Brake rotors for the Model T

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: Brake rotors for the Model T
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bryan C on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 10:05 am:

I know someone out there has found rotors that fit our T's.
What I'm trying to do is find a 5x5.5 lug pattern rotor with a center dish of at least 8.5" wide and 2" deep to clear the bolts on the car.
I have found a list of cars that use the 5x5.5 but I've checked every center dish and none are 8.5"+. The biggest one I've found is just shy of 8".
I know there is a custom rotor out there to go to wire wheels (which is what I'm trying to do). But I would MUCH rather find a rotor that already exists and drill holes in it to bolt to my hubs.
Thanks for the help.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 10:47 am:

Brian,

I don't believe, (but might be wrong), that none of the rotors you see on T's are off-the-shelf items. The ones I'm aware of were made by welding a rotor disc either on an existing Model T parking brake drum, or by welding a rotor disc to a custom made drum.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 10:50 am:

And by using the T brake drum, you will still be able to use the stock parking brake.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth from NC on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 10:59 am:

Every one that I've ever seen was a rotor with center section cut out and then welded onto a T small brake drum. Like Mike says, that lets you use the stock parking brake as well as keeping everything lined up and centered and spaced correctly.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 11:30 am:

When Ben Hardeman was developing the kit for his small-drum setup, he had to have special "deeper" small drums made to allow clearance between the wheel and caliper. If you use the stock drum and weld a rotor to it, you'll need to find a thinner caliper.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry VanOoteghem on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 01:44 pm:

Sorry for misspelling your name Bryan.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By charlie haeckel on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 02:08 pm:

My 27 T large drum with wire wheels are 5 on 5. I bought a rear rotor for a 95 impala which is also 5 on 5 and has an integral small drum on the inside for a parking brake. The drum on the inside is 7.5 inches. I do not have a small drum setup at this time but I will get one and see if it is possible to adapt. I know there are other makes that also have a disc rotor with a parking brake drum inside but have not looked for a better one yet. If I find one that is 5 on 5.5 I will let you know. I bought my rotor, 145033 for $15.00 . My son said to check Toyota or corvette, but I have not had time yet. It is time consuming as most manufactures don’t list the small drum diameter. They make plastic disc shields that will hide the rotor from view.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Tomaso - Milton,WA on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 02:20 pm:

I believe my wife's 2004 Ford Exploder has rear disc brakes with small lined e-brake shoes.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bryan C on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 02:28 pm:

That's fine Jerry.
I also came to the conclusion about welding to the brake drum when looking at it for about an hour. I was just hoping to find a better solution.
As I'm sure you could guess, I'm going with Model A wires, that's why I'm looking for the 5.5 instead of 5x5. I picked up 5 of them for $170 at a yard sale!
It is very time consuming indeed. Like I said, I found a list of vehicles with that pattern and then I searched autozone.com for each vehicle's rotor where most of the inside diameters were listed.
If anyone comes up with one please post it and I will do the same as I'm sure someone will come across this post in the future looking to do the same thing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 06:43 pm:

I probably should have added this to my post above. The Model T big drums are deep enough for caliper clearance as they are. The earlier drums are about 3/4" thinner; that's why Ben needed to have deeper ones made to accommodate the same calipers.

So if anyone is contemplating using the later drums, they probably will provide sufficient room for calipers.

There's a lot to figure out to make a complete system which is satisfactory.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Wednesday, August 06, 2014 - 07:36 pm:

If anyone has already fabricated and installed a false set of drums or drum-like covers to hide their disc brakes, I'd love to see a picture of your setup in this thread, thanks! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gary H. White - Sheridan, MI on Thursday, August 07, 2014 - 05:55 pm:

A few years back someone posted he used 83 Nissan Pickup rotors to fit the 6 bolt pattern of wood wheels. 87 Ford Explorer calipers were used. Minimal mod to backer plates was necessary.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seth from NC on Thursday, August 07, 2014 - 06:11 pm:

Becky's Yellow T and Blue T both utilized Nissan brake setups. They look really good.


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