Rich,
ATTA BOY RICH!! RIGHT ON!!
I agree emphatically with almost everything you said Rich. Granted, you
probably never hit the brakes going 130+ mph, but under most circumstances
they can be made to work pretty well.
Regarding REPCO, they're out of business, so we need to find an equivalent
replacement. I think some of the newer non-organic, non-asbestos pads are
pretty good too. I'm still trying to find the best compromise between
all-out racing pads (e.g., like Steve is using) and something that lasts
for a while and doesn't chew up your rotors too bad.
Regarding your rears locking up before the fronts; this is not good. Tends
to make the car go end-for-end. It is good to have them close though. I had
this problem once and discovered I'd installed the shoes backwards. (You
won't find me admitting to making mistakes very often though; don't need to
with guys like Laifman around.)
Also, what's this about "the Alpine was lighter, and may have had better
brake cooling (more cool air around them)". What is the weight difference?
Maybe 10% heavier? And aren't the Alpine and Tiger brakes identical?
Still hopin' for a miracle from the Padres in San Diego,
Bob
At 10:47 AM 10/20/98 -0700, Rich Atherton wrote:
> I have read all of these posts about the brake problems, but they just
>seem strange to me. I have always felt that My Alpine (65 Series IV) had
>Excellent brakes. Very firm feel, great feed back, and the only down point
>was the rapid wear of the REPCO Shoes I used in the rear. I was always able
>to lock the brakes. In hard braking the rears would lock just before the
>fronts would (with a bit of added pressure). It was an excellent balance.
>I never experienced any real fade and I drove the car hard. with maybe 40
>hp, I managed to use up an entire set of BF Goodrich BR60x13 radial T/A's in
>about 8,000 miles. Hard Turns, Hard braking, and lackluster acceleration
>(2 out of 3 aint bad !). I did use the REPCO semi metallic pads and shoes,
>and these were among the very best available at the time. The ONLY thing I
>would have changed was the placement of the parking break handle. Can't
>recall how many ASS bruises I got from that dam thing. Because the rears
>wore at a fast rate, I used to Parking brake handle to keep the brakes right
>where I wanted them. I'd roll the car back and forth and adjust the handle
>until the rears dragged. hit the brakes a couple of times, and roll it some
>more. Eventually getting the bake handle a click or two below the point
>where the rears would drag. Brakes were right at the top of the pedal, very
>little travel required for anything....It would last about a month before I
>had to underneath the car and adjust the brakes there with the handle all
>the way down again...
>
> So the problems you Tiger owners talk about, I never experienced.
>Granted the Alpine was lighter, and may have had better brake cooling (more
>cool air around them), but I don't think the difference would be enough to
>make the brakes bad...
>
> Maybe someone should see if there are any NOS REPCO pads still kicking
>around.. We used them in my Brothers Fiat 1200 convertible, and my dads Jag,
>It still has them!
>
> Has anyone checked to see if there are any other front hubs/disks that
>would work on the Alpine? Didn't Volvo use the same front calipers?
>Perhaps their hub, and disk assembly would fit on the Tiger/Alpine
>spindles....
>
>Rich
>
Robert L. Palmer
Dept. of AMES, Univ. of Calif., San Diego
rpalmer@ames.ucsd.edu
rpalmer@cts.com
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