Floating brake calipers

[W2racing]

Is it common to float your rear brake calipers? Left side, right side, or both? What effect does it actually have on how the car drives?

[W2racing]

Sorry, guys. I didn't realize this was a really dumb question.

[zeroracing]

Is it common to float your rear brake calipers? Left side, right side, or both? What effect does it actually have on how the car drives?

The answer is it depends. Some guys like to float the LR, this can help keep the car from dropping off the bars on entry. This can be helpful, or hurtful, some drivers feel it keeps the LR too loaded and they do not like the feeling on entry.

Floating the RR can be done as well. I float mine full time, it tends to keep the car tight on entry. I prefer the feel of the RR floated.

Old-school modifieds used to float both sides on individual (not on birdcage) cages. The car can then be tuned by raising a bar to gain more traction or loading under braking. For example need more RR, raise that bar, or lower LR. Fairly simple tuning tool, but again some drivers do not like the feel of it.

It comes down to preference, and what the driver likes.

[Matt49]

I also think this is more of a driver preference or "feel" thing.
I run my LR clamped to the tube and RR on the birdcage for the stop an go tracks where I want to plant the RR on entry.
There is one track we go to that has long straights and requires long hard braking going into the flat corners and we could NEVER get our car free enough on entry with the RR floated so we take it off the birdcage and clamp it for that one track and it really helps the car turn better while under all that hard braking.
Obviously all of this is much easier if you have birdcages that allow this to be changed. On our TWMs, it's two bolts to move it from clamped to floated on the RR so not big deal.
Just remember that floated on the birdcage brake calipers will put the brake load into the bars and clamped on the axle will put the load into the lift bar.

[zeroracing]

Sorry, guys. I didn't realize this was a really dumb question.

By the way, remember a few thing before you get smart.

Many of us are here to help, and here to learn knowledge from others because we don't know everything. Many of the questions asked have been answered in prior post, so some may get tired of repeating over and over.

But the three most important things to remember.

1. Most people have jobs and family so don't get on here to post as often as one likes. So replies may take a while.
2. The knowledge that many people learned was bought with track time or study, they may tell you some things, but some specific questions they may not answer because they spent thousands learning. See this when it comes to shocks and rf springs.
3. Many people are working on their own cars so don't have the time to take to answer a question.


Not wanting to start a fight, just remember when your asking for help be polite, you can bump to top, but bump with a "really need help, anybody?"

Goodluck man, and if you want to do the floaters remember if you like them use em, if you don't take them off, they are it required for speed only driver comfort. Some guys are faster with some are faster without.