Brake advice please .

[Rower]

My S has just been succesfully MOT'd !! But..the examiner remarked on low readings for braking on the front wheels however he put the readings into the computer which came up with 53% which was a pass.

But I am worried now , the car stops fine but having said that I have not had to do any hard braking , I understand than the majority of the braking is at the front with the rears following on , could I have a problem in the system or are they ' all like that sir ' ?

Rower

[Keithyboy]

In all my years of S ownership of one kind or another and that's a few - I have to say that the brakes, whilst acceptable, never really inspired confidence for me. There are many mods you can make to improve them including stainless lines, upgraded pads and larger calipers but remember, some of the cars are getting on for 20 years old now and unless you can be sure that all the components are in tip top condition you should be looking at refurbishment or mods/upgrades.

[v8s4me]

There are many many historic threads on here about improving S brakes and you’ll be able to find them using the search facility. I went down the 260mm disc and calliper route and I'm well pleased with the result. This is probably the easiest and cheapest upgrade you can do. There is an example of the kit you need in the classifieds.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3005186.htm

You can do this upgrade for less if you buy the bits second hand and get them re-con’d yourself. I used BigRed. I have standard pads and find them perfectly OK for normal road use. As per the previous post though, make sure all the other bits, especially the servo and hoses, are in good shape before you splash the cash.

[GreenV8S]

The standard brakes are fine if everything is in good working order, but the performance can be significantly affected by the condition of the calliper sliders and is also very dependent on the pads being bedded in correctly. The state of the fluid also makes a big difference to the feel of the pedal, although it doesn't affect the ultimate stopping force you can generate in an MOT test.

[greymrj]

When I first put my S back on the road it had brakes which always felt a little 'soft'. The discs and pads were new, the drums had been honed and new shoes fitted. It had to be hydraulic. The flexible pipes looked OK, no cracks or anything. However I took one off and found that I could actually stretch it! What was happening was that all the old hydraulic pipes had deteriorated with age and were stretching/bulging slightly with pressure. ALL the pipes were replaced (there are notes in the alternative parts list or previous posts about which pipes to use). The effect was remarkable. From being just good enough for the MOT the brake test went up to 105%, i.e. better than the makers specification!
If you have old brake pipes, then change the lot. Either to new standard type hoses, or braided hoses if you can afford the extra.

[Rower]

Thanks for all your help , I think that I am going to replace the hoses No 1 and then put it back through the test , pads are fine and I replaced the fluid not long ago.

Rower