Brake balance between front and rear brakes on a 1990 Surf

chrisc · Post by **chrisc** » Tue May 22, 2007 6:50 pm

I have found that when I fit heavy duty pads to the front and brake hard that the rears squeal or even lockup. My take on this is that because the fronts are taking a heavier shove to make them work the rear shoes are being over applied and locking up. I have adjusted the rear balance lever (and could do a lot more) I have been told that the adjustment isn't much chop and things like fitting a smaller master cylinder might be required (can't remember the exact details now). So what is the best way to correct this ?
Persevere with the balance adjustment or is there something better that can be done ?
I would like to fit pads at the rear as well but haven't found anybody who appears to have done this. And it looks expensive.

Mattman · Post by **Mattman** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:46 pm

You could convert to rear discs or put a proportioning valve in.

Matt.

chrisc · Post by **chrisc** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:01 pm

I just did a search on the forum and found that others have done this so I will research it further.

tallsam66 · Post by **tallsam66** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:55 pm

Wouldnt it be less hassle to just go back to the standard pads...or do the other ones make that much difference???

chrisc · Post by **chrisc** » Tue May 22, 2007 11:51 pm

You could be right but going down Otira with a full load and no brakes near the bottom soon makes you put something a little more grunty on (and I guess I could have put it into Low). I still have more travel in the rear balancer to try but Safer Brakes reckons that the balancer wasn't much chop which is why I hadn't tried more adjustment. The problem isn't a major but I have had a couple of scary moments in the wet.

Rangielux · Post by **Rangielux** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:26 am

I've found that the load sensing valve normally works ok. Firstly make sure it's actually working and not seized as they sometimes are -no point adjusting it if is.
Any suspension lift on your surf will affect that valve too of course.

chrisc · Post by **chrisc** » Thu May 24, 2007 6:56 pm

Right I'll adjust the valve a bit more. I found (after reading an Aussie 4WD mag) that a lanolin based spray lubricant is much better than a silicone based one. So a healthy squirt and a wiggle should solve a possible seizing issue.
I have no idea if it has been raised. A little hard to tell with torsion rods at the front. I have fitted aftermarket springs at the rear and these seemed to restore the vehicle to a horizontal position since it used to look like it had 500kg of lead in the back. And I do note that my Surf seems about 50mm (at least) higher than a friends one. Especially noted when we go through water.
This forum is magic. I have at least 3 things to work on this weekend.