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Gary,
My problems with the Matco brakes were probably due to a number of things. The first set failed because the piston jammed in the caliper and did not retract. This allowed the brakes to drag and overheat. The pads died very quickly and it even melted the brake line, nylon tube. I think the main problem is in how they mount on the Lancair. Because they grip from the inside of the disk rather than the outside the piston is not centered on the pad. With the uneven pressure the pad wears at an angle. This not only reduces the brake pressure but will sometimes cause the piston to jam in the caliper.
I believe the second set failed because the damage caused by the first failure was not picked up. The way the brakes are designed the disk is mounted on the wheel like a hubcap with a hole in the center You cannot see the inner disk surface unless the disk is removed. When I did remove the disks both wheels had very heavy scoring on the hidden surface. That in combination with the non centerd piston did not allow enough brake pressure to hold the plane at RPMs above 1600 to 1700.
So far the new brakes have solved the holding problem and do not require a lot of pedel pressure. The braking action on roll out is also much improved. And finally when I do get around to changing the pads I will not have to remove the wheels.
I don't know what kind of brakes the ES has but if they are anything like the original matco's take a real good look at how the caliper and disk line up.
Ray Gardner
In a message dated 11/15/03 7:37:08 AM Central Standard Time, glcasey@adelphia.net writes:
Right, Ray, and that brings up a question: I have read of similar
complaints, basically of insufficient brake torque available with a
reasonable pedal force - nothing to do with brake thermal capacity. This
could be from a degradation of friction coefficient for whatever reason or
inadequate pressure. I'm tempted to change the master cylinder geometry to
reduce pedal force on my ES. Anyone done that? Is it necessary?
Desirable? My judgment is that you should always be able to lock up the
wheels without superhuman effort.
Gary Casey
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