DOES ANYONE ARC BRAKE SHOES

[go-vee-or-go-home]

I have heard of a couple of the local guys here talking about having the brake shoes arced to the drums. Is this something that is done by most people when installing new brakes on a formula vee.

[kidkoh]

when they say that they are arcing, they are not talking about arc welding they are talking about getting the arch of the shoe to match the arch of the drum. everybody has to do this when they get new brake shoes but you will hear a few diffrent ways to do this. some will tell you to go fast and slam on the brakes hard, some will say to keep your foot on the brakes during the warm up lap. I would go by the recomendation of the company wich will also change by who you buy from. I hope this helps kevin

[go-vee-or-go-home]

thanks kevin, there is a company in town that will do it , wondering if it is better to take them in and have them done or if your ideas of doing them while driving if fine , i will check with the supplier for their recomendations

[FV80]

Colin,
Remember, if you take them somewhere for arcing, you'll have to take the DRUMs too. *ALL* of them or you are wasting your time. (and they have to be matched, shoes for drum and not mixed up). When I first started racing, I did that ... but to me it seemed 'excessive'. I later simply placed the new shoes in each drum and visually determined if the mismatch was worth doing anything about. If so, then I took a hand grinder and ground a bit on the approprate part of the shoe(s) until it was 'pretty close'. I also, on occasion tried doing nothing to the new shoes. I was NEVER able to tell a definite difference on the track.

So I don't waste my time doing it any more .
Steve

[go-vee-or-go-home]

Thanks. I talked to sr racing wher ei bought them they suggest with propper break in io should be fine, and break in instructions come wioth the box. I will visually instect the shoes agianst the drums to make sure they are not to far off and match shoes to best fitting drum. They get shipped today, will have them installed and ready to go this week

[brian]

Carbotech shoes come in two sizes; standard and oversize. If your drums have been turned a few times, the oversize are called for. If the drums are new, standards will be used. Either way, I never put new shoes in a drum without arching. The high friction shoes like Carbotech will never flex or wear into the drums. The shoe wear will be lopsided and they will never stop as well as a properly fit shoe.

Place the new shoe in the drum and press down on one end, if the other end is more than say .020 or .040 off the drum, get the shoe arched. If you have no clearence, look for daylight in the middle of the shoe, it may be too big for your drum. You may have to hand grind a shoe lIke Steve says since many shops no longer arch shoes. Grinding is too crude for me but you may have no choice. After cutting the shoes, always taper the ends towards the shoe and it will prevent grabbing. It"s not healthy to create a lot of dust from any brake shoe, so wear a face mask anytime you are working with dusty brakes.

Regardless of the type of shoe, they should be rotated top to bottom every two weekends. The leading shoe will always wear more quickly and you can extend the life of your shoes with rotation.

[go-vee-or-go-home]

Thanks Brian I will take a look at everything you mentioned

[brian]

You're welcome Colin. I wrote a brake primer and if anyone wants a copy, send me your email address and I'll forward a copy to you.