an ongoing saga with my brakes - all work as should but not efficiently I have no servo so need to make sure everything is top notch otherwise I’ve recently ( last year ) overhauled the brakes - new MC , new lines , new pads and shoes . Just flushed new fluid throughout and adjusted and they’re still pants . I used GSF pads and shoes last year and suspect they may be a large part of the issue So i feel that I could do no more than replace the shoes and pads for something good as you can buy Any suggestions ??
If you get EBC Green Stuff pads they are more efficient and don't kick out anywhere near as much filthy black dust. But as Snotty says, your brakes should be pretty good without a servo. You have to press harder than on a modern car, but you should be able to slam the anchors on and come to a halt pretty swiftly.
Should be pretty firm, and you should be able to get the rear wheels to hop. One thing worth checking is that the rear shoes are properly adjusted with the handbrake cables slackened off.. otherwise the handbrake holds the shoes slightly off the drums, so when you brake a lot of fluid goes just taking up the slack. Gives a spongy feel but does not affect the final result. On a bay all the servo does is let an American stop the bus with a ton of corn in the back and a cup of coffee between their knees. It doesnt change the eventual result.
A servo doesn’t improve the brakes but it certainly makes them easier to use; like power steering, you can go around corners without it but PAS makes it far easier. And I’m not an American.
I think someone did a good walkthrough Of brake bleeding, I want to say it was @davidoft ? Involved jacking up the rear corners and cracking the bleed valve then making a cup of tea... yeah, sounds like davidoft
I'll probably get shot down in flames, but if you're working alone, apart from the extra safety issues, I found Gunson's EazyBleed invaluable.
I fitted new disks and pads all round on my Polo, poor braking for a couple of hundred miles, then got much better as the friction material on the pads wore off a bit and deposited material on the disks. Once this running in has taken place, brakes were top class. Re servo, my mgb has no brake servo only pedal pressure and the brakes are very effective.
The mention of new drums reminds me of another rubbish braking scenario. When the drums go oval because you have cooked the brakes, the binding brake adjustment at one point is totally slack 90 degrees of wheel rotation later. My new drums went oval after a couple of years. So I cleaned up the rusty lip on the OG drums and refitted them.
I think the pedal is slightly soft - which is why I flushed and bled the system ( using one of those non return valve things) I don’t think there was any improvement . I reckon it’s the adjustment of the tears that’s the issue - I’ll have another look in the week. I had a similar post last year about the brakes and never did get to the bottom of it - one thing that I remember happening after the rebuild was that there was loads of slack in the hand brake which wasn’t there before the rebuild . Pretty certain that I’d adjusted the shoes ok - in fact I over did it and had to back them off slightly afterwards I have a feeling that I or the last brake tinkerer has done something wrong with the setup. Might look into new drums and pads as well
Took the first drum off tonight , one side of the wheel cylinder is seized solid, didn’t take the other side off but I’ll replace it in any case so I’m guessing that even one wheel only operating on half of the drum will not only affect that wheel but all the rest? I could do with a decent reference photo of the built rear break mechanism to make sure I assemble as it should be - anyone know of one ? Had a look on GSF - they have differing quality cylinders available, the premium ones aren’t expensive but the basic ones can’t be THAT much different in quality can they - I’m guessing that most will say that you get what you pay for ( which I agree with) but can’t help thinking that the basic ones will be fine and paying a premium is simply lining someone’s pocket - any opinions on this ?
Fitted both rear wheel cylinders tonight - adjusted the drums right up - pedal doesn’t feel any firmer - haven’t been out to test the breaks yet , the nearside cylinder was seized on one side - the offside cylinder seemed very week on one side and wouldn’t return when the pedal was released .... so hopefully it’ll be better when I test them
Strange that with such an important piece of equipment such as the brake cylinders that retailers actually offer different quality ? Are they realy that different . I being cynical.think it's a marketing ploy to direct you to their biggest margin product . Likewise the never ending 55 percent off bargain that runs out in 3 days . Why don't they just put proper price on things . Again the cynical in me says it's because maybe 50 percent of us forget to use the code on checkout so their quids in.