<VV> Brakes pulling

[John O'Shea]

In Washington, D.C., the city was using a machine like that for yearly 
inspections back in the early 1950s.  As I recall no adjustments were 
allowed though.  It was a pass or fail.  If the car failed a red sticker was 
glued on the windshield and the car had to be towed away from the inspection 
station.  Back then I think there were only three or four inspection 
stations in the city.  Perhaps they're gone now or Jim in Group Corvair 
would probably know about it.

Jack
Vegas Vairs


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Simpson via VirtualVairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
To: "Virtual Vairs" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Friday, November 06, 2015 8:05 AM
Subject: Re: <VV> Brakes pulling


> While this isn't a direct answer to the question, I recently watched an
> episode of a British car show "Wheeler Dealers".  In this episode they
> purchased a '64 Corvette in California, shipped it to the UK, did some
> basic refurbishment and sold it off at a considerable profit.
>
> Part of the refurbishment was attending to the brakes.  The '64 Corvette
> had drum brakes all around and they'd been rebuilt by the previous owner.
> But the braking in the show's words was "scary".  It turned out that there
> wasn't any problem with parts, it was all in the adjustment.
>
> The really interesting part was that they used the British MOT testing to
> identify the problem.  (MOT is Ministry of Transportation -- they have a
> periodic (annual?) inspection requirement for cars that seems considerably
> more comprehensive than any I've seen in the US.)  Part of the testing is
> using a brake force measurement machine.  It's basically a roller test of
> the front or rear wheels where they can measure how much braking force 
> each
> wheel is producing.  The machine turns rollers under the wheels and
> measures how much drag the wheel produces when you apply the brakes.  It
> can do individual wheels or compare right and left pairs.
>
> Initially the front wheels were something like 60 or 70% different in 
> their
> braking force.  (The British MOT spec is not more than 25% if I recall
> correctly.)  After doing basic adjustment, they got the difference down to
> about 10% and cured the problem.
>
> I've never heard of a brake force testing machine before.  Has anyone out
> there in VV land heard or seen one?  Sounds like a great machine, but way
> too expensive for any individual.
>
> Jim Simpson
> Group Corvair