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MG MGA - locking brakes

I have two identical problems on two cars. A '57 A and a '50 Riley. I have fitted a booster to both cars, with much improved pedal pressure and a sharp response. But the front wheels lock on both cars under hard braking. THEY ALSO DID THIS BEFORE THE BOOSTER WAS FITTED. I would have thought with weight transfer the opposite would would be the case as a lot of cars, old and new, have a componsater system to prevent REAR wheel lock up.The Riley has rods for the rear brakes and I guess I could add more leverage to the rears. Any suggestions for the A ? Is front bias standard equippment ? Thanks Sean
P.S. Both cars have near new tires.
S Sherry

I know nothing about the Riley. For the MGA, maybe the first thing is check to see if the rear hydraulic brakes actually work.
Barney Gaylord

Yes Barney the rear brakes are fine. the total system was rebuilt a while ago. My question is should not the rears lock up first ? Sean
S Sherry

S.Sherry.

On the Riley --does it have four wheel hydraulics? The last Riley that I worked on had a strange set up of both mechanical and hydraulic.
The master cylinder was hung loosly with the rod from the brake pedal pulling it to apply hydraulics and the balance of the master would pull the rods for the rear brakes.
They did work well after I balanced them.
Sandy
SANDY SANDERS

If you ever lock up any of the wheels you are standing on the pedal too hard. When it does happen, it has been my experience that the fronts will lock up first, with either drum brakes or disc brakes. Just as well, as the front brakes do most of the work in a hard stop. If the rear ones locked up first you would have a tendency to ease off the pedal force, in which case the stopping distance would be longer.

Some people have installed late model MGB rear brakes on MGA and one size larger slave cylinder on the back (from the BGT). Big mistake. Result is premature lockup of the rear wheels with no improvement in stopping distance.
Barney Gaylord

Thanks Barney, now I know what to expect. With a booster fitted the brakes are very good. Maybe I was used to a much higher pedel pressure to pullup...Sean

P.S. THe Riley, built at Abbingdon, has hyd. front and rod rears, also has excellent brakes with a booster fitted to lower pedal pressure. So it seems all is well.
S Sherry

This thread was discussed between 18/07/2010 and 21/07/2010

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