Brake springs

[Robin7TFour]

i was reading a back issue othe the 'Corvette Restorer' and a fellow was talking about removing the brake springs to get rid of a spongy and/or low pedal. if this a viable fix? has anyone tried to remove the springs?

Robin

 

[brusso]

What springs?

 

[tomtom72]

Hi Robin, That is interesting. I'm not a mechanic, let alone ASE educated. IMHO would not the springs keep the pistons in touch with the pads so there is not too much distance to travel to make contact? I would think that if rotor run out was not up to spec., there would be a problem with the springs causing the pistons to "bounce" cause there are no shock absorbers? That movement would cause fluid areation and give a spongy pedel, so if the springs were not there it would lessen the buble production. If the rotors and the wheel bearings were right there should be no effect to give a spongy pedel, right? I think i'm in over my head, but that seems logical that the springs are there to keep the pads in contact with the rotors so you don't have excessive pedel travel??? tt72

 

[Robin7TFour]

Tom, for someone not an ASE mech,you make some valid points. i read the article a couple of times and still not convinced either. however, most disc brake assemblies do not use a spring inside the brake puck. and they don't have pedal problem. plus, most have some type of floating caliper mounting system.
as i see it, as long as there's not a great deal of runout, the piston should ride almost to the disc.
i will try and copy the section from the article and post it.
a real poser?

Robin

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Removing the springs is a partial fix to address excessive runout of the rotor. Without the springs, the pads will not force themselves back into contact with the rotor. As a result, there may be a reduced tendancy to suck air past the seals. This all agrees with what was suggested by tt72 above.

In return for less air in the system you have to put up with a lower pedal, having the push the pads back into contact with the rotor at the beginning of each braking cycle.

The correct fix is to eliminate the rotor runout.

 

[brusso]

What springs?

Oh, ok the spring inside the caliper. Now I get it.

 

[tomtom72]

Hi guys, Thanks Robin for the compliment. My ASE Mechanic friend who taught me would say I learned a few things working on my 72. I was thinking about the "floating caliper" vs fixed(vette)calipers, It seems a floater is harder to move by hand and I would think once it took-up the pad wear it would tend to remain there until the wear made it move again. Vette calipers, being fixed, maybe chevy thought the springs were a good idea to take up the wear. I don't remember exactly but the first cars I ever saw with Discs were E-type Jags and they had fixed calipers also I think. What I mean is that floaters were after fixed, weren't they? I can remember rebuilding my calipers and noting how easy it was to push the pucks in with my finger(till my friend yelled at me to stop playing & get on with it). He explained it to me the way I wrote it up above, and added how old the design was until he tested the car with restored brakes....then he changed his tune! He still said they could have upped the technology. I know for sure that if the bearings and rotors at both ends are right, there is not anything much better than those old big lumps. With F70-15 polyglass 72 owners' man said panic stop from 60mph was 160 feet, further Road & Track said the vettes(old style calipers) had the highest swept pad area/ton of veh. wt. yielding superrior stopping power. tt72