Project SC300 Road Racer: Part 22 – I Missed Winter…
Blue latex gloved hands bolting black anodized caliper bracket onto knuckle
There is a right and a left-side bracket.

Make sure that you put the correct bracket on the correct side. Let’s just say that maybe someone whose name is Erik might have put the wrong one on the wrong side and then figured this out when the caliper and rotor wouldn’t come together right.

Fortunately the thread locking compound hadn’t quite locked… yet.

Pay attention!

 

Dirty Blue latex gloved hands using Allen wrench to remove bridge from massive silver StopTech caliper
Before installing the caliper onto the bracket, the StopTech instructions say to remove the bridge by removing the socket cap screws.

 

Work light shining on rotor with guy's arm and hand behind rotor doing something
The rotor has to go on before the caliper.

That was obvious to you, right? I have no idea what I am doing in this picture. I think I was about to turn the front suspension back to straight. Yeah, let’s go with that.

Also note that an open-ended lug nut provides a convenient way to temporarily hold a rotor in place on the hub.

 

Dirty blue latex gloved hand holding shiny copper colored nut and washer with massive caliper in background
StopTech includes both a staked nut and a washer to attach the caliper to the adapter bracket.

Make sure that you don’t forget the washer. StopTech ships the adapter bracket with the washer on the stud and the nut gently threaded onto it. The washer is easy to miss. Don’t. Mostly because then you have to take the nut and caliper back off to get to the washer.

 

Massive brake caliper on rotor with no brake pads installed
Here’s an installed caliper! We’re getting so close now!

You’ll need to use a pretty thin-walled socket to tighten the nut that retains the caliper. Also note that StopTech includes torque specifications in the instructions for most of the hardware. Make sure you follow them!

10 comments

  1. I would add one thing about bumpsteer. I learned a lot about bumpsteer on a wet AutoX track (the hard way), that I had no idea was happening in the dry. (The bumpsteer came from swapping Upper Control Arms on a EG6 Civic from Driver/Passenger sides in an effort to increase Caster, which is a horrible idea, and totally creates massive bumpsteer.)

    If you can drive under wet conditions in a wide open parking lot with cones (ideally, not during an AutoX), I would highly recommend that you do it. Because, dry tracks can mask a lot of ‘issues’ that only reveal themselves under non-ideal, slippery driving conditions. Anyway, it’s better to learn about the effects your suspension/handling adjustments in a controlled environment, rather than during a race.

    Don’t be like me, and don’t learn the hard way. Just sayin’.

  2. Yes, they are good lug nuts but they are milled not forged, not a big difference in 304 stainless though. Even at 10$ the margins are pretty small, cost of production is something like 4.50 so once you get through tax and shipping the profits are like 1.25$ for the producer and 2.50$ for the dealer. Really good lug nuts though, and way more concentric than forged and capped standard lug nuts, puts less stress on the rim.

  3. Stainless lugs nuts? Strange concept to me considering stainless is known for how easily it galls. Certainly not something I would think to put on a race car where the wheels and tires will be on and off frequently. Also, because race car wheels and tires are on and off so frequently corrosion is really a non-issue. I’ve always just gone for cheaper open ended hardened steel racing lugs.

    1. The MSI lug nuts have been in service on my Subaru BRZ since 2015. I have been using with Dorman wheel studs and have yet to run into any issues with them or my wheel studs. My BRZ has seen about 300 ish wheel changes in those 4 years due to it is an autocross car and I swap wheels at or before events and after.
      With that said i use a Beta Tools hardened impact socket and a Milwaukee Tool impact for every change. These lug nuts take a beating and look no worse for their time in service.

      I used to buy muteki SR48 lug nuts but I also had to replace the every year due to galling and they couldn’t handle the impact socket. This is part of reason why why the MSI lug nuts are hands down the best bang for the buck motorsports lug nut on the market.

    2. Stainless only galls on stainless, even then, only some grades of stainless. Stainless lug nuts on Steel studs with aluminium rims wont gall.

  4. “forged” lug nuts are useless because they still have to cut the threads. A product that’s obviously not thought through and offer no advantage for more money!

    1. Simon, you cannot roll threads in the ID of something so cutting is acceptable. You may not have compressed stress and grain refinement in the thread roots but you will still have good grain structure in the nut body so its not “useless”.

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