Reducing weight

[alexshock]

Originally Posted by Nathan jones

Also aluminum fuel tank, maybe to 4 gallon?

What is your current tank? Is it steel?

It is some kind of polymere in my Toyota. So, changing it too Alu will likely increase weight.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I remember reading something about drilling brake drums for better cooling and at least in theory improved braking under certain conditions, but I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[freebeard]

Drum brakes are less effective when submerged in water. Drilling them helps with that.

My 1950 Studebaker lost it's brakes after fording some high water.

[Ecky]

Best way to save weight with brakes is to get two piece rotors with aluminum hats, and to see if there are any calipers made of aluminum (if they aren't already) available for your vehicle.

Every fuel tank I've ever had has been plastic.

Wheels and especially tires are lower hanging fruit, however, since they're considerably farther away from the center of rotation.

Fuel economy gains from weight loss is virtually zero, but it does improve how the vehicle handles, accelerates, and stops.

[redpoint5]

I didn't know what a brake hat was... had to google it. Figured rotors and hats were all a single piece of metal, as I've never noticed them being separate pieces before.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I didn't know what a brake hat was... had to google it. Figured rotors and hats were all a single piece of metal, as I've never noticed them being separate pieces before.

Almost all OEM rotors are one piece, but you can get two piece ones. For example:

https://supermiata.com/SPM-2-piece-R...Miata-MX5.aspx

These save 3.9lbs per rotor over OEM single piece rotors (13.25lbs vs ~9.35lbs) . One advantage is that you can replace the frictional area and reuse the hat. I could see this being an advantage for something really expensive like, say, carbon ceramic.

[redpoint5]

Learned something today. Wish brakes were more interchangeable so the chance of needing the same hat on the next car was higher. Would make it a no-brainer then to purchase expensive hats that reduce weight, but last forever. I'm all about that.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Learned something today. Wish brakes were more interchangeable so the chance of needing the same hat on the next car was higher. Would make it a no-brainer then to purchase expensive hats that reduce weight, but last forever. I'm all about that.

Yeah unfortunately not even the hat offset and thickness are standard. And, on top of that, many of them are simply not published. You just buy for the car. We'd never know even if one IS interchangeable.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Drum brakes are less effective when submerged in water. Drilling them helps with that.

My 1950 Studebaker lost it's brakes after fording some high water.

Odd enough, some operators still prefer all-around drum brakes for heavy off-road operation in countries such as Brazil, no wonder some entry-level dual-purpose motorcycles retained it until around 2018, including the Yamaha XTZ 150 Crosser which replaced the XTZ 125 (this one always fitted with a front disc even in the kick-start versions), and so many heavy-duty trucks still feature it. I still remember when the all-around drum brakes of the Honda XLR 125 were praised by an experienced reporter in a review for a magazine in 2001, and it was mentioned they had such a good sealing they didn't fail even while fording some creeks...

[Mikes1992]

I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to weight reductions. Maybe reducing rotating mass would have a slight difference but in my opinion weight reduction only helps if you use your brakes allot. I remember driving home with 200kgs of compost in my boot, I decided to test a hypothesis that the extra weight could be used as an inertial battery in order to coast further and the car definitely did do this.... I usually get about 75mpg on my drive home.... That day with 200kgs of extra weight I got 80mpg. Granted it could've just been coincidental but I suspect driving style has allot more to do with the fuel savings by reducing weight. Sure it will increase rolling resistance slightly but the biggest difference is the amount of inertia your car will have at any given speed.