pedal travel

bones · Post by **bones** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 6:02 pm

Hi all. im fitting the wilwood brake pedal in my car, its got about 4" of travel before the pedal hits the floor. It wouldnt travel that far when pressured up would it ,Im not using a servo if that matters, and it has 2 cylinders ,one the front brakes and one for the rears. All advice welcome

rich

Ian Anderson · Post by **Ian Anderson** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 8:38 pm

Hi

Nope travel will be 1/2 to 1 inch and then it should be solid

It has "spare2 travel in case of leaks etc.

Make sure you size the master cylinders correctly or you will have unbalanced braking with one end locking up prematurely

Likewise a smaller master cylinder will give an easier pedal pressure requirement and a larger make the pedal harder to press and get good stopping

On the GT I have both at 0.7inch masters (4 pot calipers front and 2 pot rears) Others in the club have as low as 0.625 front and 1 inch rear - all depends on the whole system

Ian

bones · Post by **bones** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 8:49 pm

Hi ,thanks for the reply, ive got 1 at 0.625 and other is 0.750, ive got wilwood 4 pot at the front and drums on the rear. So the pedal is fine where ive fitted it .cool

rich

SuperV8 · Post by **SuperV8** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:23 pm

Will you have some way to balance the brake effort front/rear?

Would be good to use a balance bar between to master cylinders or a valve in the rear line to adjust the rear bias.

So many things effect brake balance including brake pad/ shoe friction, tyres, suspension etc, would need to be adjusted so your fronts just lock first under all road conditions.

Tom.

bones · Post by **bones** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:52 pm

its got a balance bar attached to the pedal, as for adjusting them ,thats another question im confused on

rich

Ian Anderson · Post by **Ian Anderson** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 7:31 am

Rich

Balance bar is like a set of levers

closer to the pivot point (pedal connection) will get more pressure on the master

further from the balance point will get less pressure on the master

Ian

bones · Post by **bones** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 9:36 pm

well im getting bits done to my escort,

. Is there away of nowing how much of a angle is needed for the front and rear brakes ??

rich

SuperV8 · Post by **SuperV8** » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:11 pm

No because there are so many unknown variables. I'd start with it in the middle and go for a gentle drive. Have a friend watching (at a safe distance

) to see which locks first, front or back?

As I said earlier aim is to get the fronts just to lock before the rears.

If the rears lock first you need to move the pivot point on the balance bar away from the rear master cylinder. Just a little at a time until you get the fronts locking first.

Tom.

Darkspeed · Post by **Darkspeed** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 10:59 am

An initial setting is to have the bar level when loaded so give the pedal a 50-60 lb shove and see what angle the bar is at and adjust the push rods accordingly - then you take it out for a drive and see where you are and adjust the bias from there until as noted above the front brakes are just locking before the rear.

I do not know what brake system you have but 0.625 v 0.750 sounds a bit low at the rear - do you have huge rear bakes or no rear weight?

Andrew

bones · Post by **bones** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:19 pm

Thanks all, i will have to wait till the car is ready before the brakes can be done then. looks like this post will be brought up again at a later date,

rich

topcatcustom · Post by **topcatcustom** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 1:24 pm

Best and easy to adjust as and when you can after some driving Rich

SuperV8 · Post by **SuperV8** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 4:00 pm

Also you'll need to make sure the pads are fully bedded in before setting the brake balance as this can also effect your brake balance.

Tom.

bones · Post by **bones** » Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:02 am

Cheers guys, it sounds like a pain job to do, but many months away from doing it yet.

rich