Removing the rear axles to install Baer Sport Brakes

[zerfetzen]

Hi all,
I've completely installed the front half of a Baer Sport brake system and converted from power to manual brakes, no sweat.  Tonight I'll begin doing the rear brakes.  The Baer instructions say to remove the axles.  It doesn't say it, but I'm guessing I should drain the rear end first.  This modified Barracuda has some get-up-and-go with its 440/727 (no longer a 318/904) and Richmond 3.91's in the rear, but I do not know if it is SureGrip or not.  I think I remember that SureGrip's should use a special kind of rear end fluid.  What should I fill it back up with, if I need to drain it, and can I get it quickly at, say, an OReilly's?  Thanks.

[MyMopar]

You shouldn't need to drain the fluid if you pull the axles.  Mybe top it off, but you can use any regular gear oil.  Wehn I pulled my axles, I didn't get any fluid leaking outo fthe axle tubes.

To determine if you have a sure grip, jack the rear up and spin the tires, they both should rotate in the same direction at the same time.  If not, the unit is either shot or it is an open rear.

[zerfetzen]

Thanks MyMopar. 

[moper]

I've installed the Baer stuff. Their directions leave a lot to be desired. You don however, need to pull the alxes all the way out, and remove the backing plates. I would advise pulling them at the same time. If the rear is full of lube, you will have some leak out the tubes, but you can stop it by using a suction gun (like a fluid grease gun basically) to suck out a little oil. You dont need to get it all out. I wouldnt. Just about 1/2 qt will be more than enough. Also, on the baer kit, the holes dont always line up well, I had to enlarge 2 per plate to get them fitting right, and watch the clearances they give you for caliper to rotor clearance. Also, if you have aluminum wheels, the rotors are thicker than the drum they replace, so in my case, the wheel studs had to be replaced with longer ones to get the proper thread engagement. This car also has thick aluminum wheels, so that took away a lot of thread too. Be safe, make sure at least 1/2" of threads remain to engage the nuts. Those brakes are awesome...

[zerfetzen]

I've been getting lucky so far.  Last night I only got one side done on the rear.  The only things that took time were the fact that I've never pulled an axle before, now I've done that one twice, and then trying to center the caliper.  Any advice on that from your experience?  I put the spacers in as recommended, and had to line it up 3 times.  I'm technically within the 0.03" spec, but the part of the caliper closer to the car is really close to the rotor, and the part of the caliper that is closest to me has, I don't remember exactly, probably a good 1/4".  Getting that in the center's actually harder than it seems.  Is that good enough, or should the caliper be biased in the other direction if it can't be centered?  Just curious.  Thanks.

[moper]

The caliper will center itself once it's installed. The spec is to make sure teh bracket doesnt ever contact the rotor, as things heat up and expand. I think the right side I ended up using one .030 shim each, and the left took like one .060 shim each IIRC. The left took more. That much I recall, and the left bracket went on "facing" the same way as the right. The instructions say one is one way, one is the other...But that put the caliper on the forward side of the axle tube...Maybe I got a wrong bracket, like 2 RHs, I dont know. I also had to use a "semi-custom" main brake cable to get the E brake to work. Also heed the warning about the caliper's ebrake bracket hitting the leaf springs when the suspension is loaded...I had to rotate mine 1 "set" of holes up to clear things after the car was on it's wheels. That's why the left took more shims to get the clearance right. Performance is as described. I put the prop valve just ahead of the driver's seat, and it can be accessed very easy without laying down.

[zerfetzen]

Just so you know, I just ran into absolutely everything you did.  I got 2 identical brackets.  Tomorrow I'll finally fill the master, bleed the system, and try it out.

[moper]

Yeah, I dont think it's a bracket issue, so much as after the first fewsets, they realized they didnt need two sides, and never re-wrote the directions. You'll love them...lol