Sounds good to me cheers, not sure when i'll get it done yet tho well busy with dads van atm did 5 hrs on it tonight after work and didn't get in till after 11 (not complaining, it's good) on that note Russ love your new motto

I wonder if we cane it like we did your car, reckon we could get it finished next weekend?

At the risk of saying something very silly, if the MOT failed on rear brake balance, considering how little the rear brakes have to do in order to pass would one not be better off adding some brake fluid to the drum on the good side to bring its efficiency down a bit?

So that's why we didn't see you at HillHoppers...

Maybe It's slow and steady and learn as we go til you arrive



Oh yeah, second tuesday, how was it?

Rear brakes on A models are not designed to brake the car as such. The little they do is to steer the car under braking. I would clean the LHM away and try MOT unless the pistons inside the cylinders are stuck or brake lining gone.

Not just silly, but dangerous, in my opinion...

From watching hundreds of MOT tests over the years, typical braking effort available from 'standard' A series brakes in good condition seems to be around 150kg on each front wheel and 100kg for each rear. although these figures can often be higher.
When my old Dyane was tested recently, the front brakes reached 170 kg on both sides and 110kg on the rears, which is probably just as well considering how much weight it's asked to drag around on the trailer.

If the rear brakes aren't working as well as they should, because of rusted up lower pivots, sticky wheel cylinders or brake fluid contamination, extra pressure will be needed on the brake pedal for a given level of deceleration.
In effect, this means that the front brakes are having to provide a higher percentage of the total braking effort than that for which they were designed.

Is it worth mentioning the care which Citroen took to match braking effort available from the rear brakes to the load capacity of individual models?
The standard rear cylinder on cars with LHM brakes is 16mm diameter, which was increased to 17.5mm on Ami Estates and Acadianes, with the Acadiane having a brake limiter valve to restrict the rear braking effort if the van was unladen.
Ami Supers had even larger diameter rear cylinders, at 19mm, to match their larger diameter front brakes.
Note that the increase in diameter from 16 to 17.5mm gives a 20% increase in rear braking effort, with the 19mm version producing 40% more.

As a final note, shoes or pads which have been contaminated with brake fluid, oil or grease not only have drastically reduced efficiency, but also have a tendency to grab.

ken

Super estates also had that proportioning valve, as did Meharis.

Meharis - especially - damn well need it...
<memories of the back end locking up on a damp roundabout when a truck pulled out in front of me>

Adrian,
as you know, I do my best to avoid working on Ami Supers, so wasn't too sure what their setup might be.
Mind you, 4x4 Meharis did have a 'limiteur de freinage' for the rear brakes, which might have suited your driving style quite well...

ken

Ya Ken most things I do or write about is either silly, dangerous or outright wrong. I wonder how I survive fxing cars everyday
Maybe I need to leave my workshop and travel to your place and work under your wing. That should sort me out
Cheers
Viking bastard