Tom1200 Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 Does anyone have a 280ZX front caliper with the mounting bracket they can weigh? Reason for the question is two fold; my car has 280ZX struts but the calipers have been milled to fit inside 13" wheels. I want to know much weight everything ways before milling. The amount is likely negligible but I still want to know. Note to weigh them properly they need to be off the car. I'm also looking at mounting Cressida calipers (7lbs with bracket) so I'm trying to calculate the weight savings. I believe it may be as much as 5lbs. At $23 per caliper fully loaded from rockauto it would be a pretty cheap way of cutting 10lbs of unsprung weight. Quote Link to comment
mhub91 Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 Caliper with or without brake pads? I've got an old caliper, caliper bracket sitting around. Let me dig it out and will weigh it when I go back to work on Tues. Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 Tom, I have strut assemblies laying around somewhere and will take a look also. Quote Link to comment
LenRobertson Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 I weighed a 280ZX front caliper from my pile of parts and got an approx. weight of 11 1/4 pounds with pads and a cut-off stub of brake hose but without any bracket. I'm kind of hazy on what sort of a bracket those have but I must have used it on my 510 when I swapped the ZX struts on. That weight gives you a starting point although I hope someone else posts weights so I know my kitchen scale is more or less accurate. If the Cressida calipers and brackets are that much lighter it may well be worth going with them. Len Quote Link to comment
Tom1200 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 OK to clarify when I say bracket I mean the part that the slider pins ride in. The 11.25lbs is what I was expecting. I weighed the Cressida caliper on a crappy bathroom scale as well and as noted it came in at 7lbs. So that's 4 per side / 8.5lbs of unsprung weight. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 26, 2017 Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 That part may be called the 'yoke'. It is on the 280x/810/620 style. The 280zx are abbreviated but do the same thing. Quote Link to comment
Tom1200 Posted December 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2017 Mike , it being called a Yoke makes kind of makes sense; caliper rides on a slider pins like a pair of Oxen in a yoke. Albeit a single piston caliper. Quote Link to comment
KELMO Posted December 31, 2017 Report Share Posted December 31, 2017 Finally took mine off the strut and weighed in at 10.1 or 10.0 on a bathroom scale. Weighed caliper and bracket (basically everything that attaches to the strut), with a cut off stub of brake line and NO brake pads....cuz they were wafer thin. Probably why that car was in the junk yard. Yeah, I am late to the party. Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted January 1, 2018 Report Share Posted January 1, 2018 If the Cressida calipers and brackets are that much lighter it may well be worth going with them. I'm thinking of all the Cressida calipers that I replaced with either Z32, or GT-R calipers, and threw the Toyota iron in the scrap pile. As they say, one man's trash is another's treasure.... Quote Link to comment
Tom1200 Posted January 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2018 Because the 1200 is running 185/60-13s and 1796lbs with me in it, I don't need 4 piston calipers. Wilwoods are normally the obvious choice but in my case there's no need for more powerful calipers. While the Cressida calipers are cast iron boat anchors they are on 1-2lbs more than the Wilwoods plus I wouldn't have to fabricate an adapter. The final bonus Is cost; $60-$70 total versus $350 for the Wilwoods. Note I like Wilwoods all of my single seat race cars have had them, including my current Formula 500. Quote Link to comment
scooter Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 tom1200 you could buy the t3 billet aluminum hubs and see a weight savings on unsprung weight as well as rotating weight. 500 bucks though, theyre still half the price of the dpracing ones at 1000/pair. Quote Link to comment
G-Duax Posted October 13, 2019 Report Share Posted October 13, 2019 The 2nd gen RX-7 came with aluminum hubs, and serious track car people are removing them, and going to steel, because the OEM aluminum break. And I don't consider T3 as good as OEM stuff. Quote Link to comment
scooter Posted October 14, 2019 Report Share Posted October 14, 2019 21 hours ago, G-Duax said: The 2nd gen RX-7 came with aluminum hubs, and serious track car people are removing them, and going to steel, because the OEM aluminum break. And I don't consider T3 as good as OEM stuff. id wanna run steel on a v8 powered 280zx but a 1200 as light as it is could probably get away with them on circle track cars ive seen aluminum hubs break so lots of guys run steel on the right side and aluminum on the left side if using grand national 5x5 hubs pretty much all the wide 5 late models are running aluminum stuff though (wilwood starlite 55's) Quote Link to comment
Tedman Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 The material on the 280ZX calipers that you grind off to fit inside 13" wheels probably weighs less than a caliper bolt. After grinding: 1 Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 Excellent Ted. Always wondered exactly where and how much was needed to be removed. Quote Link to comment
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