are most likely where the issue is. That's why I suggested first to have the hub cut slightly deeper so the race goes in further moving the rotor inward. He may only need .020 to .040 thousandths to center it.

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

That is an option. It would not be my choice only because they are fixed and most likely have been correct. The hub and bearings are most likely where the issue is. That's why I suggested first to have the hub cut slightly deeper so the race goes in further moving the rotor inward. He may only need .020 to .040 thousandths to center it.

The issue is with both old n new rotor as he shows in pics.It wouldnt surprise me if he has a set of rebuilt calipiers n the two pices are a mismatch??

 

[WileERobby]

When you have the old rotor in, what is the distance to the inner side vs. the same with the new rotor ?

 

[Canadian1968]

When you have the old rotor in, what is the distance to the inner side vs. the same with the new rotor ?

The old rotor is 21.4mm thick the new one is 22.9 I would would say the distance difference just about that of the wear in the old rotor. so maybe like .7mm So not much difference. Like I said if the old rotor had no wear on it, I think it would be the same distance. I have not looked at the other side yet , but I did try both calipers since they are unviversal.

Since starting the this thread, I have grinded a bit off the caliper and I think I have it moving freely. I took it off the inner edge instead of the mounter pad on the caliper. I may do a bit on the mounting pad just to give it a bit more clearance.

 

[pnora]

The issue is with both old n new rotor as he shows in pics.It wouldnt surprise me if he has a set of rebuilt calipiers n the two pices are a mismatch??

If you read he said they were original.

 

[CHARGERSTEVEN]

If you read he said they were original.

to the best of his knowledge he though they were.As he has stated he has ground some on the calieper n may grind the the mounting surface of calieper to achieve clearance,just what i suggested.Didnt you rebuild a charger,you should have better advice than what you posted

 

[pnora]

to the best of his knowledge he though they were.As he has stated he has ground some on the calieper n may grind the the mounting surface of calieper to achieve clearance,just what i suggested.Didnt you rebuild a charger,you should have better advice than what you posted

WTF does that mean? Smart people do not just jump in and start grinding hard to find parts like these calipers. But that's a mute issue. As far as my Charger goes yes I built it without a grinder.

 

[Canadian1968]

I did measurements of the old and new rotor. From the inner lip of the hub to top of the inner bearing race is .504 " on the original 2 piece. The new rotor it is .52" so it is already slightly deeper . Simply laying the rotors on the rotor face shows the slight difference in wear from old to new. Diameter is identical .

My memory is that when the car came from my grandfather we sent the calipers out to be rebuilt not replaced. This is 22 years ago now .

The spindles have 100% not been changed qnd my understanding is there is only 1 spindle for the bendix rotor.

So if both rotors sit in same position in relation to the caliper then the caliper is probably the issue? If you look at them they are anything but precision castings. U will post up some more pics of the calipers