my comments at the bottom. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandwich Maker" <adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 7:25 PM Subject: Re: [Amc-list] Brake Balance > " From: David Crooks <david.crooks@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > " > " I got to ask, why the fronts first? > " I'd rather hang the tail out then loose steering control.... > " > " -- > " Mark, > " I'm afraid you're the exception to the rule! > " Most people prefer the under steer of locking the front's first, > " rather than unexpectedly spinning during hard braking. Part of this > " may be past experience, as all the car companies bias the brakes > " 5-10% towards the front, but in my experience most people prefer to > " slide in a straight line, rather than doing a 180.... > > that's because your average appliance driver's brain locks up before > the brakes do. most of these people would really be happier with a > star trek transporter for getting around, never mind it kills you > every time you use it. > > tires can't brake and steer to the limit at the same time; maximum > traction is a product of the two. if you modulate the brakes around > the rear-lockup threshold and they lock first, you'll always have > steering margin. > > nb. when you're about to hit something large and immovable, doing a > 180 first could significantly reduce your injury chances. think about > it. > ________________________________________________________________________ > Andrew Hay the genius nature > internet rambler is to see what all have seen > adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and think what none thought > _______________________________________________ Dunno about all the rest of you guys but I'm on the side of the front lock up first. The car stays straight. I used to set up the brakes on my Formula Fords using a torque wrench. The fronts would lock up with about 5ft lbs. less than the rear. In dry conditions that was the preference. In a wet race we used to set the bias more toward the rear. The car was more stable that way in the wet. These are the safe methods and worked very well under racing conditions. Ask your local road racer. Car control is what road racing is all about. Road racing more mimics real road conditions than any other form of motor sport. I'm not the only one that used this method of brake balance. Remember the idiot on Speed that compared muscle cars to each other?? Remember how poorly the AMX did?? It slewed sideways pretty bad in the braking test. The guy just laughed and said yeah typical junk from AMC. It was terribly demeaning and uncalled for, but that's a typical GM guy..... Anyway I would guess that the owner of that AMX was pretty embarrassed after he realized it was his fault, because the brakes weren't set up correctly...... Armand _______________________________________________ Amc-list mailing list Amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.amc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/amc-list