Placing of brake calipers.
Discussion
Boring topic but I was wondering what dictated the placing of brake calipers on a car.
On the front, the calipers are normally placed at around 3 o’clock on the disco. However on the rears they can be placed at 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock.
Is it to do with clearance or maybe the effect of centrifugal forces?
On the front, the calipers are normally placed at around 3 o’clock on the disco. However on the rears they can be placed at 3 o’clock or 9 o’clock.
Is it to do with clearance or maybe the effect of centrifugal forces?
I think it's generally to do with the suspension layout. Typically the track rods attach to either the front or the rear of the upright and the calipers are placed on the other side.
On the front this often means it depends on the engine orientation. A transverse front engined car will usually have the steering rack mounted to the bulkhead behind the engine (since routing it past a transverse engine is difficult) and hence the track rods attached to the back of the uprights, with the calipers at the front, whereas most longitudinal engined cars have the steering rack mounted in front of the engine and hence the trick rods attached to the front of the uprights and the calipers at the back.
At the rear it generally just depends on where abouts on the chassis it was most convenient to put the track rod attachment points.
There are exceptions, where the track rod and caliper are on the same side of the upright, but the above is a decent rule of thumb.
On the front this often means it depends on the engine orientation. A transverse front engined car will usually have the steering rack mounted to the bulkhead behind the engine (since routing it past a transverse engine is difficult) and hence the track rods attached to the back of the uprights, with the calipers at the front, whereas most longitudinal engined cars have the steering rack mounted in front of the engine and hence the trick rods attached to the front of the uprights and the calipers at the back.
At the rear it generally just depends on where abouts on the chassis it was most convenient to put the track rod attachment points.
There are exceptions, where the track rod and caliper are on the same side of the upright, but the above is a decent rule of thumb.
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