The New Soft Brake Pedal Thread.

[Abo Bob]

Ok we are talking in 3 different threads now about soft brake pedals.

What makes them soft?

What can be done?

We are not talking about brakes that don't work. It's just that doughy feel you get at the start of the brake pedal travel. I actually thought mine were completely stuffed when I upgraded my master cylinder but it seems that lots of Skylines have mushy pedals at the start of travel then get hard further down.

How about you? How does your pedal feel? How far does it go before you get the hard part if you have the mushy part as well? What rotors/pads/master cylinder? How recently was the system bled? I want to get an idea of what is normal.

[nsm034]

mine are mushy as. bled 3 times + new fluid + new bendix ultimates x4 + front discs machined = still mushy

[Kinks]

don't know whether old brake lines would make a difference, given that they're rubber..

I have heard from people who have done it that a master cylinder stopper makes an enormous difference to brake pedal feel. not sure if that's at the start of the travel or just for hard braking though, the car was being tracked.

[Sambo33]

my brakes feel kind of average & not very responsive. ive got no ABS and its almost impossible to lock the brakes up!

[Duncan]

well you can get a firm pedal on a GTR, mine is brilliant.

Setup is as follows:

n1 brembo calipers front

standard calipers rear

hawk black pads all round

new rubber brake lines

standard master cylinder

regularly bled fluid.

Some things I would suggest:

* New brake lines.....15yo rubber is terrible. I had to put new rubber lines on for targa and they are excellent. I guess braided might be better but why pay extra?

* Regular fluid bleed

* Master Cylinder stopper (I cant do this but would love to, firewall flexes up to 2cm)

* some pads like bendix ultimate have a paper backing to the pad - you can remove this for extra feel.

If all fails try a new master cylinder or at least new seals. Also rebuild the pistons in the caliper.

[WazR32GTSt]

my brakes don't feel soft at all...

my setup, which i had done about a month ago, is:

- stock rotors and calipers

- bendix ultiamtes

- motul fluid

- master cylinder brace ($65 from ebay!)

i can highly recommend a master cylinder brace / brace cylinder stopper

link for my BCS: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-Skyline-BNR3...1QQcmdZViewItem

R33 ones are only $50 from that seller: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-Skyline-R33-...1QQcmdZViewItem

[Kennedy]

Brace stopper solved my mushiness

[discopotato03]

Yep , pedal a little soft initially on late 96 S2 R33 GTS25T - no ABS .

Does anyone sell the Master brace in Sydney ?

Cheers A .

[MANWHORE]

BRace only helps with softness when you press the pedal down. The intial softness is not related to the brace, because the firewall hasn't flexed yet.

Also forgot to add, that I have changed the rubber lines. It didn't do anything which means that the old lines were fine.

That's interesting about the rotor and pad thickness. My pads are brand new, but the rotors are still the stock ones.

How thick are they meant to be new?

Edited October 3, 2006 by MANWHORE

[MANWHORE]

What I really want to know is how to bleed the ABS on r33s and r34s.

I know how to bleed the other lines, but I haven't yet managed to bleed the ABS unit itself. It doesnt' appear to have the bleed nipples like on the R ugly poo (32) gtrs.

[Duncan]

Does anyone sell the Master brace in Sydney ?

UAS do a good price on combined strut brace and master stopper

[tdr]

ok,

well i have an r32 gtr, and my brake pedal for normal driving is fine, very nice and firm, but when i take it on the track and over say 140kph, there is a spongy point

when i start breaking and then it goes hard. So do you think that would be the firewall flexing or brake lines??

[Abo Bob]

That one sounds like you need to bleed the brakes.

[tdr]

sorry should of added, brakes bled, new fluid motul, new pads all round, new disks on front, rear disks machined

[Abo Bob]

Brake lines then I guess. As the heat gets into the system from the heavier braking the lines axpand and flex a little.

I think with brakes you almost automatically bleed them if you have problems because that eliminates the cheapest issue.

[Jdfnq]

Ok we are talking in 3 different threads now about soft brake pedals.

What makes them soft?

What can be done?

We are not talking about brakes that don't work. It's just that doughy feel you get at the start of the brake pedal travel. I actually thought mine were completely stuffed when I upgraded my master cylinder but it seems that lots of Skylines have mushy pedals at the start of travel then get hard further down.

How about you? How does your pedal feel? How far does it go before you get the hard part if you have the mushy part as well? What rotors/pads/master cylinder? How recently was the system bled? I want to get an idea of what is normal.

i have a series 2 R33 and the brakes are awesome.... No mushiness at all...... the only thing that i have noticed is that if the brakes are really cold the first time you use them (like on hwy or similar) they don't grab quite as well..... However they work just fine after that initiial touch.... Great brakes actually, they pulled me up in a hurry to avoid a wallaby

[WazR32GTSt]

Does anyone sell the Master brace in Sydney ?

R32 master brace $65: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-Skyline-BNR3...1QQcmdZViewItem

R33 master brace $50: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Nissan-Skyline-R33-...1QQcmdZViewItem

delivered to your door in a week...

for less than half the price i don't see the problem....

apparently they have a warehouse with stock in melbourne

if they are out of stock it comes from hong kong

Warren.

[Abo Bob]

i have a series 2 R33 and the brakes are awesome.... No mushiness at all...... the only thing that i have noticed is that if the brakes are really cold the first time you use them (like on hwy or similar) they don't grab quite as well..... However they work just fine after that initiial touch.... Great brakes actually, they pulled me up in a hurry to avoid a wallaby

What pads?

[Abo Bob]

Update.

I installed some Ferrodo DS2500 pads all round and the pedal feels much firmer now. I would say I have to push harder on the pedal than I used to but I think that is master cylinder related.

[hanyou]

i wish i cud bleed my front brakes, but the bolt for it is completely rounded (from import) didnt even get a chance to do them once.