Grabbing Brake.

[David Stepney]

Here’s a silly problem for the cognoscenti. I have recently refined the front brakes on my RP and now find that, if I have left the car idle for a couple of days, the offside front brake grabs on initial application and does not release unless I reverse a foot or two. After a couple of applications, it behaves itself and doesn’t do it again until I have left the car for a day or two. It appears that the leading shoe (I.e. the rearmost one) is wrapping on. I have made sure that the shoes and cam mechanism is not sticking and tried swapping the drums over from side to side. All to no avail. I have done less that 400 miles since the redline, so is it a problem that might go away as the brakes bed in, or should I be looking for a more immediate problem?

On the road, the brakes are fine, pulling up square even on a emergency application.

Any thoughts?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Have you filed the ends of the lining to a shallow angle?

I find the ends tend to sit up and snag, when new, doing above helps.

[Reckless Rat]

Are you parking the car up with the handbrake on?

[David Stepney]

Thank you Ruairidh and Bruce. In answer to your questions, no I haven’t chamfered the ends of the linings. I never do. And no, I always leave the handbrake off when the car is in the garage. Do you think chamfering the leading edge would help?

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I do.

[David Stepney]

Thanks, Ruairidh, I shall try that this weekend and see if it cures the problem.

[Greig Smith]

+1 for chamfering the ends of all the linings !!

Aye
Greig

[Reckless Rat]

Me too.

[David Stepney]

Thanks all for the advice. Strangely enough, when I was an apprentice, (When dinosaurs roamed West Wales) I was told that chamfering the shoes was bad practice. I never found out why this was.

[Stumpi]

Probably contained Asbestos in those days.