Rear Knuckle Assemblies

I have many items of this project on the go that i couldnt proceed with due to waiting for bits and pieces or i hadnt come up with a solution for.
One of these items has been the Rear Knuckle Assembly.
The reason for this was my desire for a bigger brake setup, mainly for looks, that could still be fitted into a 17" wheel.
I wanted to fit aftermarket calipers instead of the factory units, and meaty looking rear discs with some metal on them instead of the skinnier stock units.
The issue is the caliper mounting on the knuckles stick out so far that it limits the choice of most aftermarket calipers.

VE Rear Knuckles.








In discussion with Race Brakes in Melbourne, Howard (owner) identified a caliper combination he thought would be ideal to suit weight distribution of the CR, AP Racing Caliper CP5200 (4 spot) for the front and CP5147 (4 spot) for the rear, but doubted I would be able to squeeze them over the Knuckle without going to 18" rims.
I didnt want to leave them with my bits and pieces and a blank cheque so decided to develop myself.
I also wanted to search for 6 pot calipers for the front.
I didnt want to purchase calipers without knowing if they fitted, while searching AP Racing web site, I found the technical drawings section and downloaded the drawings for the front CP5200 4 pot, but no CP5147 rear drawings so i emailed AP Racing for assistance, the support from Pete Collen in the UK was fantastic, he not only got me the tech drawings for the rear, he also suggested a better caliper match in a 6 pot low profile alternative for the front, (CP5570).



www.apracing.com/drawings/CP5570.pdf








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I went looking for a suitable rear disc to suit the calipers, a disc that would meet the criteria of housing stock PBR handbrake, Ventilated, about 330mm in diameter, 25~26mm thickness and grooved to match the DBA5000 330x32mm front discs I have.
DBA suggested the Ford Territory rear disc at 328x26, in DBA4000 spec Part No. 42108L/R.


I modelled up the rear knuckle assembly in Sketchup and designed a bracket to mount the Caliper to the Knuckle.

I purchased the Rear calipers from Part-Box in the UK.
Contact Dalbir Singh, he is great to deal with,
http://www.part-box.com/


The Calipers turned up a week later and I confirmed fitment on the bench.

One of the forum members on ClubCobra (MrsFlatchat) put me onto Wellbrook Engineering to CNC my designs.
Leigh Oloman of Wellbrook Engineering outside of Brisbane then formalized the CAD Drawings and did a fantastic job machining up the brackets.
(see assembly pic below).
The Bracket Material is Carbon Steel CS1045.

Next job was to cut the original backing plate down.

The backing plate is still required because it holds all the handbrake mechanism, but the bigger discs dont fit inside the pressing.


Pressed and bolted all the parts together.
The rear hub diassembly and re-assembly is very awkward to achieve and would be out of the realm of most general home garages.

Requiring a press and ability to make up support jigs to hold the awkward assembly.
The Knuckles have been ceramic coated in an Aluminium appearance finish by High Performance Coatings of Leongatha Vic.
www.hpcoatings.com.au


New Superpro Bushes from Fulcrum Suspensions fitted through out.




Heres the Knuckle Assembly mounted to the Rear Suspension.

You can see the caliper bracket mounted on the left,
The calipers are trailing on the rear, and leading on the front.




Final fitup before confirming Caliper Mounting Hole location in top of Caliper Brackets.

Waiting for EBC redstuff brake pads DP3008C to get acurate alignment before final drilling and taping of the mount.


Almost finished, just need to machine up a spigot ring as the Territory disc is 71mm diameter and the VE hub is 67mm.

#Note. DBA advised after i had bought the discs they will do custom stud patterns and spigot by request, so no redrilling required.
(future reference).