This may be of interest to some of you who notice that the brake pedal
must be pushed farther down than "normal" after turning a sharp corner,
or some type of spirited driving. This blurb was prompted by a letter
written by Robert Gannon, a few months ago, wondering about this. (He
noticed it while slaloming his TR, or something close to that.)
Because our Triumphs are a little on the light side, the wt. reduction
must come from many places, the way I figure it. I believe that the
front wheel spindle must flex under load, as in cornering manuevers,
taking the attached brake disc with it. In doing so, it pushes the disc
pads away from the disc, and the next time the brakes are applied, the
pads must go farther to make contact. Thus the drop in pedal. This
should only happen once, as normal run-out of the disc keeps the pads
very close to it.
I have found that keeping the wheel bearings snug keeps the lateral
movement of the disc somewhat in check. By snug, I mean tighter than
what some manuals call for.... "Using 5 lb. of torque then back off to
the next flat" ...leaves too much play in these bearings, in my opinion.
Each "flat" or possible hole to replace the cotter pin represents about
.008 on a 1/2"X20 stud.
When the bearings and races are new, or near new, I like to load them up
with 30lb. of torque, then back off to the next flat. (That goofy felt
seal absorbs a lot of this pre-load) This will help keep the brake
pedal closer to the top, after cornering...
As always, I welcome any points overlooked.
Dick Taylor
'73
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