Morris Minor Owners Club

I think the set up is ok on my 71 traveller as standard, but the engine is standard and I don't go much over 60.
I would definatly upgrade the brakes if I changed the engine to 1275.

yes i agree the brakes were and are adequate, if all drivers drove the way we used to, but today they don`t, so you have to put up with the ar@@holes who just have to get in front then brake suddenly.
so i feel we have to have our moggies to keep up and stop in line with modern traffic

Trouble nowadays, is,that its not how suitable your brakes are to your own vehicle and driving pace, its the fact that loads of modern cars run very effective brakes or ABS. The stopping distances for them are far shorter than those of the standard minor.
I would suggest that the brakes locking up at the rear on the standard minor was largley due to them being incorrectly adjusted.

The rears were certainly not wrongly adjusted if they locked up surely?
It was the fronts which were not up to the job.
NIKKI..you must be joking, a child walks out in front of you and you do not
stamp on the brakes enough to lock the wheels!! There is a place for
cadence braking but not in the middle of a crisis. Of course most modern
cars now have ABSwhich does the job for them. That's fine unless the car
following them (Minor) doesn't!!

In an emergency - which is what I was talking about - get the brokes on, hard. If they lock up, by all means attempt cadence braking - I have done it often, and it does help. In fact sometimes you need to come off the brakes and just steer away from the accident. But to suggest that time should be taken to apply the brakes - watch for the bonnet dipping - then off brakes- wait for bonnet to rise etc etc - is just going to get someone killed ! It has been shown most floks just don't hit the brakes hard enough - you need to hammer them on to get maximum braking as quickly as possible. That maximum may well be with the wheels locked - only problem is you are then in command of a sledge with no steering. So the reason for cadence braking (and ABS) is to allow some steering - not for improved braking. And disc brakes are absoultely no better than drums for that one emergency stop - the only advantage with discs is the ability to do it again and again without fading - handy when descending Alpine Passes etc. For day to day motoring - drums (in good order) are just fine.

EACH ONE TO THEIR OWN ON THIS
YOU STAY WITH DRUMS AND I WILL STICK WITH DISCS FOR MY EVERYDAY TO DAY DRIVING

Same here - to my mind, the drums just aren't as effectine, controlable or (bottom line) safe as discs. That's why nobody uses them any more.

Guys, what I mean is this:

You should learn braking appropriate to a minor. Cadence breaking should be instinctive. If a child runs out and the brakes lock, that's what you do.

If the brakes don't lock then fine

What I mean is that you should be PREPARED to cadence break

Of course, we're all going to have different views on this one, so I may be wrong!


There is one other thing.

Stick to the blinking speed limit! !!!

I think we're back to the age-old problem of people not being able to accept that they may be 'wrong' on issues.

BIGGINGE...well I do! I am quite happy with my servo'ed drums probably
because I don't overheat them by using them to control speed down hills etc,
using the gears instead. I accept that there is no argument that disc brakes
are much safer due to their heat dissipating qualities but drums are perfectly
adequate if you drive within their limitations i.e. using the gears to control the
cars speed under normal circumstances. This means that in an emergency
stop my drums are every bit as capable as your discs of locking the wheels
if necessary.

The problem, Willie, is that not everyone else on the road drives with the knowledge that drum brakes stop... :/

Well just to add my 2p's worth. In an emergency I slam on the brakes, then if the car starts to skid (you can tell in a split-second with experience) let off the brakes and back on again. This stops the skid unless it locks and skids again in which case you repeat. This takes experience to become second nature and is effectively what ABS does. ABS does not JUST allow you to steer through a skid but in poor weather conditions it can drastically reduce your stoppin distance. Another important thing is that you drive to the weather conditions. If you slam your brakes on as hard as possible in rain/sleet/snow/ice then you WILL skid. If you apply gentler braking you may well avoid the skid and reduce your stopping distance. It's all about the 'feel' of the car on the road which again is due to experience.

Drum brakes are fine if you drive sensibly and are aware of their limitations. Disc brakes allow you to drive in more of a 'modern car style', but don't disregard drums. They do the job as long as you respect them and don't abuse them.

Willie wrote:BIGGINGE...well I do! I am quite happy with my servo'ed drums probably
because I don't overheat them by using them to control speed down hills etc,

Fine by me - it's my opinion, and I'm delighted that others excercise their choice and use whatever they like. I drive with the same constraints as you, but I have had some scares in the past and simply never feel entirely secure with drums on the front. Oh yes, and all my cars have larger engines

Now its my understanding of the original post that the rear brakes locked up before the fronts. Assuming that the norm for brake bias is 60% front and 40% rear then one has to assume that the fronts were underadjusted or the rears over adjusted. Personally I would never recommend putting a servo on drum brakes. The point I was making about ABS, was, that the minor even with disc brakes would not be able to stop as efficiently. Its not always the fault of the person infront of a minor with good brakes that the minor behind has brakes only sufficient ,( and then barely) for ita original specification. What's this nonscence about driving within the limitations of the car's era, surely in the 50'-70's when the car was sold new, there were some who exceeded the speed limits, it not just a modern day phenomenon

yes of course we broke the limits in the 60`s and 70`s but you will agree the proportion of cars on the road was a hell of a lot less.

Hey I'm not criticising , its just that some folk on here seem to think that because the car is old you should drive it like a museum piece. There may well have less cars on the road but stopping distances were still the same! (wink/smile) someone fix these b****y add smiles please

THEY WORK!!!!





To get that lot, I typed:

yes agreed but with less traffic, i mean a lot less, it seemed less important.
we all had out tuned cars as well.
i do not drive mine like it should be in a museum, and i agree entirely with you jon, they should be driven like cars

THEY DO NOT!!!!!

Smarty pants!!

(had to use the code)

:8

Yes they do!!!!