P2 Brakes

[TonyG]

Hi Adrian,

I don’t think there should be any ‘free play’ with regard to the operation of front/rear brakes. Mine are set so that they all operate at the same time, as is the case with hydraulic brakes. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the arm where the rod to the front and the other to the back are connected acts as a compensator meaning that they have to engage at the same time but I’d have to get under my car to be certain. The pedal height adjustment is not, to my knowledge, a facility to adjust the brakes; with the clutch cable correctly adjusted with just a little free movement before operation, the pedal height can be positioned at an appropriate height to allow comfortable operation. The brake pedal should have minimal free movement before they operate if the brakes are correctly adjusted, so the pedal height can then be set to match the clutch pedal.

Hope that helps.

Tony

[luli]

The rod brakes system is designed for the leaf springs and the rigid axles. The distance between the axles changes with the load on the car. The purpose of the telescopic segment is to make this distance increase without applying the brakes or decrease without distorting the rods. Therefor some distance must be kept between the two halves of main rod, resulting in some free travel of the brake pedal, This distance should be adjusted so that the free travel of the pedal would be ~1”.
Also, on non flat surface, one wheel will be higher than the other, resulting in an angle between the chasis and the axle. This why the rear compensator is mounted on a pin and can turn as necessary. The front compensator has a similar arrangement.

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[AdrianGoodyear]

Thanks to all for your replies.

However, I'm not sure that I have made it clear what my problem is.....

The front and rear compensators have all been re-bushed as has the front to rear compensator. All the Clevis joints have been replaced and their rod ends welded and re-drilled. I have been through the brake set-up procedure as described in the Workshop Manual (Several times!). But having gone through all that, I now have about an inch of "free" play in the compression tube which means that until this play is taken up the brakes are not fully employed. I can get rid of all the free play in the compression tube by lowering the brake pedal stop - there seems no other way to lessen the free play. But this (To me!) seems to set the pedal position too low - and this is my problem. Any thoughts?

[luli]

Just add some shims between the two parts. (probably the hand brake pulling rod is not adjusted well, but the shims solution works well)

[TonyG]

Adrian,

I’ve no idea where you are in the country, but you are welcome to look at my car if that helps? I’m in Essex. Failing that there must be a RSR member close enough to compare.

Final thought on your problem; I’ve got a vague idea that there should be a spring inside the compression tube. If that is the case and you don’t have one, could that be where the ‘inch’ has been lost, given that the compressed spring would be that sort of size and your problem does suggest that the tube is somehow where the problem is.

Regards,

Tony.