Libra/Spyders with Z Cars rear Suspension
Just wondered if anyone with the Z cars suspension has had any problems with their rear brake pad wear and/or Handbrake performance?
At some point (after fitting the new suspension) I noticed I wasn't getting even wear of the rear pads, it was only like half in contact with the discs if you see what i mean? Anyway thought I must have just not seated the pads properly or something. Also before that the handbrake only just passed the MOT with the help of a friendly tester
, I know they are not the greatest anyway but it was quite poor.
Anyway I came to dismantle the brakes to see what's what, the pads etc seemed to be fitted properly, the pistons are in good condition, the caliper slides freely on its pins so was a bit stumped but then i
think I figured out what the problem is.
As I'm sure you know on "standard" cars the brake calipers are mounted off the hub carrier on a nice machined accurately toleranced surface relative to the hub/discs. But on this they are bolted straight onto a thick plate that's welded onto the z cars swinging arm fabrication, and I think its not quite positioning the caliper completely perpendicular to the disc. The gaps between the caliper and disc are def not equal on either side. So as well as just not coming face to face with the disc properly i think they are not sliding freely on their pins and that was causing the binding and uneven wear, poor handbrake performance etc etc.
So i haven't fixed it yet but i guess Its a case of a big hammer and maybe some heat to "adjust" these brackets and lots of taking the caliper off and on and off again until they seem to be dead over the disc.
Just wondering if anyone has this problem, has already figured this out, has any other ideas etc.....