new wheels catching - ok to grind down the caliper?

[kinga]

Hi all,

Just became the proud owner of a set of 4 lug sprintstar wheels to fit my fasty.

Put the back ones on - they look and sit great.

Fitted the front ones but the wheel is catching on the caliper slightly.

Didn't want to fit spacers as it's hard enough battling against the type 3 offset anyway without increasing the track any further, so just wondered if it would be ok to grind down the 'nipple' on the end of the caliper - I probably only need about 3mm.

I did take a photo but photobucket doesn't seem to be working tonite, so here's a link to a caliper, clearly showing the 'nipple' on the end that I want to grind off..

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vw+ty ... Dqp6EYM%3A

Just wondered if anyone has a spare caliper lying around without a piston in it so they could check the thickness of the thickness of the casting at this point.

Thanks.

[937carrera]

Instinctively that doesn't seem to be a good idea at all.

I think you need to upload that photo to get any sensible answer - 3mm from the bleed nipple is one thing, 3mm on the casting quite another

[kinga]

bit out of focus, but you can see said 'nipple' here - most people seem to be suggesting spacers instead..

[937carrera]

Ah, a picture is worth a thousand words.......

I thought the fouling you were concerned about was on the external radius, not against the back of the wheel. The casting will be that shape for a reason, i certainly wouldn't mess about with the caliper and I agree with other suggestions that you need some small spacer - probably 5-6mm will be available. Hubcentric are better than simple spacers. Also make sure that with the spacer in place there is sufficient thread on the wheel bolts to tighten them up correctly.

[Chino]

I use a 3mm spacer up front with slightly longer bolts on my daily vehicle to clear calipers, it's just about enough clearance, but if it is clear, it's clear

[purplepeter]

Late cars with the chunkier caliper need 6mm spacers.
One handy tip I'll add though, is a couple of teeny blobs of blu-tack between Wheel & spacer makes wheel changing a lot easier, as it effectively glues the spacer into position

[kinga]

Mine is an early car. Just ordered some 6mm spacers, 3mm ones would probably be sufficient but could only find these in generic form & seems that the centre bore woukd be a bit too small.

[kinga]

Been a while since I posted this thread up, but just started to use the car more now the weather's getting better.

When I first used the car after the winter, I noticed that there was a notchyness coming through the steering wheel when I brake, like a 'pulsing'.

I put this down to rusty discs, or something similar due to the car not being used for a few months.

But the more I think about it, it could be the wheel catching on the caliper again.

When I fitted the spacers, the wheel turned fine with the front jacked up - no catching.

the question is, when I brake, doe the caliper move - enough to start catching the wheel - I reckon I have about 3mm between the caliper and inside of the wheel without the brakes applied?

thanks

[Kai]

I'm going with warped discs

The caliper is fixed, it doesn't float like a more modern type of caliper. The disc "could" move with some serious effort but if this is the case then the movement is going to be coming via the wheel bearing/hubs which would obviously needing adjustment or even the actual disc flexing.

Let's take the guess work out..... inspect the back/inside of the wheel for witness marks between the caliper and inside spokes of the wheel.

Also stick your old wheels back on and do the same test.

[mjrpoulton]

As I believe your car is a 68 it's worth checking that you have the correct size inner wheel bearing fitted. In 68 VW changed the I/d of this bearing from approx 27mm to 29mm. It's not unusual to be supplied with the 29mm bearing in error which you think you have adjusted correctly but it's still possible for the wheel to wobble with enough force because the bearing is incorrect.

With the right bearing correctly adjusted 3mm clearance is fine since the disc cannot move laterally.

[kinga]

Thanks guys - will check at the weekend and report back.

I've just had a quick rock of the wheels and they seem rock solid.

I'm pretty sure the discs are warped as I remember the sensation of the brakes going on and off a little when braking with the original wheels on.

the back of the alloys I put on should tell the tale.

thanks

[mjrpoulton]

The wrong bearing can be adjusted so that under ordinary pressure or movement of the washer it seems correct. If you really give the wheel a good pull it can move in steps, and you get the odd feeling when braking feeding back through the steering.

[kinga]

Mark - you may have a point.

Had a look today - there is no damage to the inside of the wheel, so i'm happy its not a wheel rubbing issue.

If you turn the wheel back and forth with the car jacked up, there is a slight 'knock' when you stop and re-start.

There is also some play in the wheel bearings - I have tried undoing the allen screw & tightening the nut in a little, but it doesn't seem to make much difference until the wheel gets harden to turn, at which point the bearing is obviously too tight.

Also, when you turn the nut out a little again, there is almost what feels like a 'stop' although you can continue to wind the nut out more past the 'stop' - hope that makes sense.

So, sounds like its worth checking the i/d size of the inner wheel bearings?

Just ordered some discs too to eliminate these and so everything up front is new (cheap weekend at GSF!).

[mjrpoulton]

Your adjustment description is identical to my experience when I did some work on a 66 car last year where the owner had been supplied new disca and (wrong inner) bearings.

You can lock the bearing up too tight but even slightly slacker on the adjustment gives the impression it's correct but you can still rock the wheel top and bottom with sufficient force!