NEED TO SEE PICTURE OF CADDIE PARKING BRAKE INSTALLED

[Grim-Reaper]

Ok I'm in the middle of installing discs with Caddie calipers. I want to see how people have set up the parking brake to work.
I have the calipers and the levers and springs are on the way. Looking at these it seems that I need to mount the cable off a bracket before connecting it to the calipers. Does not seem to be a provision to put the cable jacket to the caliper at all.
Picture is worth a 1000 words.
Thanks

 

[45acp]

Eric, If someone can slip off to the junk yard and get a picture of the original set on a El Dorado I think that would help all of us. That brake was able to hold those big barges when GM designed them and they had to weigh more than our Blazers. We need pictures from the front to the back along the frame. The problem is finding a ElDo that has not been canableized.

 

[2Dogs]

I think Potent Rodent and UAV will have pics out there someplace - haven't saved them myself (I still need to do that install also). I will look also.

There are a few members out there with good setups - one a 'Burban....

 

[Grim-Reaper]

Somebody had looked at one and said the arrangement from the peddle to the the axle was very simular. Somebody else said that somehow the caddie moves the cable twice the distance and that's where folks are having problems making tha parking brake work. They adjust it up by hand and get it to work till the pads wear. The lever doesn't get enough throw to work the adjuster. I'm sure the bracket just mounts off the backing plate. What I am going to do is make a braket to put on the axle tube or off tow of the bolts for the caliper mount. Run the cable mid way down a piviot arm. The top of the arm to the caliper. that will double my throw. Just looking to see what others have come up with.
I'll go see if Shawn has anything on the potent rodent on Off-Road.

 

[Grim-Reaper]

Well I went and found a couple pictures of Shawns truck. He is running Caddie calipers (upside down) but unless something has changed recently he's not running a parking brake.

 

[Lance]

Not that this will help you right now but, Four Wheeler Magazine did a rear disk brake swap on their project '67 - '72 era Suburban. They used a caliper with e-brake provisions and if you look closely you can see the brackets they attached to the axle tubes for routing the cable. I searched their site but couldn't find any pics on that project vehicle. If nobody posts your pics by the time I get back in town I will try and scan those photos in to post.

I have been working with Control Cables on fabricating me some new cables. But, the more I try to finish this project up the more I think it may not be worth the trouble. I keep reading all these negative posts about the Cadillac Calipers, and have seen little or no positive feedback on their use. I keep scrounging parts and more parts for this conversion and it never seems to end. Sorry, that was my frustration talking. Anyways, if the outlook doesn't improve, I may just slap on the truck calipers to get my truck back rolling and come back to the e-brakes in the future when I am less discouraged.

 

[Grim-Reaper]

I have a subscription. I'll see if I can dig that copy up. That was in the last few months.

 

[Lance]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
He is running Caddie calipers (upside down) but unless something has changed recently he's not running a parking brake.


[/ QUOTE ]

The way I understand it, at least for the '76 - '78 Caddy calipers, they do not operate on the same principle as most disk brakes. Most front and rear disk brakes operate hydraulically and provide automatic self-adjustment to keep the pad in contact with the rotor. The rear calipers for these vintage calipers adjust off the parking brake with a one-way clutch. When there is more than a small amount of clearance (sorry, I don't know the exact figure) between the pad and the rotorthe clutch automatically turns the piston to retain the correct contact patch and pressure. If you do not use your e-brake everytime your calipers will not be properly adjusted and you will lose braking performance and eventually the adjuster will no longer work preventing your rear brakes from functioning at all. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Now I am not disputing what you say about Shawn's particular set-up, I just thought this might be some useful information to you or somebody else reading this post who want to use Caddie calipers.