Grinding Front/Rear Brake Calipers to Fit 15" Bogarts *

SWThomas · 10-21-2007, 06:58 PM

I have had a set of 15X5 Bogart Drag Star Fronts and 15X10 Bogart Drag Star Rears for a while now. I decided it was time to do a little grinding on the brake calipers to get them to fit. I contacted Bob (Fade 2 Black) and asked if he wanted to get together and tackle this job. He agreed and my wife and I made the 260 mile trip to McDonough, GA. I sought out Bob because of his Lightning expertise and because I really wanted to meet him and see his truck in person. Bob and his wife are truely AWESOME people and I really have to thank them for the hospitality they showed me and my wife.

We got there on Friday evening so we hit-up the local Outback for some dinner and then went to the McDonough Summit Store to pick up the Hoosiers I had them hold for me...

The next day Bob and I got to work. We started with the rear calipers. We started by test-fitting the rear wheels so we could get an idea of how much material needed to be removed. Right away we found that the deep backspacing (6.5") of the 15X10 Bogarts caused them to contact the dust shield. Bob used his tin-snips to cut away the lip of the dust shield...

Next he cleaned up the jagged edge of the dust shield a little with an angle grinder. Initially Bob started out with his monster 7" angle grinder but it proved to be too cumbersome. So he switched to the 4" angle grinder I brought with me. Then we moved on to grinding the calipers...

While Bob was grinding he used a level rule to ensure he got any high spots left over...

Here's some pics of what the finished drivers side rear caliper looked like before painting...

Once the wheel cleared the caliper and the dust shield, it still contacted the emergency brake cable. I've heard that you can just bend it back enough to where it doesn't contact the wheel but with this deep backspacing it wasn't possible. Bob displayed the expertise I was talking about and came up with this...

It worked like a charm and the cable now clears the wheel.

We then moved over to the passenger side. Bob went ahead and secured the e-brake cable on this side using some tie-wraps. This cable was a lot more flexible and eaiser to secure...

He trimmed the dust shield on that side and then went to grinding the caliper...

Here you can see how much clearance the e-brake cable now has and how much the caliper clears the inside of the wheel...

A tip that I need to mention is using a fan to blow the metal shavings away from you. Bob knew this and set it up before we even started. It saved us from having to wear masks and kept the dust off us. Here's a shot of the fan and a shot of how it was set-up during the grinding....

And here's a shot of some of the metal dust that the fan kept off us...

Next, I blasted both brake asemblies with brake parts cleaner and then painted them. I used some gloss caliper paint I bought at Advanced Auto...

While we were waiting for the paint to set up a little and before moving on to the front calipers, I convinced Bob to work his magic on my 3" Kenne Bell Pulley. He does outstanding work on these pulleys and I was extremely impressed. Here's how mine turned out...

Next we mounted my street tires back on the rear and flipped the truck around so the front was facing outside. We did this in order to blow the dust outside and not have it accumulate in Bob's garage. Then we went to work on the fronts. The fronts don't require as much grinding as the rears but there are some key spots that need attention. Like the fins on top and some areas in the front. One clip on each side had to be ground down a little so they wouldn't back themselves out and contact the wheel during use. One thing that saved a little time on the fronts was using some masking tape when test-fitting and spinning the wheel. It would show where the wheel was still making contact with the caliper...

Here's what the front calipers looked like when they were finished...

After that I followed the same painting procedures that I used on the rears and we were done. Bob and I agreed that this was not a hard job at all. We got done pretty quick. It could have been done a lot quicker but we took about an hour break to do the pulley. I would estimate this as about a 2-3 hour job. I said "we" a lot but Bob did pretty much all of the work. He's just like me and when he gets to working on something he keeps going until it's done. I honestly believe I would have had a harder time and taken longer if I did this by myself.

I would have gotten a few more pics, but something in Bob's driveway kept distracting me with it's high-gloss shine and killer stance...

It was great meeting Bob and his wife and we really appreciate them allowing us to spend the weekend at their house. It was a lot of fun.

Lurch · 10-22-2007, 01:06 AM

Thank You for the pitcure's of the job .. Question to you When are we going to see some Track numbers ??? Everyone is very excited to see the numbers we have those tires and rims coming so that was very helpful to me I'm really good with a grinder. I put down some really good track times last Sunday on 28" tall tires The 30" will give me the MPH we need Mitch

wade w · 10-22-2007, 02:01 AM

SWThomas, I have to say you are the man when it comes to the how to posts. They are the most imformative I have seen.

SWThomas · 10-22-2007, 04:47 PM

Thanks fellas! I'll be attending the rental at Jackson on the 10th. Hopefully I can dip into the 10's while I'm there. If not, then I'll know what I need to work on.

10-21-2007, 06:58 PM	#1
SWThomas Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Port Royal Posts: 534	Grinding Front/Rear Brake Calipers to Fit 15" Bogarts * I have had a set of 15X5 Bogart Drag Star Fronts and 15X10 Bogart Drag Star Rears for a while now. I decided it was time to do a little grinding on the brake calipers to get them to fit. I contacted Bob (Fade 2 Black) and asked if he wanted to get together and tackle this job. He agreed and my wife and I made the 260 mile trip to McDonough, GA. I sought out Bob because of his Lightning expertise and because I really wanted to meet him and see his truck in person. Bob and his wife are truely AWESOME people and I really have to thank them for the hospitality they showed me and my wife. We got there on Friday evening so we hit-up the local Outback for some dinner and then went to the McDonough Summit Store to pick up the Hoosiers I had them hold for me... The next day Bob and I got to work. We started with the rear calipers. We started by test-fitting the rear wheels so we could get an idea of how much material needed to be removed. Right away we found that the deep backspacing (6.5") of the 15X10 Bogarts caused them to contact the dust shield. Bob used his tin-snips to cut away the lip of the dust shield... Next he cleaned up the jagged edge of the dust shield a little with an angle grinder. Initially Bob started out with his monster 7" angle grinder but it proved to be too cumbersome. So he switched to the 4" angle grinder I brought with me. Then we moved on to grinding the calipers... While Bob was grinding he used a level rule to ensure he got any high spots left over... Here's some pics of what the finished drivers side rear caliper looked like before painting... Once the wheel cleared the caliper and the dust shield, it still contacted the emergency brake cable. I've heard that you can just bend it back enough to where it doesn't contact the wheel but with this deep backspacing it wasn't possible. Bob displayed the expertise I was talking about and came up with this... It worked like a charm and the cable now clears the wheel. We then moved over to the passenger side. Bob went ahead and secured the e-brake cable on this side using some tie-wraps. This cable was a lot more flexible and eaiser to secure... He trimmed the dust shield on that side and then went to grinding the caliper... Here you can see how much clearance the e-brake cable now has and how much the caliper clears the inside of the wheel... A tip that I need to mention is using a fan to blow the metal shavings away from you. Bob knew this and set it up before we even started. It saved us from having to wear masks and kept the dust off us. Here's a shot of the fan and a shot of how it was set-up during the grinding.... And here's a shot of some of the metal dust that the fan kept off us... Next, I blasted both brake asemblies with brake parts cleaner and then painted them. I used some gloss caliper paint I bought at Advanced Auto... While we were waiting for the paint to set up a little and before moving on to the front calipers, I convinced Bob to work his magic on my 3" Kenne Bell Pulley. He does outstanding work on these pulleys and I was extremely impressed. Here's how mine turned out... Next we mounted my street tires back on the rear and flipped the truck around so the front was facing outside. We did this in order to blow the dust outside and not have it accumulate in Bob's garage. Then we went to work on the fronts. The fronts don't require as much grinding as the rears but there are some key spots that need attention. Like the fins on top and some areas in the front. One clip on each side had to be ground down a little so they wouldn't back themselves out and contact the wheel during use. One thing that saved a little time on the fronts was using some masking tape when test-fitting and spinning the wheel. It would show where the wheel was still making contact with the caliper... Here's what the front calipers looked like when they were finished... After that I followed the same painting procedures that I used on the rears and we were done. Bob and I agreed that this was not a hard job at all. We got done pretty quick. It could have been done a lot quicker but we took about an hour break to do the pulley. I would estimate this as about a 2-3 hour job. I said "we" a lot but Bob did pretty much all of the work. He's just like me and when he gets to working on something he keeps going until it's done. I honestly believe I would have had a harder time and taken longer if I did this by myself. I would have gotten a few more pics, but something in Bob's driveway kept distracting me with it's high-gloss shine and killer stance... It was great meeting Bob and his wife and we really appreciate them allowing us to spend the weekend at their house. It was a lot of fun. __________________ 2008 Black Toyota Tundra 4X4 DC Limited My MySpace Page iPhone Hacks & Modding

10-22-2007, 01:06 AM	#2
Lurch Moderator Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Goose Creek SC Posts: 554	Brake Grinding Thank You for the pitcure's of the job .. Question to you When are we going to see some Track numbers ??? Everyone is very excited to see the numbers we have those tires and rims coming so that was very helpful to me I'm really good with a grinder. I put down some really good track times last Sunday on 28" tall tires The 30" will give me the MPH we need Mitch

10-22-2007, 04:47 PM	#4
SWThomas Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Port Royal Posts: 534	Thanks fellas! I'll be attending the rental at Jackson on the 10th. Hopefully I can dip into the 10's while I'm there. If not, then I'll know what I need to work on. __________________ 2008 Black Toyota Tundra 4X4 DC Limited My MySpace Page iPhone Hacks & Modding

10-22-2007, 02:01 AM	#3
wade w Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Savannah GA Posts: 1,725	SWThomas, I have to say you are the man when it comes to the how to posts. They are the most imformative I have seen.