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Lwb brake upgrade


the real muddy90

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Hi all, I'm sure this must have been done like a million times before but..... (I did have a quick flick through the search box!)

Caz's 2a swb brakes are pants! The wet trialing conditions make it virtually imposible to stop the old girl (the 2a, not caz!)

Years ago I upgraded an 68 2a to run forward control front bakes, the 3" wide shoe variaty & that stoped the v8 nicely.

I think that just going to lwb twin leading shoe fronts will do what we want as it's only a 2 1/4 petrol, & also fitting a servo would be a definate improvement.

So..... I think I'll need; back plate, shoe's, brake cylinders, springs & drums. But anything else? What about the hoses?

Anyone got parts? Or advice?

Rog

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LWB brakes were a standard fitmwent on later SWB's and the conversion has been done many times.

You'll need front backplates, cylinders, link pipes, shoes, drums and hoses. This will give an immediate improvement.

You could fit a servo, this will need a new pedal box.

If you fit a servo I would also fit a new dual master cylinder and extra pipes for a split system.

Lastly but by no means least, move the existing slave cylinders from the front to the rear. They are slightly larger bore and will balance the brakes a bit better.

You won't need the PDWA.

To put the icing on the cake you may end up with fluid level and excess pedal travel switches, these can be wired to a warning light.

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You could fit a servo, this will need a new pedal box.

If you fit a servo I would also fit a new dual master cylinder and extra pipes for a split system.

You won't need the PDWA.

I'd try & find a second hand servo/pedal box.

Good point about the twin system, I hadn't thought of that.

Do I just run the secondary to the rear & primary to the front via a 3 way block???

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I'd try & find a second hand servo/pedal box.

Good point about the twin system, I hadn't thought of that.

Do I just run the secondary to the rear & primary to the front via a 3 way block???

Ive gone for a lwb front axle on my swb for the brakes ive used an early 110 brake pedal box and servo, then run the pipe for the front brakes to a 3 way and the rear port for the rear brakes,

i used swb front wheel cylinders in the rear as they are bigger and at the front i followed the tip on here about putting the bleed nipple at the the top on the front wheel cylinders, although it means working out how to get the pipework to the bottom cylinder to the flexi pipe

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Ive gone for a lwb front axle on my swb for the brakes ive used an early 110 brake pedal box and servo, then run the pipe for the front brakes to a 3 way and the rear port for the rear brakes,

i used swb front wheel cylinders in the rear as they are bigger and at the front i followed the tip on here about putting the bleed nipple at the the top on the front wheel cylinders, although it means working out how to get the pipework to the bottom cylinder to the flexi pipe

Thanks for the tip. We want to stay as standard as possible because it's quite a nice original truck.

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This is exactly what I have done to mine. I have a '72 SWB which originally had a single-line non servo-assisted system, with 10" on front and back, but now it has a dual-line, servo-assisted system with 11" twin-leading shoes on the front and 10" on the back, same as a standard post-rationalisation (1980) model.

Braking was very good, until I filled the drums with mud off-road, but it stopped straight and very nicely. About as good as you can get with drums I think (although you could put the 11"x3" TLS setup from a 109V8 on the front, but I considered this unnecessary).

I tried to use an early Defender pedal box and servo (the smaller Defender servo type), but I could get it to clear the wing and the bonnet. The pedal box also didn't work very well with the Series III dual-line master cylinder (NRC6096), they wouldn't bleed and the pedal travel was awful. In the end I got a proper late Series III servo and pedal box and used that, it immediately fitted and worked perfectly.

Brake lines are P-clipped to the chassis and run to the rear axle, T-piece and rear wheels, and then to the front on the other circuit, through a T-piece to and each front wheel. No PDWA valve or anything like that (if I wanted to I could get a cap off a later vehicle for the reservoir and set up a brake fluid level light). For the front twin-leading shoe brakes I routed the pipe to the lower cylinder first and then up to the upper one for the bleed nipple. They bled up no problem (once the pedal box was changed and fluid actually reached them!), and the pipes were easy enough to route, see here about 1/2 way down: http://www.retroanaconda.com/landrover/2010/04/rebuilding-the-axles-part-2/

Good luck :)

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Thanks chaps. :)

Retro, I see what you mean about the tight bend on the bottom pipe. I take it the silver one in the pic is a bought pipe?

The other concern I have about the servo is, I seem to remember when I did my old 68 v8 back in the early 90's I had to cut the top of the wing to get the servo to fit. It had lights in the grill but Caz's 2a has lights in the wings so not sure if this will make any difference to the design of the wing top. I don't want to cut it if I have to :rolleyes:

Where do I take the vacume pipe from the engine? Nothing there at the mo.

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I moved the bleed nipple to the top on mine, the pipe is difficult to make and fit, not really sure if I'd do it again.

Is your engine diesel or petrol?

Diesel is more complicated, I can't remember the exact details. On petrol there should be a blanking screw on the inlet manifold into which you can screw a union.

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Thanks chaps. :)

Retro, I see what you mean about the tight bend on the bottom pipe. I take it the silver one in the pic is a bought pipe?

The other concern I have about the servo is, I seem to remember when I did my old 68 v8 back in the early 90's I had to cut the top of the wing to get the servo to fit. It had lights in the grill but Caz's 2a has lights in the wings so not sure if this will make any difference to the design of the wing top. I don't want to cut it if I have to :rolleyes:

Where do I take the vacume pipe from the engine? Nothing there at the mo.

The silver one is the standard top-to-bottom pipe yep, that I bought pre-made before I decided to do the mod. I would have just made one up otherwise.

I can't help with the servo/2a wings I'm afraid, but I know that the proper Series servo and pedal box fits okay with my Series III wings.

Vacuum on a diesel comes from a butterfly valve mounted on the intake I think? Or possibly a vacuum pump on later models?

I moved the bleed nipple to the top on mine, the pipe is difficult to make and fit, not really sure if I'd do it again.

I thought it was going to be a pain in the rear to do, but it turned out to be okay. I was using cupro-nickel pipe and bending it by hand. I guess at least a 25' roll of brake pipe isn't too expensive! :)

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Great stuff!

I had a look at the wing tops & there seems room for the servo, I remember my old 68 wings were straight & these have a cut out.

I have copper pipe & a flaring tool so I'll make my own pipes. ;)

I couldn't see anywhere on the manifold or carb for a vacume pipe but a quick dig in the shed found a 34ich on an adapter with a vac take off. woohoo! :D

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