Re: Chip's Milano Brake/Spring

[Jess Liao <jessl@xxxxxxxx>]

> From: Chip Mutza <dmutza@domain.elided>

front ones don't usually warp, if not because of your driving style,
then something's very wrong with your braking system. It is likly
to be a stuck caliper, or a swollen brake hose that prevent
hydralic pressure being relieased so the pad's constantly
in contact with rotor, over heating and bake the rotor. If the brake
felt any thing but firm, check condition of brake hose to the front
calipers. If they have cracks, or bulge, or bubble, replace them.

One thing you can try is to spray water on the rotor at night,
let stand overnite, in the morning there should be some rust on
the rotor. Drive the car around without applying brake, let it roll to 
a stop and use handbrake if realy necessary. check to see if rust
are still there. If so, your pads are not stuck.. yet.

now with car stopped, atep on brake a few times to get a firm
feel of brake pedal. Release brake, and drive a little more
without applying brake. Roll to stop again and check. most of
rust should still be on the rotor if the pressure in the hydralic
is being released properly.

now drive and brake a couple times enought o remove all rusts.
compare both side to see if any side has more rust remain. if so,
either a stuck caliper or a bad hose that may prevent pressure
being send to the caliper.

As for removing the pads for the front, very easy.
remove wheels, you'll see 2 pings that goes from inside half of
caliper to the outside one. these 2 pins holds the pads and 
rataining spring. Punch these 2 pins from outside to inside,
slide the pins out and you should be able to slide the pads 
out. use large plyers to clamp the piston in the caliper back
a little and see how they move. If calipers move freely, when you
sqeez one caliper, you should see the out side moving out
a little. Try to hold both side's pinston in a little to put the
pads in. No need to remove rotor to change pads.

Wheel bearing. Jack up the front so the front wheel is off ground.
Grab the wheel at 12/6 oclock and rock. very minor play is okey
but that should be barely noticeable. If it's anything but faint
click, then it may be way off. Also, when you turn to the corner
you should hear some grooming noise from the front. If the nosie
gets noticeable more when you turn right, it's likely to be your
left front bearing, and vise versa. 


> separate the caliper halves? What about doing the pads on the rear? That
> looks like a big pain! Some one also said something about wheel bearings

yes, read the isaluti's article on rear ones.
http://reality.sgi.com/employees/sikand_mti/milano.html

look for braking system section. While they are not procedure ot replace
pads, they give you detailed information about how it is internally
so you get an idea about what you are getting into. The idea is the
same as with front calipers, when you need to remove clips and slide
out the pins that hold the brake pads. it is tedious to work on.

> torsion bars once the springs are installed? Some one on the digest
> mentioned SPARCO springs being better than Ricambis, but he never gave

they are progressive, so ride is fine without being too harsh, and when
pushed, it's stiffer than ricambi's, nizam is that right?

Jess
88 verde

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