Brakes

A typical brake system consists of drum brakes or disks in the rear and disk brakes in the front. These are connected by a series of hoses and tubes. Everyone knows that to use the brakes in their car, you press your foot on to the brake pedal. When you press the pedal you are pushing against a plunger in the master cylinder. This action forces up to 6.7kN of pressure to push brake fluid through the series of hoses and tubes towards the braking units in each of the cars wheels. The oil arrives at its destination with the same pressure as it started with. This is because brake fluid is a liquid and so can be pushed around the twist and turns in the hoses and tubes. It is extremely important that the brake fluid is pure liquid and does not contain any air bubbles. Air bubbles can cause a spongy feeling when you press the brake pedal. This can lead to reduced braking efficiency. If you suspect that your brake system has air in it, you will need to bleed your system.

Different Types Of Braided Hoses

There is a lot of flex in the braking system in your car, including the pedal and the caliper. As stated above, your car's braking system includes hoses. These hoses are the most flexible part of your braking system, which means the pressure exerted on them causes the hoses to expand. Unfortunately, this expansion weakens the braking system.You lose energy which was meant for the slave cylinders. To be able to reduce this energy loss you can upgrade your braking system. One of the least expensive and easiest ways of upgrading your braking system is to change your standard hoses to braided hoses. There are two types of hoses: Nylon Braided Hoses and Stainless Steel Braided Hoses.

Nylon braided hoses are made from synthetic rubber with nylon braiding.Nylon Braided Hoses can be up to 40% lighter than Stainless Steel Braided Hoses. Nylon braiding gives the hose flexibility and reduces expansion and allows the hose to withstand high pressure. However, even with Nylon Braided Hoses, there is still some expansion within the hoses.

Stainless Steel Braided Hoses greatly reduce the amount of expansion occurring within the hose. This means you will have greater pedal response and you will also see shorter braking distances.If you leave rubber hoses in your car too long, you may find that your hoses swell up. The master cylinder in your car will still be able to force brake fluid through the hoses, but once it has gone through, the fluid will be unable to return once you release the break. This can result in brake lock, which can be very dangerous. Stainless Steel Hoses reduce the chance of swelling in your hoses. You must note, however, that even though Stainless Steel Braided Hoses have greater flexibility in that they can wriggle around, they are not flexible in that they stretch.You should also note that if you decide to change from rubber hoses to Stainless Steel Braided ones, you will need to ensure you use the correct length for your car. If the steel hose is too short to withstand full suspension travel, one end of the fittings may come off, whereas rubber hoses can withstand more strain.

Advantages Of Aftermarket Brakes

Your cars standard brakes are normally adequate for the standard power of your car. However,if you're planning an increase in engine power its extremely worthwhile to up grade your brakes. Braking performance decreases as the pads and discs get too hot, but with aftermarket brakes this is rarely a problem. You will never regret an upgrade of brakes as brakes are vital to your safety. Upgrades come in the form of pads, discs or larger calipers. Upgrading pads is normally the fairly cheap option and is worthwhile if they were in need of changing. Discs are slightly more expensive but just as worthwhile. They come in various designs with vents and grooves to help reduce heat build up. Calipers are available in larger versions but this is always quite an expensive modification. It is advised to upgrade your calipers if horse power is increased as greater braking performance will be required. You can also change your standard brake hoses for stainless steel braided ones which offer a lot less flex and have a higher boiling point brake fluid. This can provide a huge difference to your cars braking, again a worthwhile modification.