i am not entirely clear on the differences between the pin and slider type disc systems... what are their pros/cons?

there is good talk about it in the disc-o-tech page over on mopar action's tech archive page; yet i remain undecided...

anybody willing to help me see the light?


thanks

Caliper pins get bent and since they ride in rubber bushings there is lost motion and a mushy brake pedal. I much prefer sliding calipers. Also, A-bodies came with sliders as did the '79 Newport that donated it's 11.75" rotors and caliper adapters.

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Joshua

The pin types are quiter, which is why most cars use this type. The pins can be replaced when they wear or get bent. The sliders get a wear spot in them which is nearly impossible to fix. You can weld in the dent, and then file it smooth, but it is not as hard as it was before it wore. The shoes actually get hung up in the wear spot, and then prevent the calipers from sliding back when you release the pedal pressure.

The slider adapters are pretty available though, which means you can get them fairly easily. I have the B body adapters on this car, and they are the pin type.

Sam

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Back in the day when I ran stock type brakes I would use the sliders. I set up the slider bracket in the Bridgeport and remachined the slide area and then I would have the brackets nickel plated. (Hard chrome would also be a good plating for these parts.) Once you do that they'll last for a long time and work pretty well.

I think the bottom line is, whichever type you go with needs to be in good shape. If they are not, you will get a bad impression of that type, no matter what it is. . I guess that is what happened for me with the early sliders I tried. They clunked and rattled something awfull, and I tried everything I could to get them to fit just right. And then they would hang up as I said, and wear out pads real fast. I tried 3 different sets of caliper adapters, and several different sets of new calipers, all with the same results.

They were pretty beat up, and after 3 sets of noncoperative sliders, I just bailed and went with the pin type, which I have had no problem with. I rescued these from a B body in a mosquito infested junk yard near Fort Jackson in North Carolina. But as you can see from the responses here from AndyF and Joshie, a good set of sliders can be just fine. I will say, I have put perhaps 50K miles on each type on this car, so these observations are based on driving experience.

Sam

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It is important to use a grease made for calipers in the right spots as well. It can be a clear silicone or a synthetic that may have graphite mixed in. The ones that don't wash out seem to work the best, with or without the graphite.

I have seen quite a few brakes systems that I am sure were put together dry, and they have problems with the calipers sticking, no matter the style or make of vehicle. The right lubrication not only makes things work, it prevents most of the wear that causes problems in the end.

Sam is right, if parts are worn out or damaged, they are not going to work right. No matter what they are.

We have sliders on our car and they work great and are silent. I did carefully choose the brackets and calipers and rebuilt them myself. I used a coating on them that contains a dry lubricant, I don't know if it really helps much but it does not hurt.