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Man that sucks on that spacer. That's one complaint I have with the front BroFab hubs. It'd be nice if that spacer was fixed but I get there are compromises. I remember seeing in someone's build thread how they machined a set screw for that spacer so it was fixed. That's a nice touch. I have found Bronson very helpful and responsive with questions so hopefully it'll get sorted quickly.
Dang, that's really off. Bronson should get your sorted. I was an early adopter, and when one of my hubs went bad I reached out to him to buy a new one. He had me a tracking number for two new hubs within two hours, free of charge, even though one of the hubs was probably just junk even before it touched his hands. Cheap bearings gonna be cheap. But now I'm going to make a note to check my hub spacers as well next time they're apart.
I share your discomfort with the overtorque required to seal on forged anodized calipers. I bought two brass bleeder screws that will go in on my next brake bleed. At least that way the ones I regularly use won't damage the caliper body that's NLA.
Originally Posted by SlowTeg
Man that sucks on that spacer. That's one complaint I have with the front BroFab hubs. It'd be nice if that spacer was fixed but I get there are compromises. I remember seeing in someone's build thread how they machined a set screw for that spacer so it was fixed. That's a nice touch. I have found Bronson very helpful and responsive with questions so hopefully it'll get sorted quickly.
It was me!
I noticed this threaded hole was centered between the two lugs, so I had a slot cut in the hub spacer in order to use a button head screw to hold it down. Using a slot instead of a more tightly machined hole was only so I didn't have to go through the effort of perfectly locating it. I am not sure if it is in a consistent location across all suppliers of that hub (mine are WJB), but if theres any variation in radial distance it can accommodate some of that. I shared it with Bronson as well.
My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. The spacer coming loose and reseating every time I screwed with the bearing destroyed the o-ring Bronson included. Oh well.
Ever since the first drive the passenger side was dripping brake fluid onto the wheel. I cleaned it up yesterday and re-torqued the bleeders and main line to the caliper, even though I couldn't see where it was leaking from.
Today it was still leaking just as badly, so I pulled off the caliper to see if I could find the source. I noticed it was dripping from the bottom of the caliper onto the wheel. Once I got the caliper off I found it appears to be leaking from the larger piston seal.. Fortunately it doesn't appear to have contaminated the pads very much, just a little bit on the bottom.
Trying not to jump to conclusions on this one but it's not looking good.
Pop the pistons out with some compressed air, pry the seals out, clean everything, and reassemble. It's a mess, but I've done it in a paddock with ~5 minutes to go till green flag, and during a pitstop, fixed it both times. New seals and/or pistons are ideal, but it can sometimes do the trick.
At the end of the day it snowed here as well, not ideal 200tw miata weather. So I'm going to regroup and shoot for the next track day on May 19th. Plenty of time to fix these issues and shake down the car.
Bronson from BroFab was super quick to get back to me, very communicative and apologetic, and got me some new spacers out today (even on a Saturday). He confirmed tolerances on the new ones before he sent 'em out. I had initially mentioned I wish I had went with MiataHubs in one of my posts, but I misunderstood what they actually cost. They are $630 EA and the brofab setup is $530 to my door for the pair. Not even the same ballpark, so I apologize for that and edited my other post.
I'm sure SM will help me out with the caliper if I need, though I will try popping the leaky piston out and re sealing it like suggested. It also reminds me that I need to get some rebuild kits for these things and keep 'em on the shelf. Just a bummer to have to do this with brand new parts. The leaky caliper IS on the same side as the excessive runout, so perhaps that did a number on the piston seal. Or perhaps it was leaky from new. IDK.
I also secured a track spot at the FM summer camp track day at Grand Junction Motor Speedway. Really excited about that as well. It's in June so plenty of time to shake down the car.
I also have something really exciting brewing that involves yet another car. I don't wanna say much about it, but I do have a trip planned to pick it up in 2 weeks. Once you see what car I'm getting you will realize I'm a true automotive masochist.
At the end of the day it snowed here as well, not ideal 200tw miata weather. So I'm going to regroup and shoot for the next track day on May 19th. Plenty of time to fix these issues and shake down the car.
Sorry to hear but better to get things squared away than have to be fiddling with stuff at the track and rushing. Ya the miatahubs are $$ as in expensive.
I also have something really exciting brewing that involves yet another car. I don't wanna say much about it, but I do have a trip planned to pick it up in 2 weeks. Once you see what car I'm getting you will realize I'm a true automotive masochist.
Love how in the midst of your current projects/issues you’re still making moves on another project vehicle. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
Bronson is great, I can’t believe how quickly that guy responds to messages regardless of the day/time. Good luck with the caliper. Hopefully Josh’s recommendation does the trick.
Ended up going to the track anyways, here's a pic of my buddy @redursidae in his sweet new truck.
Was a great day actually without the stress of having my own car/driving/etc. Just kinda bullshitted and got a bunch of ride alongs in friends cars that I'm never able to ride along with since we're in the same class/run group. All around a good time. Though I'm pretty sure I could have beat the winning time today..
Also got to shake-down my new van/tow rig, first trip outta town in it and it was a breeze.
After you swap pads once or twice Fireindc let me know if you have problems with that bridge bolt and locknut for the Afco caliper. First time swapping pads today and the nut was definitely galling on the bolt. I was able to get the driver's side back on and felt it galling towards the end but the passenger side snapped before touching the caliper.
First time I pulled the bolt. I went very minimal torque on it too when it went together. Just enough so the bridge spacer couldn't rotate. I'll grab another at the hardware store tomorrow..
First time I pulled the bolt. I went very minimal torque on it too when it went together. Just enough so the bridge spacer couldn't rotate. I'll grab another at the hardware store tomorrow..
Ya I'm still rocking a HDracing 4.5" 1/4" generic bolt. I should probably buy a grade 8.8 or 10.8 bolt online. Strangely enough when swapping back to street pads it seemed easier coming off..? Before putting the bridge bolt back I cheated by using a little antiseize and that let the locknut go on smooooth.
You're not alone on those F88 bridge bolts. They're garbage. We bought a bunch of them so we do have some spares but honestly I'd rig something up at the hardware store/McMaster if I were you, they're just really poor.
Glad Bronson handled things so quickly. Not at all surprised, he is a solid dude.
I got my new brofab spacers last Monday and they are perfect. The mounted rotors measure .004 runout now on them, which is better than the stock hubs. Psyched on that. The BMW threaded studs threw me off, they were all lose when I pulled the wheels off the first time. I re loctited those in, I'm not used to that weird BMW stuff.
I think I might have fixed the caliper leak. I didn't pull the piston out all the way, but I blocked the other 3 pistons and hit the brakes a few times until the trouble piston stuck out almost all the way. Then I cleaned it, and gently pressed it back into its seat while rotating it. Did that a few times and it seems good. I just got the car back together but haven't tested it, other than the "hold the pedal for a few minutes" method, which hasn't caused any leaks. We'll see, though IDK if I'll get to drive it this week because I'm going on a wild trip to pick up a car 1500 miles away. That will be fun I'll keep y'all posted.
@OptionXIII You mentioned brass bleeders, can you link me to the ones that you got? Those bleeder valves take way more torque to seal than I'm comfortable with.
There's a few options on Summit as well. The Earls speed bleeders have a brass sealing surface, and there's a Wilwood replacement option that's cheap, but it uses their silly double hex style setup.
04-05-2024, 12:47 AM
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