5 Minutes with Mike Hamrick of Wilwood Engineering
Chances are good that you’ve strolled through the Wilwood Disc Brakes display a time or two during a Goodguys event, which means you’ve likely talked with Mike Hamrick. Mike’s been with Wilwood for over 24 years and as the events and promotions manager, he covers a lot of shows each year.
Like so many people in the performance aftermarket industry, Mike’s a hot rod and motorsports fan through and through. It only takes a few minutes talking brakes with Mike to see that he’s a passionate enthusiast who enjoys his work. Living in Southern California, it makes sense that he started in the off-road market, but he has also been involved in autocross, dirt track racing, side-by-sides, Supercross, and more. If it has wheels and needs to stop, chances are that Mike knows what it takes!
Goodguys: What was your first car?
Hamrick: A 1974 VW Bus. License plate SK8BUS. Wish you would not have brought that up! It’s on my bucket list to get a similar Bus – orange and white if you know anyone with one!
GG: How did you get started at Wilwood?
Hamrick: I first worked with Wilwood Disc Brakes on a Honda Civic SEMA project at my previous job. After my stint there, I saw that Wilwood was looking to hire qualified industry people. I had a contact there with Steve Cornelius and landed a job handing Wilwood’s Street Performance products, including the hot rod market. Steve is still my boss after 24 years!
GG: What is the origin behind the Wilwood name – and what was the company’s first product?
Hamrick: Most people call him Bill, but the owner and founder of our company is William Wood. Wilwood is a blend of his first and last names. Bill’s first product came out a few years before Wilwood became a “real” company in 1977. His first caliper was the GN, or Grand National caliper designed and used in the Winston Cup Racing Series back in the ’70s and into the ’80s until more robust calipers were designed.
GG: What are some unexpected applications Wilwood components can be found?
Hamrick: There are quite a few and I regularly find new ones! The most unique to me are golf carts, agricultural equipment, mining equipment, Epcot Racers at Disneyworld, windmills, and applications our U.S. military finds uses for.
GG: What do people misunderstand when selecting brakes for their project car?
Hamrick: That bigger is not always better, especially when selecting a master cylinder. People have a misconception that disc brakes take volume, but in fact, they require pressure. Drum brakes, however, do require volume. So, some customers choose too large of a bore size master cylinder and have a terrible experience. Once we educate them on how disc brakes work, we can get them dialed in.
GG: What’s the most common installation mistake people make on brake systems?
Hamrick: Not checking our wheel diagrams for brake clearance. Wheel fitment is everything and avoiding large wheel spacers is key. Using the best possible wheel size, offset, and backspacing to fit the appropriate brake package is so important for getting the ride height and look you want.
GG: Huge rotors and multi-piston calipers get a lot of attention, but what is an effective, affordable brake size setup for a typical weekend hot rod or muscle car?
Hamrick: Most customers are building cars around 17-inch wheels, as they seem to be a sweet spot for muscle cars and some hot rods. That means we can get a 12.19-inch rotor using a four-piston caliper kit to fit that size wheel and fill it up very nicely and without killing your pocketbook. When we start moving to 13-inch and larger rotors, the pricing becomes a little harder to swallow.
GG: How do good brakes make you faster?
Hamrick: One example is in racing, which is where we’ve been getting our real R&D for the past 49 years. Going deeper into a corner and having confidence the brakes will be on point makes the driver faster. The sooner a driver can get to the corner, the faster he can get on the loud pedal. Ask guys like Brian Hobaugh, Mike Maier, Josh Leisinger, and Dave Carroll, who all run fast on the Goodguys AutoCross. Brakes are a huge part of any setup on the track or the street.
GG: Wilwood is involved in many forms of motorsports – how do you decide which events to attend?
Hamrick: We try to cover almost every market we’re in. Much of that has to do with which markets we have new products in and how we can show customers that product face to face. And we keep in mind things like, are the customers going to Goodguys events towing their rides there? Usually, it’s with a truck that we offer brakes for. It’s like an onion; it has layers and as we peel them back, we find another level of support we can offer.
GG: What is your personal favorite form of motorsports?
Hamrick: That’s a hard one to answer! Right now, I’m watching a ton of Dirt Late Model, Sprint Car, Off-Road short course, and Supercross. Off-Road will always be my go-to and where I started in the aftermarket industry.
GG: What have been the biggest changes in the industry since you started at Wilwood?
Hamrick: Within Wilwood, it’s engineering. Our engineering and staff have evolved along with how we manufacture parts, which never ends. We are always trying to make great parts better, lighter, and stronger. On the business side, the interweb and how we take and confirm orders electronically is so different than even five years ago.
GG: What’s an ideal weekend when you’re not on the road?
Hamrick: Either out in the desert with our RZR side-by-side or at the beach camping with my beautiful wife and our two pups. Add a few of our kids and their significant others for the weekend and I’m all set. Oh, and add a Dodgers game to that list!
