Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

Apr 14, 2009 01:41PM

Hello all,

I really enjoy my moped - the one exception being the inherently shitty drum brakes. I want to improve my stock braking. I have already installed new pads, new cables, and roughed up the drum surfaces......but it still doesn't stop too well in many situations.

I know I read something here a while back about slotting the brake pads for improved friction - I thought it was in the wiki section. I hate to complain about this site, but running searches on the wiki here never seems to bring up things that I KNOW I've seen there.

Anyway,...any links to slotting the brake pads would be appreciated (or any other brake improving techniques). I am a very detail oriented guy, so I want to make sure I am slotting these brand new brake pads for optimum performance.

Any help with the brake pad slotting techniques or other brake improving techniques would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

[[ Linda ]] /

mycider

Apr 14, 2009 04:51PM

I'm 99% sure that never got into the wiki. If it were in there, it'd be under Repair Tutorials, or maybe linked in the drum brake article. Since I'm seeing nothing of the kind in either place, I'm gonna say it's not there. I agree with you about the search. Sometimes I'll enter search terms for half the words in the title of an article that I KNOW exists, and I'll get 20 irrelevant results before I get to the article I want. It helps if you click on "Search" rather than hitting "Enter" (equivalent to clicking on "Go") but even that isn't that great.

Is this what you were thinking of though? That's the only thing I remember that sounds like what you're describing.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 14, 2009 06:41PM

That wasn't the informationI was referring too, but I actually found that thread quite useful - and asked a response question in it. Thank you for posting that.

The info I thought I saw in the wiki was about cutting actual slots into brake pads. I seem to recall it was in some special section with a guy's name,...something like "Mel's tuning tips".

I'm gonna look more now, using your wiki search tips.

thanks again.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

Eric Sabatino /

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erics

Apr 14, 2009 06:43PM

I always cut angled slots in my brake pads.

It's also important to make sure that your new brake shoes are properly shaped to your drum. They usually aren't when they come out of the box.

You can hold the brake shoe against the drum and use sandpaper to get the brake shoe to make 100% contact with the drum surface.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 14, 2009 06:55PM

do you cuts the slots parallel? Or do you cut criss crossing X's?

And how far apart? And how deep?

Did it make a noticeable improvement over stock?

Thanks!

.....and thanks for the heads up on the drum'pad fit!

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

Flagrant - /

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stevew

Apr 14, 2009 09:23PM

Yea that Sabatino is a crackerjack. If your brake cable housings are not lined get the ones that are. It makes a big diff. I use a triangular file and cut Xs down 1/3 of the thickness of the friction material

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

[[ Linda ]] /

mycider

Apr 14, 2009 11:43PM

I just came up with a better way to search through titles, I think. A prime example of how the built-in search sucks: I know there's an article called Mopeder's Law page (linked one the left-side menu under "special pages"), then you have a list of all the articles in the wiki. Then you can just use the find function on your web browser (CTRL+F on Firefox) and it'll show you all the times the word you're looking for comes up in titles. It doesn't help much for the article bodies, I guess, but if you remember at least one word in the title, it works a lot better than the search. Grrr search.

If you do find the article/instructions you were looking for about brake shoes, post a link. If it's already in the wiki, I'll re-evaluate its placement (since it's apparently hard to find, since neither of us can locate it), and if it isn't in the wiki, I'll do what I can to put it in there.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 15, 2009 12:26AM

I couldn't find it that way either.....it must not be in the wiki. I haven't been able to find it in a thread in repair or performance either. I was almost certain I saw it here - and now it's driving me mental.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

[[ Linda ]] /

mycider

Apr 15, 2009 12:49AM

Haha. I've been looking too, and I can't find anything either. I've found several threads about cutting grooves in the brake shoes, but nothing like you're describing.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

SABAT! andDestroy /

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sabat

Apr 15, 2009 02:50AM

no grooves/slots or channels, just got off a centimeter off the edges of both pads, that will get more contact and force outward on the drum.

~SABAT!

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 15, 2009 03:19AM

have you tried the groove method as well, and comparitively determined that taking a bit off the edges has better results?

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 15, 2009 03:31AM

OK,...I have determined that what I thought it was under was "fred's guide" in the wiki. But it's not under Fred's guide - so now I'm completely stumped.

......Stupid short term memory,....thanks weed

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

mattology - /

mattology

Apr 15, 2009 03:53AM

You can send in old drums to porterfield and have them re shoe them with a much harder biting friction material.

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

phizappakrappa /

phizappakrappa OP

Apr 15, 2009 04:33AM

they put a liner in the actual drum?

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

russg /

zedob

Apr 15, 2009 11:24AM

>>>......Stupid short term memory,....thanks weed<<<

Yeah, I can't remember. Is it: Short term loss of long term memory, or long term loss of short term memory?

Re: Slotting brake pads for improved braking.....

terry dean /

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dean

Apr 15, 2009 04:16PM

hm, all of my mopeds have great brakes, i rarely prep the pads. i'll sand any glazing off of them as needed, but otherwise i just leave them alone.

MOPED ARMY

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