MGA unbalanced brakes

Hi,

I have a perennial problem at MoT time with unbalanced brakes on my MGA. They are drums all round. I have tried freeing (even replacing) all the brake cylinders, and also fine tuning the adjustment on the shoes (I know that it shouldn't make any difference with hydraulics).

Are there any other tricks that I could try to sort this out properly.

thanks

dan

Reply to
Dan Smithers
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chamfer the shoes leading edge so they don't pickup. Even check the shoes have been fitted correctly.

replace the return springs so the tension is the same and the brakes are correctly assembled. the springs should be behind the shoes.

Not sure if there is any pins or springs on the MGA to hold the shoes against the backing plate. ( none on the morris major) so the return springs hold the shoes flat and in place.

What you have said it should not be the hydraulic system.

r
Reply to
Rob

Go to a deserted car park, slam the brakes on and check the black lines to see just which ones are working and how soon. You will probably find that one of the rears is locking first, but until you have checked this you won't really know where to begin. Once you have identified the culprit, you stand a good chance of finding out why.

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

Thanks, I forgot to say that it is the front brakes that are a problem. and nearside is more effective than the offside.

Reply to
Dan Smithers

Presumably only a light sanding.

The linings seem to show more use in some places than others. I've sometimes wondered whether sanding down the shiny bits would get more of the lining gripping the drum.

As far as I can tell from the manual.

not on the front - twin leading shoe.

There's never any complaint about the effectiveness of the brakes, just that the nearside is much stronger than the offside.

Reply to
Dan Smithers

Is this the case at both light and heavy braking? If they are unbalanced with heavy braking you have a problem with seized or partially seized cylinders, unmatched linings, contaminated linings, or out of true drums.

If they are even with heavy braking but not with light any of the above as well - but add in suspension problems and or the self servo action not being equal - covered earlier in chamfering the leading edge of the linings.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

It always seems as though it is the front brakes, never more so than when it actually is the rear ones that are the problem.

BTDTGTTS

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

Ah. Right. Please disregard my last post - now I understand. I'm afraid I pre-date MOT tests by a year or two and forgot about the bit with the rollers. Try swapping bits (one by one, starting with the drums) from one side to another until the out of balance effect changes side. Then you have it.

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

Thanks, I'll give it a try - sadly the car is euphemistically "between MoTs" I did swap the drums with my Magnette and the thought that I'd solved the problem, but it came back again a year later.

Reply to
Dan Smithers

Years ago I had very poor braking on my ZA Magnette. Pulling and juddering. Had the drums skimmed but little improvement. Re-bushed the front suspension and that cured it - even although it had passed an MOT.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

It has worked for me in the past having rebushed an XJ6 and a Daimler, recently re-bushed a certain other vehicle and it has improved braking on rough surfaces.

Reply to
Steve Firth

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Dan Smithers saying something like:

A proper chamfer, of about 4mm at 45deg.

This used to be a chronic problem with the Marina - often caused by dust build up, but sometimes nothing could be found that was an obvious cause. Sometimes lightly sanding the surfaces would do it and sometimes cured by mixing shoes from one side to the other.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

I assume you've checked the wheel cylinders are the same bore.

John

Reply to
John

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