Weight of Early Calipers versus Late

Austin74

True Classic
I asked this on another thread, but it was not the primary topic of the thread, so I thought I would start one dedicated to it: Has anyone weighed both an early steel/aluminum caliper and a later all-aluminum one? What are their respective weights? I had assumed the later ones were lighter, but someone posted that they thought the earlier ones were lighter...
 
Not sure on the weight but you might benefit from knowing that some of the later style wheels like the cd-91s wont fit over the early style calipers. So if you want to upgrade. Best is go with the later style. The weight will be pretty negligible...
 
Not sure on the weight but you might benefit from knowing that some of the later style wheels like the cd-91s wont fit over the early style calipers.

Hmmm.... I've been running CD-91 over old-style calipers on one of my cars for years, no problem. One stock spacer, just as I would with the original steel wheels.
 
I haveta agree with JJ about one thing...

The weight savings would probably be not noticeable or worth the $$$ and effort... especially since it is 'unsprung weight' as well.

Of course any and all weight savings would and could help in an all out racer.
 
True

Tony, I agree but am still curious. I'm going post the answer to the question hopefully myself when I pull the front left caliper off my 74 and 87 parts car and weigh them both. I know the 87s work and the 74s I'm not sure about (master cylinder blown so I can't tell), so it is likely that regardless of weight the 87 brakes will end up on the 74, but will weigh them anyways just to settle the question.
 
... especially since it is 'unsprung weight' as well.

Not to be picky, BUT a brake caliper is still unsprung weight.

Unsprung weight is anything not attached to the body side of the strut. Spindles, rotors, calipers, pads, wheel hub and bearing, lower control arm, ball joint, and outer CV joint, as well as all unsprung rotational weight, which is what I think you're referring to.

Rotational weight, is wheels, tires, brake rotors, hubs, wheel spacers, lug bolts, and thats where weight savings makes a much larger difference in accelleration and braking performance.
 
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Reducing unsprung weight aids in dampener and spring performance and response. That's one of 3 things I remember from my rally days.
 
Question Answered

I finally took the left front calipers off the 74 and 87 cars and found that the 74 steel/aluminum caliper weighs about a half pound more than the all-aluminum 87 caliper.
 
You're not gonna believe this....

I forgot the actual weights! Pretty stupid, I know... The brackets are exactly the same and the sliders are of a slightly different design (early has two cotter pins per slider and late has a pin on one side and a lump on the other). I'll get the actual weights on Sunday.
 
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early calipers...

one advantage of them is, according to Midwests website, is that you can see how much pad is left without removing the wheel...nice feature
 
Actual Weights

The actual weight of the all aluminum late caliper is 3.45 pounds, and the early steel/aluminum caliper is 3.95 pounds. The brackets are 2.5 pounds - both early and late. I did not weigh the sliders. Hope this helps!
 
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