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[/quote]Sounds like a clever way to effect "brake proportioning," but don't you end up with a bit of extra pedal travel? [/quote]

Not really, I didn't even notice a difference in travel as it's just slightly out of 'normal' adjustment. I can pretty much stand on them without locking up the rears.
The emergency brake pull is just a tad longer but I still use that brake (solo) on the many steep downhills we have locally.
Great leverage as built on the 3.
I believe the later 9" drums dealt with this issue altogether.

I still can't imagine the rears leading to a soft pedal alone...maybe with air in the system and out of adj, but you'd think a few pumps and you'd be good to go.
 
Dale: I'm not quite clear from your description of the incident of exactly how (or if) the brakes malfunctioned.
Did the wheels lock up at all, or were you unable to get anywhere near that much braking force from the car?
Have you ever tried simulated emergency stops, on a suitably deserted road? Do you know if, in fact, the brakes have enough power to lock any or all wheels (not that that is the best method for a controlled stop).
What was the role of the handbrake in this incident?
It might help, when you finish your checks of the braking system to take Amos onto a dirt road and try to lock up the wheels to see if all four show evidence of braking.
Don't mean to badger you with so many comments, Dale, but many factors can contribute to less than adequate braking performance and you don't want to wait for an emergency to find out if they perform up to par.

Tom
 
If the brake booster isn't working it takes noticeably more pedal pressure to stop. At least it did when my car cut off suddenly (a time or two). Does it do it every time?

Jeff
2xTR6
 
OK! Here's a bit of an update on my brakes.

NO! It was never possible to lockup my new brakes with
pedal pressure. No! The new hand brake will not hold
the car on the slightest of inclines. I managed to get
my car into the road shoulder before I hit the car in
front of me.

NO! my brake wheel cylinders are new and don't leak.
My brake master cyclinder is new and does not leak.
The brakes have been bled twice now. No bubbles

By "soft pedal" I mean I cannot lock up the rear wheels.

I pulled the passenger rear end apart yesterday. No
leaking fluids anywhere. I tightened down the hand brake
cable and pull arm. I tightened the brake pad square
adjuster. I cleaned up everything and greased all the
zerks I could reach. I put a torque wrench on all the
fasteners to verify Bentley settings.

I also noticed a split in the brake booster vacuum hose
where it fits onto the intake manifold. I cut out the split.

I'm not feeling so well today, so I may not tackle the other rear wheel.

regards,

d
adjustBrakes.jpg
 
Hi Dale,
The hose that you are using on for the vacuum booster supply is it vacuum hose or is it fuel line. If it is fuel line, GET RID OF IT!
Fuel hose collapses when you apply the brakes and makes it feel that you don't have brakes. I had this situation with my car and when I changed out to the proper vacuum booster hose the change in performance was dramatic.
Just another idea to add to the list.
Good luck! :thumbsup:
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I also noticed a split in the brake booster vacuum hose where it fits onto the intake manifold. I cut out the split.
[/QUOTE]
Dale, a vacuum leak will reduce the efficiency of the brake booster. It will also affect engine tuning, which you have had some problems with.

Now that you have fixed that, ajust the rear brakes, and the hand brake. Then give it a go.
 
A Quick way to see if your rear brakes need adjustment is to pull your hand brake lever up. If you don't feel resistance by 3 clicks and full lock up on both wheels by 5 clicks, you got some adjusting to do.
 
Vacuum leak at the booster,

weak brakes, hard start.

Is it just me, or have I heard that before?
 
71MKIV said:
Vacuum leak at the booster,

weak brakes, hard start.

Is it just me, or have I heard that before?
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Sorry, I'm not a technical/wrench owner.
What have you just told me?? I do not see the connection??

thanks,

I am happy when my car starts, drives more than 10 miles
without a breakdown and returns home under it's own power..

dale </span>
 
poolboy said:
A Quick way to see if your rear brakes need adjustment is to pull your hand brake lever up. If you don't feel resistance by 3 clicks and full lock up on both wheels by 5 clicks, you got some adjusting to do.
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #660000">Poolboy-

my handbrake is still somewhat Pedro-ized. The clicking mechanism
does not function. I've installed new cables and hooked them up.
That's where I am now. No clicking, yet!! The lever arm is really
Pedro-ized badly. I've had other priorities. (there were no cables
at all when we bought the car)

d</span>
 
Tinster said:
71MKIV said:
Vacuum leak at the booster,

weak brakes, hard start.

Is it just me, or have I heard that before?
Click to expand...

<span style="color: #990000">Sorry, I'm not a technical/wrench owner.
What have you just told me?? I do not see the connection??

thanks,

I am happy when my car starts, drives more than 10 miles
without a breakdown and returns home under it's own power..

dale </span>
Click to expand...

Hi Dale - I think the point here is that a vacuum leak will cause several problems. It could easily impact your braking effectiveness as well as introduce poor running conditions.

As far as your hand brake goes - it should hold the car when pulled up 2/3 of the way (clicking is based on the tooth gear in the cockpit where the handbrake goes into the transmission tunnel). You should have solid resistance when pulled 2/3 up and car should be solidly held in place. If it isn't then the handbrake isn't pulling on the rear brakes hard enough and needs to be adjusted.

The "no clicking" issue will need to get fixed since that is what holds the hand brake in the up position and thus keeps the pressure on the rear brake so the car doesn't move.

When you turn the rear wheel do you feel some drag from the brakes on it?
 
Tinster said:
<span style="color: #660000">...my handbrake is still somewhat Pedro-ized. The clicking mechanism
does not function....</span>
Click to expand...
Hmmm....

In true DPO fashion, I wonder if Amos (I will NOT call it by that other name!) might have had an older fly-off-style handbrake lever fitted.

Dale, for sake of a hopefully clear explanation: older TRs had what was described as a fly-off handbrake, whereby a quick pulling up of the lever was all that was needed to DISengage it; pushing the button while holding up the handle would then set the handbrake. Later ones, such as (most if not all?) TR6, had whast is usually called a "fly-on" handbrake, whereby pulling up of the lever was all that was needed to ENGAGE it; pushing the button while slightly pulling up is the way to DISengage it.

If you have an earlier fly-off handbrake, it won't click. Simple as that.
 
No. my hand brake is buggered up, plain and simple.
DOP Pedro had no cables connected to the hand lever or
rear brakes. Just a handle that accomplished nothing.

I've installed the TRF hand brake system with proper cables
but the lever arm is still buggered up and has no "clicks"
nor will it hold the car on an incline.

d
 
To explain my post,

I thought an earlier post had you saying your car was starting hard, and now you say the brakes are weak.

The booster vacuum line comes off at the manifold, ergo, when the booster vacuum line leaks, it means the fuel/air mixture in the manifold has way too much air and too little fuel, or "lean", which means that you have to choke the carb really hard in order to compensate for the leak for the car to run at all. Depending on where your booster line comes off the manifold, a set of cylinders could be running very rich while the another set is almost too lean to run.

with no vacuum at the booster to help you "step on the pedal" the brakes are then weak enough to put your sphincter just south of your adam's apple.

Now that you have adjusted your rear shoes, which is normal for a new set to center and seat themselves after a few miles, and gone out and gotten proper vacuum line for the booster and istalled it, take Amos back off the stands and go see what you've got and report back.
 
Am I understanding you correctly, Dale ?
Despite hearing no clicks when you pull the hand brake, no matter how high you pull the lever, it has no effect on the rear brakes ?
Even without hearing those clicks, by the time the lever is raised about 8 inches the wheels should lock up firmly.
I'd work on getting the cables adjusted so you at least have that much hand (emergency) brake.
Once you get that, just follow the procedure for adjusting the brake shoes with the adjuster mechanism, using that Square hole wrench.
If you find it difficult to turn the square adjuster, the adjuster is probably fouled with brake dust. You have to remove the brake drum to clean the adjuster. Just putting that out, just in case.
 
I've now got both cables adjusted and the brake shoes as well.

I'll do a test drive tomorrow.

d
 
Dale:

You can check the e brake without driving it :wink:
 
Dale,
Make sure that you adjust the rear shoes before you adjust the hand brake. If you do it the other way around you will never get any braking efficiency from the rear brakes using the pedal.
From what I remember of my TR4A that had a similar hand brake to the TR6 (except that it was fly-of) there was no way you would be able to lock up the rear brakes using the lever.
I hadn't realised that the TR6 had a servo. I suspect that the symptoms you describe could be because the servo is inoperative. Try starting the engine with your foot on the brake and see if the pedal goes down. If it does, your servo is working.
Nick
 
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