110 Brake Upgrade

[BigSi110]

Following a few horsepower increases to my 300Tdi 110, thoughts turn towards improving the braking.

Not that there's anything wrong, but simply because the brakes are being worked a little harder these days.

Currently on vented front discs (or whatever is standard on a '94 110 - sorry, don't know for sure) and genuine pads. All in good condition with no problems. Brake fluid was changed in January.

Can anyone please suggest any worthwhile improvements (if any) and what benefits would there be?

[Guest diesel_jim]

Currently on vented front discs (or whatever is standard on a '94 110 - sorry, don't know for sure)

First ting is to see if you actually have vented discs.... so next step will either be get vented, or change the pads you already have.

is it the green pads that are supposed to be harder, and better when "hot". you could also try cross drilled front and rear discs for extra cooling.

I've got the salisbury front axle discs on my 90, they are the same diameter discs, but wider still than the standard vented ones. slow speed stopping is no better, but cooling (and thus brake fade) is better.

i don't know what other calipers are available, but i'm sure you could find some 6 piston ones to fit the front instead of the 4 piston ones. that would improve things.

[JimAttrill]

i don't know what other calipers are available, but i'm sure you could find some 6 piston ones to fit the front instead of the 4 piston ones. that would improve things.

And yet Disco IIs have one large piston ....

[66gaza]

Following a few horsepower increases to my 300Tdi 110, thoughts turn towards improving the braking.

Not that there's anything wrong, but simply because the brakes are being worked a little harder these days.

Currently on vented front discs (or whatever is standard on a '94 110 - sorry, don't know for sure) and genuine pads. All in good condition with no problems. Brake fluid was changed in January.

Can anyone please suggest any worthwhile improvements (if any) and what benefits would there be?

My brakes have always been standard rover stuff (apart from the front SAL on my camper which has wider discs but like Jim says that really just helps fade) and I've always thought they were really good, however when I drive another landrover there brakes never seem as good to me and the only difference that I know of is that both of mine have the goodridge S/S hoses fitted and always have so maybe thats it. I have never driven either of my vehicles without them so can't give a before and after. I do remember when I was into motorbikes though and replaced them on that and there was a much better feel to them. They are cheap and in my opinion worth a try.

Gaza

[66gaza]

And yet Disco IIs have one large piston ....

They must be alot cheaper to make and from my experience with them on a Saab alot of trouble with the sliding bit when they get older.

Gaza

[western]

a 110's front vented brakes should be well upto the job of slowing/stopping regardless of any mods done to upgrade power. a change of pad material & rear pads might make a difference

[BigSi110]

Ralph, no complaints really.

As ever, I just wondered if there was anything more that could be done. It seems not and that's fine by me.

Thanks all!

[western]

if it's already got front vented disc's I don't think you'll find anything that'll be better.

[DaveB]

In my youger days I did a bit of rallying and always used anti-fade pads, but I've never seen anything advertised for a Defender. What are the 'green' pads discussed above? I use my 110 for towing a 1.5T caravan and they sound like a wise investment. Anyone got details of manufacturer/supplier.

[will_warne]

a 110's front vented brakes should be well upto the job of slowing/stopping regardless of any mods done to upgrade power. a change of pad material & rear pads might make a difference

I'd agree with Ralph - Defender brakes are very good as standard. As far as pads go you shouldn't really need to upgrade that much unless the vehicle's really heavy, it is only a Tdi afer all! If you do then I wouldn't bother with Green Stuff pads - I've got them in my Lotus and they're usless on the road. Until you get them hot (like on a circuit) they don't do an aweful lot for you. I've been told they're no better on heavier vehicles by a friend who had them in his Land Cruiser.

[headhunter]

a 110's front vented brakes should be well upto the job of slowing/stopping regardless of any mods done to upgrade power. a change of pad material & rear pads might make a difference

My concern with my 110 braking capability was additional weight rather than improved performance even though I have a 2.8TGV fitted.

Weighing in at 2700kg (overdrive, roof rack, internal roll guard, window guards, rear storage drawer & chest, front winch & bumper, diff guards, sumo bar, steering guard, ARB's, tank guard & tow hitch, rear wheel mounting etc. etc.) with two adults and two light children, without expedition consumables which could take the weight towards 3500kg (roof tent, fridge, water, extra fuel, food, cooking gear, awning, extra tent, trifor winch, hilift jack, sand ladders, recovery gear, clothing etc.etc.). Plus on occasion towing an unbraked trailer at 750kg.

With this in mind I upgraded my front ventilated disks by fitting grooved disks (but not drilled) to at least reduce fade during heavy use. So far I am pleased with braking performance but have yet to truly test fade on a long descent.

I have heard that fitting a Discovery servo unit can improve braking response but I suppose that could lead to faster locking up depending on the load being carried.

I am pleased to say that the XEng disk hand-brake which I fitted has no problem holding the fully laden weight including un braked trailer (c4.25 tons all up) on a 4:1 slope when launching my RIB down a slipway. I just hope the handbrake cable is up to it!

John

[Coastcard]

Just rebuilt my 110 system (although it worked fine before). Discovered a couple of seized front pistons and leaky rear cylinders.

Only upgrade was to install s/s braided hoses and works really well now (as my LPG tank will testify, as it flew off its temporary mountings ).

On your now 13 year old system I would just clean and check everything, maybe replace master cylinder seals (with OE) and flush it all out with new fluid. Pretty sure you will notice quite a difference. As others have said the stock system is more than adequate.

[Adz]

Probably the most significant thing you can do to improve the braking on road, is fit some grippier tyres to it. Regardless of what brakes you fit to the car the ultimate limiting factor is how much friction there is between tyre and road - of course another option is to slow down a bit as...

[boring]

...speed has a much greater effect on braking than weight (mass) of the vehicle - essentially you're converting the kinetic energy of the moving vehicle into heat (and sometimes a little sound) energy by using the brakes.

Kinetic energy is found by multiplying half the mass of the moving object by the square of the velocity - Ke=½mV²

So a 2700kg vehicle doing 70mph (31.11 m/s) has about 1,306,573 joules of energy to shed to come to a complete stop.

The same vehicle doing 80mph (35.56 m/s) has 1,707,093 joules to lose but the same vehicle towing a 750kg trailer at 60mph (26.67 m/s) has only 1,226,973 - thus it's easier to stop your 110 with the trailer from 60mph to rest than it is your 110 without the trailer from 70mph.

[/boring]

Cheers