Back to Front ?

[Sid Spalding]

Following on from my last posting "Not stopping quick enough" (thx for all the replies BTW) I have now bled the brakes. It stops well enough (I s'pose), but on locking up the brakes (only for testing purposes) the rears lock before the fronts. Is this normal ? I was under the impression a car like this would be set up to have the fronts lock first (with all the weight thrown forward, etc). The only thing I can think of is that there is still an air lock in the front pipes. BTW I have standard brakes, but with Green Stuff pads and this is without warming up the pads first - just braking hard 5 or six times on a straight (thankfully) road.

Any suggestions ?

 

Cheers

 

Sid

W77 CAT

[EFA]

On most normal cars there is a valve to stop the rears locking up before the front.

 

Your Seven does not have this.

 

I remember when I had a live axle Seven (is yours a live axle) the best solution to this was to swap the Ital wheel cylinders for Escort ones (They are externally identical, but the cyl bore is different)

 

This causes the rear brakes to be applied less viciously.

 

If you have a Di Dion, put harder pads in the rear.

 

 

 

Fat Arn

See another FAT ARNIE here

See a meaty Vauxhall car here

See the Le Mans Trip Website here

See the Lotus Seven Club North Kent Website here

 

[Sid Spalding]

Thx Arnie.

It is a De Dion.

So if I put Green Stuff in the front and the standard pads in the back that should do the trick ?

 

cheers

 

Sid

W77 CAT

[Tarkers]

I once was speaking to a guy who used to work in a lotus garage where they dealt with 7's. I seem to remember him telling me about this problem, apparently they used to "cut down" the rear brake pads to in some cases half the size to reduce the braking force and therefore stop rear wheel lock up's. Anyone else ever heard of this? Can't remember if this was for de dion, live axle or both.

[jonhill]

Sid,

 

I had a car with standard brakes, and had exactly the same rear-locking-up-first problem as you. I put Green Stuff in the fronts, and it was a big improvement. The fronts and rears locked at about the same time, and the overall braking was much improved as a result. This was with the pads fitted as standard by Caterham in the rears.

 

Jon

 

Edited by - jonhill on 14 Aug 2001 16:22:39

[ashaughnessy]

I agree. I have Mintex 1144 in the front and standard in the rear and the brake balance is fine. The front wheels are the first to lock when braking very heavily, and the "feel" is good. I have a live axle with otherwise standard brakes. You shouldn't need to do anything drastic (cutting up shoes, replacing cylinders) to get good balance. Assuming everything is otherwise working correctly, of course.

Anthony

[Casbar]

I have EBC Green Stuff pads on the front and standard rear brakes. My car is a live axle. Front lock first. Don't think I've ever locked the rears

[Sid Spalding]

Thanks everyone. I've put the standards in the back and kept Green Stuff up front. I'll see what sort of black lines I can lay down tonight. I've got a track evening at Brands on Monday so that'll be a good test. If you see me don't stay behind me !!

 

cheers

 

Sid

W77 CAT

[Nigel Riches]

Sid, take look at Dave Andrews web site (via Alex Wongs links, I think) there is something about fitting a rear brake proportioning valve from a Mini, this is something that can be adjusted to suit so that a good front to rear brake balance is achieved, hope this helps.

Regards Nigel.