OhowardC Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Hi, Just bought a new Defender 90 and absolutely love it. The only problem I have are the brakes... Does have or know about the brakes developed by Bowler and Alcon and are they any good? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Factory fitted brakes are well on top of the job, you shouldn't need any upgrades for normal road & daily driving use, if it's 'brand' new out of the box vehicle give the brakes time to bed in, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timc1967 Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 If its your first defender, pedal technique is different to cars. Lean on the pedal harder, its not a push from the ankle, its a whole leg movement. Sounds like I am being patronising but actually just sharing my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 What are you finding wrong with the brakes? Spongy pedal? Excess pedal travel? Or are you actually running-out of brakes due to 'cooking' them?? My 15-year-old 90TD5 needs new front discs/pads every 15,000 miles or so and rears every 25,000 miles. Discs warp, and pads smoke/crumble, when you regularly go full-bore between the endless chains of roundabouts in Milton Keynes with 3/4 of a ton of logs in the back.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I don't have experience of the defender specific Alcon kit, but have lots of experience of Alcon kits on armoured vehicles. The bells, rotors and calipers are generally of excellent quality and provide good service. We have encountered problems with the copper rivets used to secure the friction material to the backing plates wearing the surface of the rotor. Apparently this is due to insufficient heat generated by normal road use braking not melting/weakening the rivets, in full race use the pads get hot enough that the copper rivets break down with the friction material rather than wearing the rotor face. For this reason I would look carefully at whether your use is correct for the pad type if the defender kit uses copper rivets. Also be aware that the pads and rotors are pricey Personally I would suggest you try a standard replacement aftermarket pad first to see if that provides the stopping power you need. We have had many years of success using EBC pads in many hundreds of vehicles, I'm certain EBC will do a pad to suit Defender. I'd try Yellow or Green compound pads 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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