Uprated discs / Drums?

[TonyN]

The MOT brake test is pretty lame, you should see some of the rubbish brakes I've had passed.

The discs I fitted on the Legacy have be very good, they no longer smell or feel weird when using them hard or towing (its an auto too), and I only have cheap aftermarket pads in them ATM and seem to be wearing ok, and this is on drilled and grooved discs. Athough they do squeal more when hot in traffic jams. I'm hoping better pads will cure this.

Braided hoses are also a very good investment for pedal pressure, the ones i've fitted on 3rd Gens have had very good reviews from people.

Hi Tony,
the car will have gone through 2 MOT's with the issue as brakes have always been crap!!

Re getting them here, I would try to get invoiced to home and delivered to work as samples with no commercial value to work.

When you put x drilled discs on Scooby did you notice a major drop in performance at low operating temps and did they chew pads appreciably faster than standard discs?

Cheers

Ben

[Diezel Weazel]

Here ya go, scroll down it's near the bottom ..
www.4x4wire.com/toyota/reviews/rear_discs/

Jess
"Cos short cuts can cost more in the long run"

[Albannach]

How old are the pads? If the pads have been overheated, they may be more prone to fade (brake fade is not always the fluid).

Fluid induced brake fade is caused when moisture within the system reaches its boiling point under braking. Once the brake pedal is released (and the system depressurises) the moisture is free to vapourise, once it's vapourised it's become a compressable gas. Then, the next time you press the brake pedal, they won't work as you're now compressing a gas and not the fluid.

If the brakes are fading when the pedal is constantly pressed, then it's the pad surface that's breaking up. The mechanics of how this happens is complicated and moot.

And a point of pedantry: New brake fluid won't boil in a road vehicle, if the braking system has got hot enough to cause the fluid to boil, you're in a whole heap more trouble than you want to be.

[Albannach]

You could fit a larger master cylinder which will give more braking effort BUT you really need bigger discs and pads as well

It's the other way round bob, smaller Master Cylinder or larger calipers/wheel cylinders (within obvious limits) will give more pressure.

That's why adding 6 pot calipers gives better brakes, there's more combined surface area on the pistons (for roughly the same sized caliper), than you would get on 2 or 4 pots.

[dieselboy]

Cheers guys, will have a look at summut racing.

Not sure how good the brakes are supposed to be on a Surf, I've only ever driven the one I own. My brakes are in good shape as far as I can tell but they've always been rather inadequate. The trip from Donside to Inverness via the Lecht and down to Dundee over the Fettercairn road usually leads to almost complete brake failure, they simply overheat!

Ben

When my brake compensator went on my 2.4, it was replaced with new and the fluid flushed once again (after only being done a few weeks before) and the brakes were better than they had ever been. Not sure if the dodgy compensator negatively affected the brakes but it seemed like it.