[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2007 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.]
Out of all of the systems in a car, the brakes have to be the most important. A car that can’t come to a safe, sure stop has no business being on the road or track.
While today’s cars come from the factory with solid, capable binders, that’s …
1. Pick the Right Compound
It’s very important to have the right pads and shoes fitted to your car. They have to be matched to the way you drive and how much heat your brakes generate.
If you fit racing brakes to a street car, you can expect worse-than-stock performance from them—they’ll never get hot enough to generate the necessary friction for optimum stopping power. Likewise, street pads on a race car will overheat quickly (even catch fire) and won’t do the job, either. And bargain pads are anything but a bargain—they often work poorly no matter how they’re used.
2. Look for Leaks
If anything is leaking in your braking system, fix it immediately. Make a visual inspection of all brake components and look for wet areas—you should find none. If you can’t find leaks but you are losing fluid, you haven’t looked hard enough. The fluid is leaking somewhere—it doesn’t evaporate.
3. Bleed Them Correctly
There are a lot of ways to bleed brakes, and some are better than others. We’ve always preferred the two-person way: One person goes to each wheel and bleeds the brake according to the shop manual instructions, while another person works the pedal. Some people prefer power bleeders. Either way, if your brakes aren’t bled properly, you’ll always have a soft, spongy pedal with too much travel.
4. Make Sure They’re Assembled Correctly
If a car has had at least one previous owner, assume that someone with a lack of mechanical ability has touched the brakes. It’s very common to find incorrectly installed or assembled brake parts. With drum brakes, it’s common to see linkages or shoes installed backward. With disc brakes, calipers sometimes get switched side to side….
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