New Pin Slider Disc Brake Designs for Compact U. S. Cars of the 80s

In the American Automotive Industry, the trend as we enter the 80's is clearly to down-sized cars. Every manufacturer has had to develop and introduce lighter cars with low fuel consumption; some are already in production and offer the American public domestic vehicles which more than compete with the imports which have so dominated the news in recent years. The world-wide energy situation and the initiative of the United States Government to mandate a dramatic series of yearly drops in fuel consumption by means of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy rulings, has helped to further accelerate the move to smaller cars, which are more economical to own and maintain.

In the 1976 Chrysler broke new ground with Omni/Horizon. GM was next in 1979 with its well-received X-Cars. 1981 Model Year saw the eagerly awaited introduction of the Chrysler K-Car and Ford Escort/Lynx. These two vehicles incorporate the latest front-wheel drive, steering and handling technology and modern diagonally split brake systems. This paper describes a new family of disc brake calipers which were developed for these two models.