How important is it to have the safety wire installed in the front end Willwood assembly?
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How important is it to have the safety wire installed in the front end Willwood assembly?
Do it. Too many little parts spinning at a high rate with major heat cycles.
Brake safety wire isn't as hard as it first appears. Just make sure to get decent wire and a pair of safety wire pliers. They are designed to clamp and twist the wire. 2 examples:
Eastwood:
http://www.eastwood.com/safety-wire-pliers.html
or McMaster makes a high quality piece:
https://www.mcmaster.com/#safety-wire-pliers/=19fvoo9
Get the tool. Pretty soon you be looking for other stuff to safety wire.
EDIT PS My first attempt: My Wilwoods are a little smaller, designed for 15 inch rims:
FFR 5369 Pin Drive, IRS, Trigos, Torsen, Wilwoods, FMS BOSS 302 "B" cam , Mass-flo. CA SB100 (SPCN) Registered
Delivered 4/23/06. "Finished" 4/2012 (still not done!)
All the way important.
About the same level as oxygen in the air that you breath.
Take David's advice and get the proper tools and SS safety wire that was made to be used as safety wire. While it's not rocket science, it's good to first get grounded in how to properly safety wire fasteners as there is a correct way that has been proven to work. You can find military aviation technical manuals on line in .pdf format which are a good source of this information. The Army trained me so I'm partial to the US Army Aviation TMs but any of the branches will work and they are free use as they were produced with your tax dollars. There may be other sources out there as well but you can be sure to get good information out of a US military TM -- other sources, who knows?
I've heard of builders going to their local small airport and having an aircraft mechanic do it for a fee of course.
JR
Mk4 complete kit #9059 ordered 1/19/17 delivered 3/23/17, 2015 IRS, Fortes/DART347,TKO 600, hyd clutch, P/S, 12.88 wilwood brakes front and rear, heater/defrost and vintage gauges
First start and go-cart 4/11/18. Taken To Whitby Motorcars Greensboro, N.C. 2/5/21 for body/paint
I did the safety wires on my Wilwood brakes for #8674. According to their instructions, only needed for competition use. And that's not me. But chose to do the wiring anyway. Found the proper tool at a local tool store and bought the specified safety wire from Aircraft Spruce. It took some practice, and several do-overs, to get the hang of it. But by the time I got through all four, wasn't too bad. I found several YouTube videos that explained the process. It's important to wrap the wires the right direction around the bolts so they work as intended.
Make sure to note the small bolts holding the hat to the rotor have an inch-pound spec. Mistakenly use foot-pounds and the bolts will break, as several forum members have found out.
Last edited by edwardb; 09-18-2017 at 07:55 PM.
Build 1: Mk3 Roadster #5125. Sold 11/08/2014. Build 2: Mk4 Roadster #7750. Sold 04/10/2017. Build Thread
Build 3: Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8674. Sold 09/07/2020. Build Thread and Video. Build 4: Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe #59. Gen 3 Coyote. Legal 03/04/2020. Build Thread and Video
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After spending many, many years working with safety wire, I also believe this needs to be done. The result of any of the bolts backing out puts additional stress on the remaining bolts until things start to fail. And when a disc fails, it will be ugly.
The one place I found this particular job frustrating is that the edges of the wire holes on the bolts are quite sharp and does not lend to pulling the wire through easily. The wire would snag and crimp and then had to start over. I used a small stone bit in my dremel and just barely chamfered the edge of the holes to help the wire slide through. This also helped a good bit where the holes were lined up pointing at the rotor.
Then I decided to do away with the wire and used safety cables. But the tooling and parts is a lot more expensive, so dont suggest it unless you have access to borrow. The chamfered holes still made a huge difference in getting the cable to slide through.
---Boyd---
MkIV #9042 build thread
www.boss427.us
427W, TKO600, Moser 3.55 rear.
Delivered Feb 2017, Graduated Nov 4, 2019
Build 1: Mk3 Roadster #5125. Sold 11/08/2014. Build 2: Mk4 Roadster #7750. Sold 04/10/2017. Build Thread
Build 3: Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8674. Sold 09/07/2020. Build Thread and Video. Build 4: Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe #59. Gen 3 Coyote. Legal 03/04/2020. Build Thread and Video
Build 5: 35 Hot Rod Truck #138. LS3 and 4L65E auto. Rcvd 01/05/2021. Legal 04/20/2023. Build Thread. Sold 11/9/2023.
Boydster, thanks for sharing. I haven't seen this before and it looks interesting. Wish we had this back in the day when I was wiring fasteners and other components on a daily basis.
Hey Naz, We only started using it within the last few years. Primary on jet engines where, as you know, it can be quite cramped to do safties. Really nice thing about it is that it tensions the cable when it crimps the end. Of course that means it is Calibrated Tooling for the tension and the crimped ferrule. The crimped end has to be able to withstand a particular amount of pull. But it aint cheap...
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...yABEgJHl_D_BwE
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...s/nosetool.php
---Boyd---
MkIV #9042 build thread
www.boss427.us
427W, TKO600, Moser 3.55 rear.
Delivered Feb 2017, Graduated Nov 4, 2019
I noticed this when I was doing my brakes and found the bolt holes were actually shaving stainless off the wire as I pulled it through. I took a close look and compared em to some MS bolts at work and voila... sharp as can be where the MS bolts had a chamfer. Not much, just takes a touch... makes a difference.
---Boyd---
MkIV #9042 build thread
www.boss427.us
427W, TKO600, Moser 3.55 rear.
Delivered Feb 2017, Graduated Nov 4, 2019