plus 2 front brakes

[denicholls2]

I like the tighten, slacken one flat method. Given the amount of adjustment available, you don't want to wind up too loose. Key is that the slackening actually frees the bearings from binding. You need to notice this by spinning the rotor with the tire off. And no, this method is still not all that likely to result in the specified amount of runout, which will only be obtained with blind luck.

Going from assisted brakes to unassisted ones can be an adjustment. My Europa requires a seriously mashed pedal to stop. But it does, and I appreciate that I'm very unlikely to lock a wheel inadvertently. Key here is that the extra stress on pedal and mount don't result in a disastrous failure of either. Absent that, I'll opine that you can adjust and learn to love the braking.

Not to start another war, but it seems doubtful to me that under anything but race conditions the extra stopping power of the GT6/+2 brakes would amount to a noticeable improvement in stopping capability. The brake set was designed to stop a much heavier car (the Spitfire) and in my recollection from days gone by, did so quite adequately. But I do appreciate the love of fiddling.

[Foxie]

The manual procedure for setting up the front hub results in a slack bearing with an amount of play, the hub will spin freely; yet the very similar bearing set up (conical rollers) in the diff pinion has a substantial preload set to give a torque of 9 -11 ft lbs.

I wonder what is the reason for this big difference ?

Sean

[steveww]

The increased area of the +2 brake set up dissipates the heat better. It is not down to how hard you can clamp the disk but how quickly you can get rid of the heat produced by the braking effort, hence vented disks.

For me the big advantage of the +2 set up is the loss of the servo (no need for one due to the larger piston area giving better mechanical advantage) and the increase in front bias. You get a better pedal feel with out the servo and the extra front bias reduces the tendency of the rears to lock under extreme braking.

More details at http://www.steveww.org/index.php?id=25

[rgh0]

Sean
The end float in the front hubs is to allow for the hub expansion under heat from braking. Not enough end float and you get excessive preload on the bearings the when brakes very hot leading to premature failure.

The diff input bearings do not suffer from high temperatures plus you need precise location between crown wheel and pinion hence the use of a specific preload that eliminates end float but prevents excessive load as the diff warms up.

cheers
Rohan

[Foxie]

Sean
The end float in the front hubs is to allow for the hub expansion under heat from braking.

cheers
Rohan

Thanks, Rohan.

That makes sense.

Maybe should get myself graded as to what sort of a braker I am to get my setting exact

Sean

[RichardS]

Interested in the thread - have just bought a pair of + 2 calipers on Ebay to fit to my Sprint [thanks Alan if you are on this forum!].

I intend to fit braided brake hoses - do I presume that the standard set for a Sprint will be the right length to route to the +2 calipers?

Richard

[steveww]

As far as the pipes were concerned the swap over on my S4 was plug and play

[CBUEB1771]

I intend to fit braided brake hoses - do I presume that the standard set for a Sprint will be the right length to route to the +2 calipers?

You should check the thread size for the brake pipe and bleeder screw ports. At some point late in production these were changed from 3/8-24 UNF to metric.

[RichardS]

Thanks Steve and Russ

- the calipers are 16Ps so should be non metric. Is anything as easy as plug and play on an Elan? Hopefully!

Richard