Rover 16 Girling brakes
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:54 pm
Took my P2 for its MOT the other day and it failed on brake imbalance. They now have one of those hitec rolling roads that weighs axle loads (708kg front and 772kg rear) and whilst overall eficiency on the front was 84% the n/s brake was 319kgf and o/s 273kgf which is FAIL 
The rear brakes were 107kgf for n/s and 304kgf for o/s which actually balanced up overall which is probably why the brakes seemed OK. The rear brakes actually PASSED as to balance and effort.
The handbrake also failed on poor effort (10%) with only 77&72 Kgf which is strange as the handbarke does use the same system so should have been as good if not identical as the service brake readings - the tester may not have pulled hard enough even though the lever is quite long and had loads of travel left
On removing the front drums although dusty (asbestos!) I noticed th n/s front leading shoe was just down to the rivets. The rest of the linings seemed hardly worn which at only just over 4000 miles they should not be. I cleaned the drums and checked everything was free and replaced the the one worn lining with an odd partly used one I had which although a different colour was good.
The rear axle seal was found to have leaked (again) and soaked the linings so I replaced the seal and put some more dry linings on that side only.
All the drums are good and fre from scores and tramlines too
All the brakes were adjusted and road testing proved them really good and balanced with hardly any free travel.
On the MOT restest all wheels were equal - the front were approx 320Kgf and the rears including handbrake 230. The tester thought they were excellent and could not believe the transformation
What I found strange is why one front shoe should wear so quickly as the compensators should prevent unequal pull.
I also found the original hanbrake test failure odd although clearly the oil soaked linings made up for the imbalance and low effort which did not fully show up on the service brake reading for the rear.
Have any of you had problems with P2 brakes as I think these are usually excellent and far superior and less trouble than hydraulics
The rear brakes were 107kgf for n/s and 304kgf for o/s which actually balanced up overall which is probably why the brakes seemed OK. The rear brakes actually PASSED as to balance and effort.
The handbrake also failed on poor effort (10%) with only 77&72 Kgf which is strange as the handbarke does use the same system so should have been as good if not identical as the service brake readings - the tester may not have pulled hard enough even though the lever is quite long and had loads of travel left
On removing the front drums although dusty (asbestos!) I noticed th n/s front leading shoe was just down to the rivets. The rest of the linings seemed hardly worn which at only just over 4000 miles they should not be. I cleaned the drums and checked everything was free and replaced the the one worn lining with an odd partly used one I had which although a different colour was good.
The rear axle seal was found to have leaked (again) and soaked the linings so I replaced the seal and put some more dry linings on that side only.
All the drums are good and fre from scores and tramlines too
All the brakes were adjusted and road testing proved them really good and balanced with hardly any free travel.
On the MOT restest all wheels were equal - the front were approx 320Kgf and the rears including handbrake 230. The tester thought they were excellent and could not believe the transformation
What I found strange is why one front shoe should wear so quickly as the compensators should prevent unequal pull.
I also found the original hanbrake test failure odd although clearly the oil soaked linings made up for the imbalance and low effort which did not fully show up on the service brake reading for the rear.
Have any of you had problems with P2 brakes as I think these are usually excellent and far superior and less trouble than hydraulics