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Hi everyone,

Looking for opinions on a couple of things, both front brake related.

First, I'm a little concerned about the amount of brake dust that builds up on the off side front wheel, or rather I'm more concerned by the lack of dust on the near side. Has anyone else come across this before and if so what's it likely to be indicating?

Second issue relates to the calipers and how they are secured. I jacked the front of the car up last week to check out the steering rack (MOT man said it was slightly worn and it turns out he's correct). While I was there generally yanking the wheels about I noticed that there appears to be some movement of the calipers themselves. Further investigation and reference to the Haynes manual and it looks like there are a couple of bolts (or at the very least the bolt heads) missing. Photo attached shows the location of one of these missing/damaged bolts in the red circle.

Can anyone confirm if I should be looking at bolts (with heads) on this part of the caliper as my manual seems to suggest?

A bit of background on the car may help - it's a mk2 and was completely rebuilt 3 yrs/4500 miles ago at which time it had reconditioned calipers, braided hoses etc. The car has a servo and the brakes work (although this is my first GT6 so I have no frame of reference to know if they're as good as they could be).

Many thanks in advance,

Glyn

Firstly, the brakes.

You say it had an MOT last week, so the brake should work, however, does the car pull to one side when braking (offside)? If not then it could be different pad material in each side - bad, if you changed them last time, you will know that this cannot be the case.

Now bolts.

The steering arm and backplate is secured with four bolts, however only one has a nut on the backside, I assume triumph had problems with the steering arm when they designed it and this was a quick and cheap fix, that or it was the best way.

Hope this helps

Nathan

Hi Nathan,

The MOT was actually a couple of months ago and it passed but the tester told me that the rack had a little bit of play (not enough to fail me though). As for the pads I didn't change them last (I bought the car in May this year).

I didn't do anything about the rack at the time of the MOT and I've been driving the car since but now summer's pretty much gone I plan to start addressing a couple of things I've found. To date the brakes have been working without any noticable pulling, however, the thing that prompted me to start looking around properly was a fairly rapid stop from 70+mph on a motorway when I found myself steering the car to stay in a straight line.

I'll have to refer to the diagram in the manual again re the bolts as I can't picture it now but I think I see what you're saying.

Thanks

Glyn

I would definitely pull the pads out and compare them side to side, don't get the four mixed up when you put them back though! Look for any signs of glazing on the pads or roughness on the discs to see how hard each side is working. It's really hard to diagnose this sort of stuff from a distance, but if in any doubt take it to a specialist. The pulling under braking could be a number of things, brakes, bushes, suspension geometery(triumph front suspension is very adjustable). Have a good look round for obviously worn bushes etc. However considering your lack of dust it would suggest a siezed caliper. This can be tested by removing the pads and having a willing accomplice gently press on the brakes to check that both pistons move, not too much though you don't want them popping out!

Jonathan, the bolts for the caliper carrier come through from the wheel side of the assembly, and screw directly into the vertical link, with the exception of the one bolt with a nut as shown, I've just looked at a friends vitesse in the workshop (see my thread on vitesse forum) to make sure and everything looks hunky dory in terms of bolt placement. From the steering arm, I assume we are looking at the offside assembly in your photo Glyn?

Hope this helps

Nathan

Glynne, the calipers are held onto the vert link by a caliper carrier, 4 bolts each if i remember right, you are missing some, strip the lot and rebuild correctly

you might also discover you need to chasnge the calipers

binman

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