

| Subject: | Re: Disc brakes on pre-'71 buses. |
| Date: | Tue, 6 Feb 96 11:42:38 +0100 |
>From Yodal@gnn.com: >. There is >an additional valve in the disc brake system whose nomenclature >escapes me at the moment and you could adapt the power assist for >the master cylinder but I didn't and had no problems. One of the differences between hydraulic drum- and disc-brake systems is the (what-i-call) rest-pressure. Rest-pressure is a slight over- pressure that remains in the hydraulic circuit when it's in rest. Rest-pressure is maintained by a valve in the master cylinder. The drum brake system benefits from this slight overpressure as it helps keeping dirt, water and air out of the system. The pressure will not overcome the springtension on the brake shoes, the shoes will not 'brake'. A disc brake doesn't have return springs. It has a thick rubber ring between caliper and piston. When force is applied to the piston the rubber ring deforms axially, when the force is taken away the ring wants to restore itself and while doing that it backs the piston off a little. Just enough to avoid excessive pad/disc friction. When the travel of the piston is more than the rubber allows, it just slides through the ring, ie. it adjusts automatically as the pads and disc wear. It all comes down to this: the rubber ring in a disc brake cannot retrieve the piston properly when there is rest-pressure behind it, there will be too much friction when the system is in rest. Brian.
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