Morris Minor Owners Club

charlie_morris_minor wrote:
4 up in a traveller coming down some of the hills in cardiff was enough to induce brake fade at the bottom.. I have only had brake fade once with the discs and that was in the brecon beacons.. i stopped at the bottom of the hill for a few minutes to allow the discs to cool before i felt it safe to drive on

Does help if you change down to 3rd and use the engine for braking on hills. That was standard practice in the days the Minor was first built

This is not a personal dig so don't take it that way, but far to many people don't use the gearbox any more and rely on brakes to slow the car which, it appears is what some driving schools recommend.

Back on topic: Greenstuff are meant for more high speed braking/track days as they work better hot. Red Stuff are racing pads that require really hot brakes to work.

In general driving they were no better on my C4 than OEM ones and in fact were worse as they had no anti squeal coating on the reverse so metal backing plate to piston used to squeal at low speed and drive me mad, so I ditched Greenstuff.

For normal, everyday driving, there is nothing wrong with what the original car maker spec'd for the car.

none taken, i was taught to use the engine braking.. and not rely on the brakes to do all the braking and even then.. i could with 4 up get brake fade.. on my own I generally found i was ok.. but i was popular at college..okay I had a car and enough money to put petrol in it more than once a term

bmcecosse wrote:No - don't need to! The drums work perfectly well - can't do better than lock the wheels, and my drums easily do that! I believe the discs are very heavy - not so the drums. And - I have never managed to fade them.

Sorry, locking the wheels is NOT the best or quickest way to stop. A tyre generally gives maximum grip between 5 and 15 % slip (depending upon construction and compound etc) and therefore needs to be rotating during braking.

Also, how you apply the brakes dictates whether you lock the brakes or not, a huge instant shove on the brake pedal will lock the wheels as no weight has transferred to the front wheels to load them up properly, where as if you hit the brake pedal gradually the weight will transfer to the front wheels then enabling you to apply more braking through the loaded up wheels. This is why braking correcly also depends upon good damping in the suspension.

ABS tends to stop locking too early for my liking and removes any feel in wet weather, but helps normal people avoid the sudden locking of brakes in an emergency.

The only time I ever need to lock wheels on a car is on the track when it has all gone pear shaped and then the only reason I do it is so that I know I will skid in a straight line and won't spear off in any old direction!!

He isn't saying it's the best way to stop, just that the brakes can do more stopping than the tyres can.
I note that the mph has gone up from 20 to 30 though.

I know full well that 'locking the wheels' is not the best way to stop - nor did I suggest that But it IS the best that any brake system can do for you - it's up to the driver to regulate the brake so that the tyre is 'not quite' locked. It is reported by many disc brake fitted car owners that they need a servo with discs - that's my source of information. Far too many Minor owners get suckered in to spending a LOT of money to fit disc brakes to their cars - when their speed and style of motoring don't justify it at all. And of course- my car has the larger 9" Wolseley front drums - so no fade for me! A car that has been highly modified and/or is intended for track or competition use will of course need disc brakes - no argument from me there! But for sane road use with a standard engine - the later 8" drums are fine IF in good working order.