944 Brakes onto Swing Axle Rear - HELP!

[slammedbay]

I'm fitting up some 944 rear brakes upto a late model swing axle box using the alloy caliper mount/hub carrier.

Once its all bolted up I'm getting some in and out movement in the axle (5-10mm), the bearing seems to be loose inside the axle/hub carrier.

I've currently got a swing axle bearing in there, is this correct or should I be using the IRS bearing from the porsche trailing arms?

Thanks

Ollie

[flat]

Ollie,

The IRS bearing and swingaxle bearing are not interchangeble. I'm mocking this up right now, and with the latemodel long axle/long spline tube there seems to be about 1.5mm of clearance. I'm going to mock it up to see if I can just put in a spacer to take up the difference. I think the 924S steel backing plate parts work better with the swingaxle, but I have measure them up. I'm sure I have a set somewhere.... I'll keep you posted.

Lanner

[60vert]

The 924S steel backing plate is the ticket, but they are extremely hard to find and expensive. The problem that I had with the 944 aluminum plate is that it would not snug up, thus leaving that 1.5mm gap. Yes, a spacer would do the trick, but the thing that made me nervous was that the stock swing axle bearing cap and washer assembly with the weep hole had to be discarded. Discarding this washer and bearing cap could cause transmission oil to leak into the drum. The aluminum 944 plate has a different sealing mechanism because it is only holding in the grease which lubricates the stub axles rather than the transmission oil you would find in a swingaxle. Oil on the drum could foul the parking mechanism or worse the pads. Not something I want to happen in a hard braking situation. Obviously the hotter and harder you run the trans, (not to mention the degree of camber) the more viscous the trans oil becomes and the greater the chances are of leakage. Regardless, this is a chance I was not comfortable taking.

I think that MBT just did a production run of their version of this backing plate, but you would have to contact them. Hope this information helps.

www.mbt-engineering.de

[Shadowbug]

the splined section of the shaft on a swing axle is longer than an IRS. you need to machine a spacer that will slide over the splined section and allow the nut on the end to clamp down on the brake assembly, but will not interfere with any of the other mechanicals.

[slammedbay]

Thanks for the tips guys. All sorted now, I managed source some 924 turbo backing plates and early bug bearing caps.

Regards

Ollie

[Tim]

Hi, I am doing the 944 rear brake for my swing axle (long) bug. I have bolted eveything up but there isn't any in/out movement in the axle. Have I misunderstood something?