Rear Brake Calipers (need advice)

[gpd323]

hate to correct but bearing seals r different, there r inner and outters

Sorry, I did not explain myself very well. That's usually my case anyway.

I meant that the inner seals are all the same for all 4 corners, and the outer seals the same deal.

The auto parts store should know this.

Thanks for the update and clarification. Much appreciated.

[808]

Inners and outers are different... but it's same for the fronts and rears.. an inner rear is the same as an inner front. as i recall.

[ryan1]

You can reuse the spacers for the life of the car. Since the spacers are specific (matched) to the knuckle, do not mix them up. Make sure you reuse the spacer on the axle/wheel it came off. Make sure if a shop does the work that you tell them this also. You mix the spacers up by accident and you will be replacing bearings again in short order.

The bearings are all the same front and rear. I am having a brain fart here, but I also think the seals are all the same too.

The hubs are also same for all corners.

Make sure you torque the axle nut to the high side of the range.

There were 30 different thickness spacers available at one time, the chances of fitting a new one and having it work was slim to none.

****, i pressed these out a while back at buddys shop, and lost all the spacers. and i just got my spindles back from the blaster and will be epoxy priming them later this week.

[gpd323]

hate to correct but bearing seals r different, there r inner and outters

You are correct.

[gpd323]

****, i pressed these out a while back at buddy's shop, and lost all the spacers. and i just got my spindles back from the blaster and will be epoxy priming them later this week.

Whooo boy. You are going to be in for some difficulty. The spacers were to set the preload. You cannot install bearings w/o a spacer. And guessing on the spacer thickness is a bad idea.

Your only option would to be to buy a set of uprights with the spacers and associated parts and start over.

[jay]

Yep, you're screwed. You now have 4 paperweights and a hangar queen.
Man I hate the BF wheelbearing design.

[ryan1]

is there anyway for me to figure out the thickness at all?

[808]

You'd be better off switching to 4wd protege knuckles probably...

[BFMRGTX]

You'd be better off switching to 4wd protege knuckles probably...

Just as soon as you post a detailed write-up with: parts needed, custom parts needed (in detail, with pictures and measurements), time needed, beer needed, tools needed, a comparison using a bone-stock GTX as a benchmark vs. the Mitsu brake vs the almighty AWD Pro knuckle swap (I want 3 rounds of tests EACH in: Wet / Dry / Snow / Gravel / dirt / sand), then I want video of the install (without your "awesome" Nickleback soundtrack this time, OK?).

Think you can get right on that, Sparky?

[ryan1]

o.k. i went and searched a little on the gtx yahoo forums abiut this, one guy had said he bought some new spacers and they were all a little thick, so he could just thin them out and get the right preload, it this true?

if so i want to try this, i have a nother buddy that has a small machine shop and maybe we can just machin them down little by little till is is the correct preload, it sucks and will be time consuming but i just had these parts blasted along with a bunch of others, and im guessing finding new spindles for all 4 corners will be hard and cost some decent cash.

[808]

Just as soon as you post a detailed write-up with: parts needed, custom parts needed (in detail, with pictures and measurements), time needed, beer needed, tools needed, a comparison using a bone-stock GTX as a benchmark vs. the Mitsu brake vs the almighty AWD Pro knuckle swap (I want 3 rounds of tests EACH in: Wet / Dry / Snow / Gravel / dirt / sand), then I want video of the install (without your "awesome" Nickleback soundtrack this time, OK?).

Think you can get right on that, Sparky?

You got it Terry. I'll get right on it. Sadly my car came with the 4wd Pro knuckles so I have no idea what it takes. I can tell you its not running GTX struts though. I can't make any promises on the soundtrack.. I just love Nickelback.

[ryan1]

o.k. i went and searched a little on the gtx yahoo forums abiut this, one guy had said he bought some new spacers and they were all a little thick, so he could just thin them out and get the right preload, it this true?

if so i want to try this, i have a nother buddy that has a small machine shop and maybe we can just machin them down little by little till is is the correct preload, it sucks and will be time consuming but i just had these parts blasted along with a bunch of others, and im guessing finding new spindles for all 4 corners will be hard and cost some decent cash.

also had to add this......
i called around to napa,autozone and they don't carry the spacer, is it a mazda only part deal or is there a proper name for it?

[KMpuggy]

As far as i know only mazda do sell the spacers, there is about 21 different sizes, thats what i got told from mr mazda dude on the phone.

[trailrider098]

my front passenger knuckle made it 150 miles after the rebuild without the spacer before meltdown. make sure u have it right

[ryan1]

o.k. i went and searched a little on the gtx yahoo forums abiut this, one guy had said he bought some new spacers and they were all a little thick, so he could just thin them out and get the right preload, it this true?

if so i want to try this, i have a nother buddy that has a small machine shop and maybe we can just machin them down little by little till is is the correct preload, it sucks and will be time consuming but i just had these parts blasted along with a bunch of others, and im guessing finding new spindles for all 4 corners will be hard and cost some decent cash.

o.k., how about this, i buy a used hub and machine it down a little,
(so i can just slide the bearing ons,so i will not ruin them)
then do the testing for the preload with that and a outer axle stub,nut and washer.