Packard Forum Index » Modification Discussion

Curious if this was Kanters disc kit or someone elses. Was it sold as a kit specific to the car and if so, any of the problems mentioned to the seller? Your findings remind me of another owner who used a "bolt in" kit on a later car and also had issues. I believe he reported his problems to the proper channels but don't remember if he ever reported back whether his were resolved successfully.

Somehow I just can't see an average mechanic or owner without a good set of skills and observations being able to use these kits as is. Appears they are definitely not bolt in and someone not knowing what to look for could be in trouble. Makes me wonder even more about what one would get into with Wilwood's same numbered kit for all cars and models from 1941-1956 approach.

I ordered this kit from Kanter (via Telephone) specifically for a'48 Custom-8. I've e-mailed them about some of the issues but have yet to hear a peep from them.

It is definitely not a bolt on and go kit.

M.

Here are photos of the inner grease seal adapter.

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Quote:

On the conversion I had engineered about 10 years ago, the inner bearing needed a sweated-on sleeve for the inner race to slide on, not a spacer like you have. The inner bearing slides all the way onto the spindle. The outer bearing fit on the spindle perfectly. Same deal on the duplicate I am currently installing on my Panther. They are circa 1980 Mopar (Cordoba, etc) rotor and bearings. The drawback is the hub only allows Clipper diameter studs (5x4-1/2)...so I used a pair of Clipper steel wheels.

The calipers and pads are big Chevy. The Mopar/Chevy combo works fine.

Also, the steering arm needs machining to clearance the adapter plate and rotor.

See my website for pictures:

1956packardpanther.com/Panther/discbrakes.html

Craig

The kit from Kanter included an adapter sleeve for the inner bearing. I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately. The sleeve portion brought the spindle diameter to the required diameter for the bearing I.D. The sleeve was flanged on the inboard side. This flange butted up against the end of the seal surface diameter and was sandwiched between the bearing and this face. The flange diameter was less than the diameter of the sealing surface...and was about 0.100 thick (I didn't measure it). The flange thickness brought the whole rotor assembly outboard.

Without the thickness of the flange, the rotor would have been located inboard just enough for the seal to engage the sealing surface.

Actually I like the kit. I certainly know a lot more about what's going on with the installation as a result of having to make modifications. If these mods are incorporated on the Mark II version of the kit it should suit anyone's needs.

The basic parts chosen for the kit are robust and more than adequate for this size automobile. The instruction sheet needs to be corrected and enhanced, of course.

I know that my motto has been "Anything worth doing is worth over-doing" but I think I'll leave the rear brakes as drums...at least for the moment.

BTW: At 105,000 miles the rear disc brakes on my '06 VW Jetta TDi just wore down to a point where their replacement was necessary. I replaced the rotors and pads and then took a close look at the front...virtually no wear at all on the pads...and the rotors were not too bad, so I left them alone.

My experience with the Front Disc / Read Drum installations is that the front pads need to be replaced three times for every replacement of the rear shoes so I'm perplexed about this.


Mike

elwoodp44/Mike,

Can you pm me with your information so that I can make sure that we attend to the issue that you are having with our kit. I will need your shipping zipcode as I would like to stay on top of this.

Can you also send me a copy of the email that you sent.

Thanks
James From
Kanter Auto Products
1-800-526-1096
Ext 316
jfrom@kanter.com

Quote:

Not sure how true but one brake site said in this typical application the rears were mostly along for the ride. 60-70 percent of the brake action was on the front with the rears mostly there to provide a bit of drag. Supposedly the rear drums come in a moment before the fronts to get things started so the car stops and stays in a straight line but the fronts do the majority of the work.

Went on to say as the weight and inertia shifted toward the front in the typical nose down configuration, rears had less weight and less contact with the ground and had less stopping power. If that's the case I would think that also means less wear on the shoes.

Believe Packard alluded to that weight transfer action with torsion level. Think the explanation went something like as the car's weight shifted, the action would twist the bar increasing it's force and transfer that extra energy to the rear axle. In addition to keeping the car level it also increased the rear tire contact with the road providing for safer stops.

I think Mike means that he is perplexed about the rear brake wear on his VW as it is counter to what is expected. Maybe a dragging parking brake is the cause?
(o{}o)

Yes my perplexed status results from seeing more wear on the rear pads than on the front pads. The parking brake is not dragging BTW. Also, I just got some info from another mechanic friend and he stated that he's observed this condition in some cars with discs all-around.

Mike

James,

I just searched my e-mail 'sent' folder and found some communication with Kanter shipping...regarding the box in which the front end parts were shipped...NOTE: All questions were promptly answered regarding that situation...but I so far found nothing from me to Kanter regarding the brake issues. I'll now go out and see if I can find the Brake Invoice to pin the date down a bit. More later.

Mike