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balance bar again
Dillinger1977 - 9/10/06 at 08:47 AM

having had another scoot about at the weekend testing the brakes it seems the rears locked up quite easily.
I tried winding the balance bar fully out one way and the best I could get is the rears -just- locking up.
(this was with both master clyinder rods screwed fully into the balance bar pivots.)

Whats best to try next?

Do i start unscrewing the front master cylinder pushrod from the bar so that its got more 'push' on it to begin with?

Or perhaps they should be left fully screwed in and its an issue with the brakes themselves?

If so, is the process for bleeding brakes with dual master cylinders the same as my tintop ? (one at a time)

cheers


marc n - 9/10/06 at 09:12 AM

have you got the bar / cylinder relationship correct, 0.750 to rear 0.625 for front

best regards

marc


nitram38 - 9/10/06 at 09:12 AM

What cylinders are you running?
Are they both the same size?
You may find that you need different size cylinders.
Someone will probably come along and give the correct ones!


Dillinger1977 - 9/10/06 at 09:33 AM

quote:
Originally posted by marc n
have you got the bar / cylinder relationship correct, 0.750 to rear 0.625 for front

best regards

marc


as far as im aware, yep. You helpfully put a big 'F' and 'R' on them when I picked them up


smart51 - 9/10/06 at 09:46 AM

Do the fronts need bleeding? After refitting a front caliper on mine I had almost no front brake force (barely stopped from 10 MPH). Rebleeding the brakes sorted it out.

I found that the 1 man bleeding kit would only get me so far, then I had to call in a reluctant assistant. And then tell her to press the brake rather than the clutch.


Dillinger1977 - 9/10/06 at 10:07 AM

laughed out loud in the office there!
i'll give the bleeding a shot, its worth a look.

Do you have both cylinders screwed fully into the balance bar, or are they offset at rest?


JohnN - 9/10/06 at 10:29 AM

Confirm they are properly bled
Confirm the the front master cylinder is smaller than the rear
Screw the front master cyliner pushrod to lengthen it and provide more initial push to front cylinder.
Buy some (expensive - £80 'ish) Ferodo racing pads for the front......

I had the same issue as yourself, worked through the above list, but believe that the Ferodo pads did the trick.

My (re)tester told me that the Ferodo pads on the front provided 2x the braking force for the same pedal effort as the previous, unbranded, front pads. The rear discs kept the original unbranded pads.

Good luck

John


chockymonster - 9/10/06 at 10:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Dillinger1977
laughed out loud in the office there!
i'll give the bleeding a shot, its worth a look.

Do you have both cylinders screwed fully into the balance bar, or are they offset at rest?


Mine are offset at rest but I've got the nasty feeling that I've cut the pushrods too short. This measure twice, cut once really does rely on measuring properly......


RazMan - 9/10/06 at 10:39 AM

Have you got any clearance between the clevis and brake pedal? If they are too close it will bind and you won't get the angle required by the bias bar to get the adjustment.

For clarification see www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog/balancebar.php

[Edited on 9-10-06 by RazMan]


Dillinger1977 - 9/10/06 at 10:54 AM

good page that, thanks for the link.

I did leave a few mm of slack so that the bar could pivot fully without jamming, but my rods are pretty much 'neutral' at rest, and by the looks of that they should be offset at rest and neutral under effort. (with the front being unscrewed more)

that should be plenty to get on with, thanks for the help chaps, i'll see how it goes this weekend.