Front Brake Drag

[Rob Walker]

I have just overhauled my AP front brake calipers and was surprised to see that behind each piston was mounted a coil spring which works to oppose the seal roll back and reduce pad knock off.

 

I contacted AP who told me that these springs which are rated 4lbs installed length are only fitted to the race calipers and you can run without them if you wish. My question is has anyone tried running without these springs fitted as the reduction in brake drag and wear must be an advantage?

 

Rob

[Jason Plato]

I guess you would have to weigh up the possible brake drag vs knock off.

 

I would suggest trying fresh seals with the springs in and your new disks to guage the drag vs the old setup Rob and the knock off you suffered before.

 

Then when you refurb halfway through the season, try removing the springs.

 

The problem is that we wont know the drag benifit of the new parts if the springs are removed.

 

 

[stevefoster]

I've never had them fitted on mine and they work fine...

 

Hants (north) / Berkshire club here

Area meeting pics here

My Racing here

 

 

Edited by - stevefoster on 6 Nov 2006 15:01:46

[Nick Green]

Are all the Caterham supplied AP 4-pot calipers classed as "race" ?

[Rob Walker]

Steve,

 

Are you saying that you do not experience excessive pad knockoff. Did you remove the springs from inside the calipers,what vintage are your calipers ie the grey ones with the pads retained by a small casting and two cap allens. type 2 the black ones with caterham cast on the side pads retained by a sleeve and one cap allen bolt. Type 3 Black with pads held by two pins retained by spring clips.

 

Nick,

 

I do not know , sorry.

[elie boone]

The only advantage i can see is a shorter pedal travel and in theory the pads will run hotter on the road