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Re: GT-6/Spitfire brakes

To: Joe Curry <spitlist@gte.net>, triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: GT-6/Spitfire brakes
From: "Jim Muller" <jimmuller@pop.mail.rcn.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 12:47:40 -0400
Organization: Southern Rail
Joe Curry wrote:

> Someone (who is supposed to know these things) once told me that if you
> use a smaller wheel (or slave) cylinder, you will actually get a higher
> pressure than if you use a larger one.

The person who told you got it backwards.  Basic hydraulics says that the 
force exerted by the slave cylinder is the pressure in the fluid times the 
area of its piston.  The pressure in the fluid comes from the master 
cylinder, and is the force exerted on the piston divided by the master 
cylinder's area.  Inotherwords, a smaller master cylinder means greater 
pressure, but a smaller slave cylinder means less force at the business end.

The tradeoff is that the ratio of forces is inverse to the ratio of 
displacements.  A small master cylinder means your pedal moves further; a 
smaller slave cylinder means your pedal moves less.  This result is because 
the volume moved at one end must equal the volume moved at the other.


Jim Muller
jimmuller@pop.rcn.com
'80 Spitfire (Percy)

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