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I don’t monkey with them. I run new pads until the 1/8th inch thick spacers will fit in. Then I pun the spacers in and run the pads down from there. It’s not the wedging that is the issue. It is the slight movement of the pad parallel to the rotor when the pad engages the rotor. This side loads the piston which causes wear on the piston and piston bore.
You are so right on that. It is the extension of the pistons that is the problem. The fulcrum point of the piston moved cause it to loose leverage, hence the greater wear due to the skewing of the piston and that much more force when the piston and piston wall touch under load. Additionally there is that much lass contact surface area for the same force to distribute so more wear especially the soft AL piston bore. It is something hard to imagine until you think about the mechanisms involved.
Ya, the rotational torque is huge and that is being reacted out (or caused?) by those little pads. Those pistons are just going along for the ride Then throw in some nice abrasive brake dust, dirt and anything else you can think of and that bore, which has a finite life, is going to have its life shortened. And yet another disposable part... .
A friend, who used to be involved in stock car racing (feeder level to the Cup Car level) said that for the Cup Cars when they get new calipers in and if they don’t like something about them, they go into the trash. Doesn’t matter if they are functional or not. And, I seem to recall being told that they change them out for each race... Something to ponder...
Consider how much it cost to support each race and what is at stake, I can totally see they treat them as disposables. Don't NASCAR teams use their engine only for one race? Used NASCAR is probably the bigger bang for the buck for high performance track car.
Back to earth, Desire's team is on a finite tight budget so we have to make things last.
Our track team has been busy. So many things to prepare for Desire's autumn back to school semester. We want to make sure her mates would be pleased so we are going out of the way to please. Our team's executive chef would be preparing a meal for ~30 people. The weather forecast looks good, but for the uninitiated it can look grim. But if you know the local microclimate, there is reason to rejoice. A bit of early showers would cool down the track nicely. Just make sure we have the tire department covered.
these are from the first shopping trip; there will be three all together
I only make slow food, for honest ingredients
some US Gulf shrimps
To maximize our driving, we would do as much pre-prep for the meal as possible. At least that is the well laid plan.
It was an eventful club days at ORP. A lot of unexpected dramas and complications. The team nearly never made it to the event because the team coach with Desire in tow broke down en route. Our team chef had a commitment to prepare lunch for 30 the first day so failure to show is not an option. We made it in the afternoon. There were high and low lights, and first a high light. This is Desire's other sidekick substituted her against the formidable rivals. Desire didn't feel well after the first day.
I just saw this and thought it needs a response. Good for you that is your softdrink size. For me 1.6 litre is the little engine that can, and I don't do softdrinks let alone 2l supersize. That is why I can fit nicely into the Mini, and also a Lotus Exige too.
That was an interesting article that you linked to with the 2L soda picture. It paints a bleak picture for the future for the car industry. Back in the ‘50s someone said “What’s good for GM, is good for the country”. I suppose the opposite is true too.
So, I am still pondering your video. It’s your camper/tow vehicle, out on the track with 2 cars following and the video at double speed? With no brake lights that I can see coming on for the turns, I would say that you are really driving at a slow speed.
Today, few remember or heard of the Government Motor. During the global financial crisis when US bailed out the big three Government Motor cannot be more real.
I deliberately being sly to Mr. Blah's question to prolong the suspense and not letting the cat out too soon.
What happened was Desire's mothership broke down on the way to the track. I had the whole road train towed to ORP as that gave me the best chance of getting it fixed and not risk exposing the valuables from being ripped off stranded on the side of the highway in nowhere. By the third day the part that I order from the closest Napa store arrived and I overcame the challenges to have the Sprinter motorhome fixed. What better place to test it before risking out on the road than on the track at ORP. I got the management to give the green light to do a parade lap or two and we soon hedged the evil plots. Like they say, the rest is history.
There are two dead giveaways in the video it is deepfake. You certainly found one, though on some turns I was doing left foot braking. The other is at the start/end of the track the speed of the Track Marshall waving the checkered flag is another dead giveaway. It is too fast. In retrospect both could be finessed better to hide the cat. What gave the realism is the drivetrain sound of the BMW M3 the video was filmed, mixed with The Ride of the Valkyries enhanced the realism.
I did speed up the video 2x. I would have prefer a less increase of the pace but iMovie only have discrete multiples so 2x it was. I thought the video looks comic and the other cars all put up a good act. The video was shared with all the members whom many didn't come for the weekend and many were entertained.
At first I thought it might have been one of the race simulators and someone had done a race van. But I was suspicious of the color and look of its back end (Hmmmm is that the Sprinter?). Then there were a few odd and slightly unnatural movements of the car in the middle. Then came your hint. Nicely done.
And I think the motorhome has just gotten its name... Ride of the Valkyrie
I broke down and bought a set of this for Desire. I went totally cheap and these are no thrill but I figure as long as the dimensions are correct they should work just as well as those costing 2/3 more. We are cheap and we squeak when we walk.
no, not from fleaBay
Can I ask if you think these were worth it and if so can I ask where you purchased them? I'm about to re-build my rear brake calipers and thinking I might add these to the project.
Just found your full write up / explanation at post 2010. I like the theory.
I bought the kit from Garagistic. Really inexpensive. I only had one track day on them. The pads have no unusual wear.
The installation was quite straight forward. They are not perfect but the price is right. The bushings fit into the bore of the caliper bracket is not as tight as I like. It could be they made them slightly undersize to accommodate calipers in winter salted road that results in a lot of oxidation. I put a bit of red loctite. The groove for the snap rings are also a bit wider than the thickness of the rings.
The thing about Mini's rear brakes it is misleading when you jack up the car and try to gauge the drag by hand spinning the wheel. When the suspension is fully extended the handbrake cable as well as the hydraulic line will tug on the floating caliper and skew it causing the pads to drag much more than when the suspension is loaded.
It broke down towards the end of the first day. The supercharger emitted ear piercing squeal so loud the whole paddock could hear. We thought either a serpentine belt pulley bearing or the supercharger's front bearing has seized. If you rev up the to say 3,000 RPM the noise could easily be 100 dB. I didn't have my trusty 4' hose that I use as acoustic stethoscope with me, so I grabbed the race fuel container filler hose/cap. The noise unmistakably came from the snort of the supercharger.
The supercharger is brand new that I installed in April with merely 3,000 miles to date. I wanted to douse Desire with petrol and light a match to end the misery.
Sorry to hear about Desire having problems. I would guess Desire is as upset as you are as you say she likes going to the track.
Having a track car is surely frustrating. Mine developed a thumpy-rattle on the way to my last track event and my cousin’s M2 needs brake calipers rebuilt after 3 years of moderate track use. It never ends.
The club days last weekend didn't start out well. Desire's mothership broke down on I84 on the way to Oregon Raceway Park. I stopped to make a cup of coffee as I was getting sleepy on the wheel. When resuming the journey I noticed in the rearview mirror excessive smoke. I monitored it for a while and soon there were no more smoke and the Sprinter ran fine. I dismissed it must be from another passing vehicle, or just one of those diesel engine thing...
About 2 miles down the freeway all of a sudden the engine rev'ed up and the motorhome lost speed. Pressing on the accelerator would redline the engine and zero driveline propulsion. I immediately connected the smoke with the startling symptom. I knew I lost the transmission. I sprung into emergency management mode as the safety of the entire road train rode on split second decision - or indecision. The last thing I wanted happen is to come to a stop on the side of the interstate highway. I would use every bit of the remaining kinetic energy to get to a safe place to stop.
I put on the 4 way hazard flasher as the vehicles lost momentum fast. I tried to coast to the next exit but it looked to be too far. Fortunately for us I know the highway very well from decades of silent water sport in the Columbia River Gorge. I knew the next exit very well and prayed that we had enough momentum to coast off the highway. Just before reaching the exit ramp our speeds dropped to under 10s. I tried hug close to the shoulder but the rumble pavement slow the vehicles down faster. I pulled back out to smoother pavement.
As we arrived to the off ramp we were like at 3 MPH. The off ramp actually sloped up slightly before down. We barely had enough momentum to overcome the upslope with no more than 3 feet of momentum to spare. Once we got over the upslope, I started looking for a safe spot to park the road train. Fortune was on our side. There is a dirt lot across the off ramp stop sign. We had only enough momentum to cross the road into the dirt lot only if we didn't stop for the stop sign. I looked very carefully and ready to lean on the horn for our emergency illegal running of a stop sign. Desperate time called for desperate measure.
There were no other vehicle at the intersection and we coasted to a stop into the dirt lot, with the vehicle came to the natural stop without applying braking.
I always carry a down insulated throw and it came in handy for crawling under the Sprinter at the dirt lot to examine the cause. There were traces of ATF everywhere and even on the surface of the rear doors. Needless to say I knew I lost ATF. Feeling the two rubber ATF lines going to the cooler in the radiator I quickly find the slit puncture. The hoses were still very hot and they felt too soft to the touch. I blamed crap quality rubber hoses.
this p-code is transmission input speed and output speed do not agree
I should mention that all these photos were taken on locations. All except the last was taken at the dirt lot where we coasted to a stop.
the arrow at on the rubber hose is where the puncture is; the arrows at the steel fitting highlight the corroded hardline because the oil cooler and radiator is made of aluminium; "German engineering" is way overrated myth
the arrows highlight the ATF lines between the transmission and the cooler in the radiator
on the transmission side the banjo fitting is easy and easy to undo if needed
While pondering and worrying how could I get out of this jam I called ORP to inform them of my predicaments. I also signed up to cater lunch the next day for 30 and I try to see if one of my friends can pick up the cooking ingredients when they are on the way to the raceway. I remember the towing outfit at the Interstate junction connecting to the US state highway and I thought they are my nearest hope. A call to them and I try to see if they have a flatbed. To just cut to the chase they sent a flatbed. I would soon leant that they can not just carry the 4 ton James Cook but also tow the car trailer behind. My friend that I called suggest I should just have the whole thing towed to ORP as I would have the best chance of repairing it in the safety of a gated facility.
one immediate concern when the flatbed arrived is conferring with the driver about the aggregate height; the James Cook motorhome is just shy of 11 feet and the flatbed deck is 4 feet
One immediately worry the tow truck driver and I had was the aggregate height. We are at circa 16 feet and some overpass roadway or bridge on the Interstate can pose catastrophic danger. It turned out there is no bridge or overpassing roadway for the remainder of the trip to ORP. Still there are overhead power cables that we needed to be careful of.
we were fortunate that the tow vehicle can also tow the car trailer and all in one trip
we were lucky to have this ethical towing outfit and didn't get ripped off; nice country folks
Taking the road train directly to ORP turned out to be the best arrangement given the dire circumstance. We arrived to ORP the afternoon before the first club day with all the perishable food ingredients intact. I planned to prepare lunch the next day as well as driving all three days, as well as fixing the Sprinter motorhome. There would be many challenges, and that would be for the subsequent posts. Do note that this was Saturday afternoon and normal businesses are closing for the weekend.
I learnt about this rare Fiat with a Ferrari from a car nut Italian classmate in high school. His father was very wealthy and in the "construction" business. He was an avid car collector. Here is one on BAT ending in a few hours.
If I haven't mistaken, it is the similar if not the same engine in the famed Lancia Stratos.
I have been running into this fatal forum post authoring bug many times now. Often after uploading many photos and taking the time to write the text as well as remarks for the photos, only to find half of what I uploaded and text written disappeared. The auto-save feature never work, and by restoring it it gives me the previous post.
I just lost 30 minutes of work.
The only safe workaround is to keep each post short and make many posts rather than one long and rich one. If I have a lot to say, I wait until after loading all the photos before writing the paragraphs.
It is the extension of the pistons that is the problem. The fulcrum point of the piston moved cause it to loose leverage, hence the greater wear due to the skewing of the piston and that much more force when the piston and piston wall touch under load. Additionally there is that much lass contact surface area for the same force to distribute so more wear especially the soft AL piston bore. It is something hard to imagine until you think about the mechanisms involved.
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