clubby2084 Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) Hope one of you can help me out here. I bought a PBR Performance brake upgrade kit for my VS Clubsport a while ago and, if I'm honest, it's SH*T!. Standard brakes on my car was what you would normally find on a V8 Commodore (SS and the like). The kit has twin piston front calipers with 330mm slotted vented fronts, and 280mm slotted vented rear (for ABS). Similar to what you'd find on a VT V8 onwards. The brake pedal doesn't feel resposive. There's no initial "bite" to the brakes. The only way I can decribe it, is it feels like the brakes are hot and they've faded. (I'm sure some of you here would know the feeling of faded brakes!?). It can be a bit wild in traffic when you push the brake pedal and the car just keeps going. There's been a few times where I've almost inhaled the seat cover during some butt clenching moments. I replaced the Master Cylinder and booster (with genuine GMH/PBR part suitable for GTS brakes at genuine HSV prices). No difference. Short of going back to the standard brakes, there's got to be something I can do?. Forget contacting PBR, their $2500 richer and don't respond to emails. Suggestions (that don't include burning, tourching or defecting to Ford) Edited March 16, 2012 by clubby2084 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coln72 Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) This might sound silly, but have you bled the brakes properly? Have you degreased the discs as they usually have a film of oil on them to stop them rusting? Are they fitted with performance pads that don't work well below a certain temp? Take it out to a quiet piece of road and see if doing a few emergency stops helps things. Getting the brakes nice and hot a few times might help a bit. And yes, i am old enough to know what brake fade is :yes: and it used to scare the shit out of me as it always occured on the same corner on my favourite piece of mountain road. The one without the protective railing to stop me going over the cliff. That was a bum puckering moment the first couple of times it happened. Anyway, I though crap brakes were a standard Commodore thing :hmm: Edited March 16, 2012 by coln72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 I'll check with webers4x48 today. He did VT(GTS)upgrade on his VN Calais, and had a similar problem. Think it was an easy fix, needed a longer push rod for the master. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philbey Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Yeh definitely sounds like something isn't quite functioning correctly. Does the master cylinder rod have adjustment where it connects to the pedal, sometimes you need to wind that out to get it set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickn5k Posted March 17, 2012 Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) I'll check with webers4x48 today. He did VT(GTS)upgrade on his VN Calais, and had a similar problem. Think it was an easy fix, needed a longer push rod for the master. Ok I may have been slightly wrong. He did VE upgrade on the Calais. The VT onward caliper has bigger pistons than the VE ones which are about the same surface dia as the single piston caliper so all was fine with the calais. But he has a quad webered 308 VB that has the earlier calipers on it and he had to use the VT master cylinder and a VS V6 plastic booster to make it work. The early masters don't have the check/relief valve to keep the fluid volume these huge calipers require. Sorry to say but it looks like you'll need to change master and booster!!! Edited March 17, 2012 by kickn5k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clubby2084 Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 This might sound silly, but have you bled the brakes properly? Have you degreased the discs as they usually have a film of oil on them to stop them rusting? Are they fitted with performance pads that don't work well below a certain temp? Take it out to a quiet piece of road and see if doing a few emergency stops helps things. Getting the brakes nice and hot a few times might help a bit. Anyway, I though crap brakes were a standard Commodore thing :hmm: Yeah the brakes have been bled correctly (couple of times to be sure), and I know all about the oil film over the discs. Not such silly questions. The stories I've heard. Your sort of onto something about the heat range of the pads. Yes, after a few big hits they do work better but, still not as good as they should. It is still impossible to activate the ABS (unless the road is wet). Once they cool off their back to crap. And yes Commodore brakes are SH*T. Standard, I would get just one good hit of the brakes then they'd go away. I learnt a expensive lesson at QLD Raceway about Commodore brakes. :blush: Yeh definitely sounds like something isn't quite functioning correctly. Does the master cylinder rod have adjustment where it connects to the pedal, sometimes you need to wind that out to get it set. Good question!. I'll have to look into that. Wouldn't it be nice if it was that easy... :bash: Sorry to say but it looks like you'll need to change master and booster!!! Noooo. I just changed those. I looked into a VT unit. But was told it takes modifications to the firewall to make them fit :hmm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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