Toymods Car Club Inc: Tech & Conversions => Brakes: Mk 3 TT Supra

Toymods Car Club
www.toymods.org.au

F.A.Q.

Home

Members

Toymods » Tech & Conversions » Brakes: Mk 3 TT Supra Show: Today's Posts :: Show Polls Email to friend

Author

Topic

7M-Brisbane
Forums Junkie

Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002

Re: Brakes: Mk 3 TT Supra	Tue, 07 September 2004 23:17

Great to see someone is thinking the right way around. Make sure everything works fine, then start making some modifications Fluid. Most important for brakes is to bleed out the hydraulic system (if not sure how to do this, a mechanic will happily take money from you for this task). Over time, brake fluid (a) absorbs water and (b) generally gets fully of shit. Now that your car is 10-15 years old it is probably well and truly gummed up and this should be your first point of call - best done when you change the brake pads. Brake fluid is designed not to compress, so the pressure you put on the pedal is directly fed to the braking surfaces. If you have contaminants in your brake fluid, this can compress and absorb your pedal pressure and can also cause a blockage or a jammed caliper! Also remember that water boils, so if you get your brakes hot you can lose some/most/all of your pedal pressure due to boiling fluid! If getting a mechanic to do the fluid, get them to check that the calipers are in good condition and don't need to be rebuilt. They will probably do it anyway, but this makes sure and also makes you sound like you know what you're talking about. If doing it yourself then you should be able to tell by the condition of the seals, pistons, and the condition of the brake fluid coming out. Remember that the difference between good brake fluid and cheap brake fluid is about five bucks a bottle (probably need two or three bottles to do the whole car safely?). Don't be cheap, and remember to change it regularly. I would do it once every 6-12 months, but there is probably an official time frame... unfortunately this figure is irrelevant as most people have probably never had their brake fluid flushed and won't ever know their brakes are dodgy. Pads. As Norbie said, Bendix is a starting point. Mk3's have big brakes, but they're also a big car, so no compromises. Definitely don't put in anything less than Ultimates (about $100 a set?) - and really look at a set of EBC's (I don't want to scare you off, but you're looking at about $200-$300 depending on application) for top performance from your existing brakes. I am sure that everyone here wil agree that if you are tight on money, you are better off getting a moderate quality pad like the Ultimates and bleeding the hydraulics, rather than spending up big on pads and forgetting the fluid completely. Rotors/Calipers. You don't really have an option here unless you have a good $3000+ to spend upgrading your braking system. The best you can do is rebuild the calipers (this involves a clean/flush, new seals and in some cases new pistons) and when the rotors are due for replacement, choose slotted rotors. They are a small upgrade and not really worth doing 'off the bat' if your existing rotors are good, as it is quite expensive - unless you have heaps of money to throw around of course. Skills. Your brakes are only as good as your skills - once you've fixed everything up, drive along on the highway at 100km/h. Check there are no cars around and 'hit it'. Stop as quickly as you can, but remember that squealing is bad. Squealing means that the tyres have locked and that you are beyond maximum efficiency. Release the pedal gradually and the wheels will grip... then increase pressure again gradually and repeat until you get the hang of it. You can have a $10,000 Brembo setup on your car, but if you just mash the pedal or close your eyes when confronted with a difficult situation you may as well have standard brakes! Other Stuff. The other thing to keep in mind that your brakes are also only as good as your tyres (particularly your fronts) and your suspension. In my experience (having owned one and driven numerous) Mk3 Supras have problems locking one front wheel under hard braking so I would definitely make sure that good tyres are fitted to minimise this, and good suspension stops the car squirming and unnecessarily unloading the tyres. [Updated on: Tue, 07 September 2004 23:20] [Report message to a moderator]

[Message index]

-=] Back to Top [=-

Current Time: Sun Apr 28 21:58:02 UTC 2024

Total time taken to generate the page: 0.0044031143188477 seconds

.:: Contact :: Home ::.