<VV> brake adjusters and Metallic brakes

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/22/2006 10:14:50 AM Pacific Standard Time,  
rgubser at zoomtown.com writes:

I'm  going to replace the brakes on my '62 with metallic shoes that I bought 
from  The Source several years ago. I assume these are similar to the metallic 
 brakes that Clark's currently sells. I'd like to add self-adjusters to my  
brakes when I do this job. For a street-driven car that won't be raced is  
there any disadvantage to doing this? Thanks.

Ralph  Gubser
Cincinnati, OH




There is a bit of controversy on this. If the material is similar to the GM  
material, the braking effectiveness increases with temperature (at least to 
some  high point). The problem with self-adjusters that some have seen is that 
there  will always be unequal adjustment. Maybe just a little bit of 
difference, but  unequal. If the shoes are adjusted so that one side (of a front or rear 
 pair) contacts a little bit before the other, or is self-adjusted out to 
just  contact a bit more on one side, the material will heat up more than the 
other  side. When you apply the brakes, that side, pre-heated by previous  
self-adjustment, will give better friction and stopping ability than the other -  
That will cause a brake pull in that direction. Once the brakes are heated  up, 
as in racing, or heavy street use, the temperature difference will be tiny  
and the pull might not be noticed.  Some people never notice this, but is  not a 
rare phenomena.  Many autocrossers I know prefer non-metallic brakes,  
because the stopping power is needed at the first corner on course, from a  
dead-cold standstill. Metallics aren't designed to provide that. The story  is told of 
the guy who backs his metallic lining car out of the driveway on  a cold 
morning and it goes straight across the street up into his  neighbors driveway 
before he can stop. The new Kevlar or ceramic or  composite linings may be a 
better compromise in that area. -  Seth