I had to get on the brakes yesterday and Damn near hit the Idiot that pulled out in front of me in the roadster! The front brakes locked up but the rear didn't,,,,,, When I got home the first thing I did was check the brake fluid,,,,that was good!,,,,tried re-ajusting the rear brakes,,,took it for a spin and did another panic stop,,,,same thing the fronts locked up! Thought I'd ask the question and get a few ideas,,,,disc brakes in front(yeah,I know what your thinkin'Disc brakes?)but this cars been on the road for quiet a while! 8' ford rear with drums,,,,,,,the brakes have never been a problem in the past! HRP
An adjustable proportioning valve might be in your near future... Have you changed your tires or tire pressures? Believe it or not, your tires play a HUGE role in braking...you can make a big difference in the way a car stops by changing tires and pressures!
BIGS AND SKINNIES..... CLASSIC FRONT LOCK PROBLEM IT TAKES A LOT LESS EFFORT TO BREAK LOOSE. THATS WHY THE BIG ONES GOES ON DA BACK. KUDOS TO THE PROPORTIONING VALVE...
It's possible your dual master cylinder is doing it's job. You could have lost the seal in the resevoir for the rear brakes. Did you use a factory metering block with the brake warning light hook up?
Try this-Tighten up the rears as tight as you feel is enough..then lower the frt tire pressure a little to get more footprinnt with the skinnys...also you could have too long a pedal ratio causing the locking up to occour easier.-Sometimes a shorter pedal length gives a l;ess OVERsensitive feel /requiring a little more effort but worth it in the end result,mORE CONTROLLED BRAKING..
HRP, So your saying up until NOW, that if you panic stopped the car did NOT lock up the front brakes? HRB
Bleed the rears, then check them again. You do know the fronts usuall do 70% of the stopping, but if the radius rods are located high, they may lift the front on braking taking theload off the front, letting them skid. Locking the front on a car is usually safer than locking the rears though....
[ QUOTE ] Yeah,Tommy I did use the factoy block!,,,,, [/ QUOTE ] If you take a test light with the alligator clip connected to a 12v source, touch the probe to the pin between the brake line connections on the block. If the light glows there is an imballance between the front and rear systems. If there are no leaks, you may have an internal bypass in the m/cyl. The whole point of the dual system is to keep brakes when one side goes out. On a daily driver the red light would glow in the dash. That pin is insulated until one side loses pressure which flips the switch connecting it to ground and lights the lamp. Even a glass car should ground the block through the brake lines. Easy enough to check anyway.
The Jalopy Journal
