Fellow Scions,
A recent thread on the procedure for bleeding brakes brought
back something that I think about every time I do this, but
rarely remember to ask anyone about. The following
discussion will use the terms left and right, where left is
the drivers side (for those of us on the American side of
the pond). This discussion also is only applicable for
left-hand drive cars.
We are supposed to start the bleeding process with the wheel
furthest from the master cylinder. But which wheel is
really furthest? Physically, of course, it is the right
rear. But these cars were designed to be built as right
hand drive, and so the brake lines to the rear of the car
are on the RIGHT side, and a pipe goes from the master
cylinder across to the right side, hooks into the pipe to
the rear, and, at the rear, a short pipe leads to the right
wheel, and a longer pipe leads to the left wheel.
Therefore, in terms of pipe length (or "pipically", rather
that physically) the rear LEFT wheel is furthest from the
master cylinder, and should be bled first. Actually, now
that I think about it, the CLOSEST wheel "pipically" may the
front right. I'm not sure of the layout of the pipes in the
front of the car. Does a spur lead from near the master
cylinder to the front left, or does the pipe cross to the
right side, and this another pipe lead all the way back to
the left wheel? The point is, when bleeding brakes, I think
we need to look at the layout of the brake pipes and order
the wheels according the amount of pipe from the master
cylinder, then bleed from longest to shortest.
Is this correct? Is this common knowledge? Any comments
would be appreciated.
Warren Allen
Winston-Salem, NC
1960 TR-3
|