grumpy the 7th Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I Know! 😳 Without wanting to hijack a similar thread my problem is slightly different, I don't 'appreciably feel' (normal 'non ironing board flat' road surfaces excepted) any undue variation in brake feel when braking either gently or harshly from anything below 60/65 mph. What I get is vibration on both fronts but mainly off side when braking at anything over 80 which lasts until about 65/70 mph. If I hit the brakes at 100 it seems to vibrate down to 80 then kicks in harsher down to 70, then feels fine to slow or stop. I'm on the original disc's, I've got the Caterham 4 pot upgraded fronts with larger vented discs & the pads are Caterham pads. (about 5 years old & about 30k miles). There may be some front / back inballance as I can lock the rears during panic emergency stops (ask ChrisB but he's got his brake lights fixed now 😳) What car are these discs & pads originally off? are are they bespoke Caterham?? There are loads of different makes and prices of discs ranging from cheap EBC to other much more expensive. They all 'must' be made to the same criteria but I suppose the main difference is the ability to cope with different brake pads under light or extreem useage. People talk about having them skimmed (for about £30) you can get a pair of new EBC's for about that   Without wanting to start a 'mass' debate 😬 assuming I'm going to try new discs & pads. (mostly "brisk" to "brisker" road use but still failing to keep up with DavyB with the very odd track session) What make discs & pads 🤔  edited to say, bearings checked ok, track rods ok (just mot'd) no play or 'click' when lifting wheel up & down (so lower rose joints, renewed 2 years / 7k miles ago should be ok) and no play in the sterring box   rog C7 TNT - it's Dynamite!(Honda Irish Green and Peugeot Graphite grey)  Edited by - roger heeley on 18 Oct 2007 10:10:15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinS Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 If I hit the brakes at 100 it seems to vibrate down to 80 then kicks in harsher down to 70, then feels fine to slow or stop. Not wanting to hijack your thread, but that is pretty well exactly what I'm getting, except that I can feel a slight variation in retardation at low speeds as well. I'm interested to see what the conclusion to this thread is :) M. Martin Saunders ohh, is it upgrade time? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Front discs & calipers come from Triumph Spitfire. Rear discs are the same but with Ford Sierra calipers. If not doing too many track days stay with the Spifire calipers & invest in some Mintex 1144 front pads; leave the rear pads as they are. When changing to new pads scour & clean the discs to remove the surface pad debris. Garnet paper is the favourite but I've used wire brushes along with any other abrasive paper I've got to hand. You need to be quite vicious when doing this; it's hard work so consider new discs as they're about £15 a pop. If you want to shell out a lot more money then invest in some Pagid pads front & rear. Maybe RS15 front & RS14 rear. New discs should be mandatory.  If your track day habit bites then invest in some Alcon 4 pot front calipers from James Whiting. These retain the cheap front discs & work v well with Pagid pads. A good source for pads & advice is Performance Braking Ltd 01600 713117. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 wheel balance ok?  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevsta Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Mick, I think he has the 4 pots and so your info does not match up. I beleive the brakes are made by AP, don't know who makes the pad. Sorry for not helping any more than this, I have standard fronts (at the moment!) so couldn't elaborate any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Thanks Kev: too much speed reading.  AP discs quite expensive, over £100 a pop. However advice still holds but at this level I'd be looking at Pagid front & back. Still worth giving Performance Braking Ltd a ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpy the 7th Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Thanks folks so far 4 pot Caterham with vented discs Wheel balance fine (got a Tanvic near me & the kid spends loads of time getting everything to balance [on his m/c which I must assume it's ok as I don't get any wobble when not braking at any speeds upto {over 100} )   rog C7 TNT - it's Dynamite!(Honda Irish Green and Peugeot Graphite grey) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7XAY Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Picked up this thread, I am assuming the Triumph Spitfire front Discs are also fitted to my 2001 Superlight 1.6. Does anybody know the part numbers, and do you think Halfords will supply them? many thanks Ray  Mango Superlight 157 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 the vented discs are Caterham only. have you tried checking the tracking and also that the bolts on thte suspension are tight? Special candidate is the locknut on the adjustable top link (does the camber) which when slack can allow somee wobble. Other than that, have a look at the steering column? Slack anywhere? Rack ok? Tyre damage? (try swapping the wheels front to back). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7XAY Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 thanks Millsn, I can see the uneven wear on the inner part the disc, polished 3/4 of the disc, rust on the part the pad misses. Had a mechanic round who confirmed it was the disc, but I will run through the suggestions you have made tonight just in case. Thanks for your reply Ray  Mango Superlight 157 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 wonders of the world Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 *wavey*Complete widetrack front brakes For Sale here............   here  Too young to be old ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shn7 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Vented disks are definitely CC only. Several people have tried to source an alternative or direct from AP over the years and AFAIK nobody has found anything cheaper/better. (waits to be corrected). Horribly expensive so check everything else first. Steve. Sussex (West) AR Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Locust Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Look carefully for signs of radial cracking on the rotor swept surface and in line with the 'fins' inside the rotors. Run a fingernail over any suspect black lines which remain after the brakes have been cleaned up by use. Obviously wait for them to cool first. Ian Green and Silver Roadsport 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shn7 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Obviously wait for them to cool first.  Elfin Safety strikes again 😬 😬 Steve. Sussex (West) AR Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Deslandes Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Provided the AP disks aren't cracked or badly warped (as opposed to a bit of runout) they can be skimmed. Mine cost me about £30 for both at a local precision engineering company.   Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I do seem to remember someone posting here recently about vented discs to fit the AP setup. might be worth a quick trawl. must have been less than 2 weeks ago here Edited by - millsn on 31 Mar 2008 17:25:05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Locust Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Steve        *tongue* *tongue* *tongue* *tongue*  Ian Green and Silver Roadsport 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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