Brake pedal adjustment

[peteracs]

On the RHD cars the brake pedal movement is transferred via a set of rods and pivots to the servo on the left hand side.

I have just refurbished my brakes and on bleeding, the pedal without servo assistance is reasonably hard and travels about halfway down to the floor. With the servo in use it seems to go down further. Now this may mean more bleeding, but I have had a few sessions on it and fairly confident of having the air out of the system.

The question is, there is a barrel adjuster in the rod mechanism, should I attempt to adjust that as I can find no mention of it in Haynes and wonder if with new master cylinder it may be needed?

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Peter

Yes you can and should adjust the cross link to remove obvious play. You will gain a more positive brake pedal.

However if you go too far i.e. beyond just removing play you risk pre loading the MC piston and you can get the brake locking on when they get hot.

This cross link is weak for it's job and if you watch whilst an assistant pushes on the pedal you will see it flex. This makes the pedal feel vague and adds travel for no braking advantage.

This is why I built a different adjustable cross link for mine. Ideally this will be thick walled tube with LH thread on one end RH thread on the other for adjustment.

Also look at the push link on the top of the pedal for both play and if it is adjusted to deliver maximum force to the bell crank. You will notice how Heavy duty this is compared to the spindly cross link!

Eric 

[peteracs]

Thanks Eric, that was the comment I had hoped for, odd I could not find any ref in Haynes which is why I was hesitant to go down that route.

I shall report back on how I get on!

Peter

[peteracs]

Hi

I shortened the link rod using the barrel adjuster, not much, but the pedal now feels more normal, so going to leave like that until I get the car on the road and then review it.

Peter