wcmgoldie Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I recently bought my WCM ultralight and it came without a parking brake. A friend of mine had the wildwood parking brake kit off is ultralight that he wasn’t using because it rattled a lot. He wasn’t sure exactly how it worked or mounted. His ultralight has the big brake kit with drilled rotors in the rear, mine has smaller blank rotors. I ran into a few problems with the install. For one, the bracket rubs on a small lip on the inside of the rotor. It just barely touches and I was thinking of grinding out the bracket to clear the lip since the caliper bracket is about ¼” thick and only would have to be ground down 1mm to clear. The other issue is that I’m not even sure how the spot calipers function mechanically. Wilwood has nothing on their site to help. It looks like its missing pieces but my friend said that how it was when it was taken off the car. I can’t see a way that the mechanism compresses the caliper. It just has a lever that flops around with a bolt inside. I wanted to see if any of you with blank rotors in the back had the same bracket or if mine is specific for the big brake kit. WCM spot caliper mounting bracket: http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3384.jpg rear brakes: http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3338.jpg bracket mounted and touching rotor: http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3341.jpg http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3340.jpg (sorry for the poor pictures the rotors reflect like a mirror and you can only see the outline of it but you can see the the lip of the rotor rubs the parking brake bracket) Spot caliper: http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3385.jpg http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww172/showciv06/IMG_3387.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbrake Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 There is a taper on that arm that sticks out. The bolt in the end adjusts the brake. The arm taper pushes on a rod that pushes on a metal disk that pushes on the brake pad. They do rattle a bit, but silicone around the caliper mount helps . They really don't work very well, but if needed for in inspection, they suffice. Here are some pics of the installation. I have the wilwood rotors, yours look to be the original Subaru rotors. You can see my regular brake caliper mounting bracket has been milled down, it was too thick and the caliper was not centered. The cable is anchored by a bracket behind the upper mounting bolt, and the parking brake mount is bolted to the subaru upright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshesh Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Funny thing, I just removed my ebrake off my ultralite a couple days ago, mostly because even with the brake handle pulled all the way tight, the car still moves without much resistance. It looks like you are on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmgoldie Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 yea i heard they dont work well. for one I wanted it for inspection because most people won look at the car without it. It wont pass emissions here without a check engine light too so thats another issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmgoldie Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 I wonder if I can buy the wilwood rear rotors instead of the wrx rotorsand if it will work with the wilwood caliper i have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnr Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 The brake pad on my ebrake fell out at an autocross at which point I just took it off to save weight :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnr Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I wonder if I can buy the wilwood rear rotors instead of the wrx rotorsand if it will work with the wilwood caliper i have. If you do go Willwood do not get the same size as the front. They are complete overkill for the car and you will have too much rear bias. I ended up having to add both a proportioning valve and bigger MC to get a good balance. More infot at http://www.rahulnair.net/blog/2012/02/03/brake-bias-issues/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rss Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 the parking brake caliper was the worst rattle on my car, plus it was virtually useless for anything other than inspections. i took mine off a while ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 yea i heard they dont work well. for one I wanted it for inspection because most people won look at the car without it. It wont pass emissions here without a check engine light too so thats another issue. You can wire a check engine light in parallel with the idiot light for the alternator. That way it comes on when the key is turned on and goes off when the engine is started. Gets you past inspection but doesn't provide any information as far as engine faults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbrake Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 The friction pads for the parking brakes are available from Wilwood, and are not expensive. If you adjust them so they work, they wear out quickly from rubbing the rotor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedwagon Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Related question; What does work? the ones on my S1 were missing and I just bought a set of wilwood before reading this post. I do need a decent parking brake as the rotary is lacking in holding power on a steep grade. would lengthening the lever work? Was a lot of money for no more than they are, seems like wilwood is over rated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I have searched for 2 years to find a suitable alternative. No luck. I think the best solution is a motorcycle hand brake with a lock. Mount a small rotor on the half shaft. Mount caliper to the diff. It just requires a bunch of fab work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmgoldie Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Yea they use those driveshaft parking brakes on hot rods because there is no room or anything else. They are made for the driveshafts of the cars that are made to build them. With our cars everything would have to be custom and costly if you are not doing it yourself. The best solution is inline hydraulic valve on the existing brakes if you can find the correct parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m wirth Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I used this product a while back and had good luck. http://www.mico.com/products/brake-actuation/brake-locks/lever-lock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I have used these with good luck. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Park-Lok-Hydraulic-Brake,1970.html Just splice into front or rear cylinder lines. The knob needs to be accesable from drivers seat. I mounted some under the dash some on the small dash area just in front if the shifter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmgoldie Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 Thanks Lorne, do you happen to know what end fittings I need after I splice the line so I can order them together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbrake Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I used a hydraulic parking brake on my Chenoweth dune buggy and it worked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestTexasS2K Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Im not sure how your car is done. Some cars used a stainless flex AN3 line from the master cylinder to a hard brake line. The hydraulic lock usually comes with the fitting to go to the hardline. Depending on the set up you can either buy a longer SS AN3 flex line to run to the dash you will need an 1/8 NPT to AN3 adapter to go to the lock. If you have a double flaring tool you can just cut the existing rear line and flare it to go to one side of the lock and then run a new short line to the other side of the lock. Double flare fittings and different line lengths are usually available at the local parts store. The AN adapters and lines will usually need to be sourced online. Speedway Motors that has that valve will have adapters and AN lines to complete the install. I would start with the valve location and then look at what you need to get the fluid thru it. Its a fairly easy install. It just sounds complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmgoldie Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 Thanks, their website is very helpful and they said they can have a sales rep talk you through what parts are needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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