Brakes

[barks944]

I did a check of my discs and pads last night and found the rear discs were quite badly rusted and worn. Both sides need replacing with new discs, pads and handbrake shoes. I thought I would get some braided steel hoses and bleed the system while I was at it.

Now I've started thinking I might want to upgrade the brakes further down the line so I was wondering what upgrade paths are available with the standard discs. Would I be able to fit some more powerfull calipers onto the discs on my 944 or will I likely end up buying new discs etc too?

Tom

 

[edh]

I wouldn't bother with upgrading rear brakes - maybe the fronts, but I'd expect the standard brakes to be perfectly capable of doing the job on the road. Get the standard brakes working well & you should be fine - maybe even for track use.

 

[zcacogp]

I may be wrong on this, but I think that to fit the Brembo calipers onto a Lux (which never previously had them) is quite a lot of work. You need parts from the S2/Turbo to mount them correctly, and would probably then need the disks and pads, and calipers. I expect it would end up being very expensive. Try some good disks and pads. or even just pads if the disks are not badly worn. And look at other things as well - some new brake fluid and a really good bleed of the system will make a huge difference, and cost very little. Others will be able to recommend pads and disks. Although whether they are available in Lux fitment is something you would need to investigate. Oli. ETA: I'm sure that Peter Empson has Brembo calipers on his lux-thing. Probably big blacks, knowing him. He'll know the answer. And I'm sure he'll be along soon ...

 

[barks944]

I'm thinking some decent pads, clean up the callipers, stainless hoses and bleeding the system. Anyone got any experience with stainless hoses, are they worth the ££?

 

[zcacogp]

They were always reputed to give much better pedal feel on Golfs, but I'm not sure how much ultimate difference they made to brake performance. As I recall, they aren't expensive so could be worth a punt. But other things (new fluid/bleeding) will offer more improvement per £. Oli.

 

[944 man]

You can mount Brembos to a 930 calipered car using machined adapters: someone such as Ian Godney (Godspeed Racing) can machine these up for <£100. Steel braided hoses will make a substantial difference to braking performance and feel. The braiding prevents your flexible hoses from expanding under pressure, so beyond the 'knee-point' youll achieve greater retardation for a given effort. Simon

 

[zcacogp]

Go with what this man ^^^^^^ says. He knows more than me! Oli.

 

[barks944]

ORIGINAL: 944 man You can mount Brembos to a 930 calipered car using machined adapters: someone such as Ian Godney (Godspeed Racing) can machine these up for <£100.  Steel braided hoses will make a substantial difference to braking performance and feel.  The braiding prevents your flexible hoses from expanding under pressure, so beyond the 'knee-point' youll achieve greater retardation for a given effort. Simon

Today I ordered standard read discs, pads, handbrake shoes and ATE blue fluid. I'm not sure what to do about braided hoses now as Bert told me not to bother with them unless I was racing and mentioned something about the rear one's being too short. Perhaps the too short part was regarding a specific set that he knew about. I think I'll leave it for now and maybe if I take the car onto the track some day when I can afford to smash it I'll fit some better pads and braided hoses.

 

[Peter Empson]

One other concern I've heard voiced about the braided hoses is that you can't see any bulges in the pipe, so it's probably wise to change them more regularly than you might otherwise. I have them on the white car but can't say I was unhappy before they were in place, but they certainly don't hurt. I've heard Bert raise concerns over the rear length before. Since then I believe Goodrich changed the design and added a clear plastic cover over the braid (to stop it wearing any surfaces it came into contact with), but I'm not sure if they changed any other aspects of the design at the same time. It isn't a problem on my setup but then the car is lowered and has much less suspension travel than standard so that will help.

 

[barks944]

Thanks for clearing that up Peter.

 

[944 man]

If kit parts are too short, then a firm like Pirtek can make up hoses to any specification that you require. As Peter has stated, you can see the hose under the braid, so you should replace them periodically: that said though, theyll be good for years. Simon

 

[zcacogp]

Would Pirtec be able to do hoses that would handle the pressure of the braking system? What sort of pressures are we talking about? A brake hose is not the sort of thing you would want to be taking a gamble with. Fuel line gambling is best avoided, brake line gambling is certainly not for the sane. Oli.

 

[barks944]

are braided hoses just rubber hoses surrounded by a steel braiding?

 

[944 man]

Pretty much.

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp Would Pirtec be able to do hoses that would handle the pressure of the braking system? What sort of pressures are we talking about? A brake hose is not the sort of thing you would want to be taking a gamble with. Fuel line gambling is best avoided, brake line gambling is certainly not for the sane. Oli.

Oli - you could make brake hoses - they aren't difficult []. If you trust yourself to re-connect a union on any brake pipe or fuel hose, then there's no reason you couldn't make a brake hose. The Goodridge kits are almost as cheap as DIY though. Pirtek do all sorts of hydraulic hoses for large industrial applications - I think they find the car stuff an interesting diversion. It's certainly not pushing the boundaries of their competence. The connectors I bought from them to do my oil cooler were rated to something like 10,000psi [] (Ok - I picked this number off the top of my head, but I do remeber it was a very big number)