Brake Install

[cob427sc]

Does anyone know why the adjustable push rod from the brake pedal to the master cylinder is required to be shortened 5/8" from the length supplied by FFR? Reason I ask as my brakes are all installed, bled and the balance bar set about where I believe it should be but there is a huge amount of play before the brake pedal feels any resistance, about 1/2 through the entire travel distance of the pedal. It seems as if the rods hadn't been shortened as specified, the pedal would obtain resistance higher up or closer to the relaxed position. My brakes work fine but seems weird that the pedal goes 1/2 way down before feeling anything. I don't remeber this being an issue in the roadsters or coupe that I built in the past.

[peterh226]

I shortened mine and after the pedal move a bit the brakes are starting to activate. Not really adjusted yet, but they feel ok and pedal only goes about halfway to the floor.

[sethmark]

I wouldn’t shorten them before driving the go kart. I did and I’m not sure it was necessary. FWIW, I used a power bleeder one time and got a firm pedal straight away (master cylinder down, not vacuum from the caliper.)

Note that the pedal location relative to the floor is determined by the distance of the threaded rod to the pedal...

[NAZ]

If you have the balance bar style pedal assembly, it's important that your M/C's are both capable of a full stroke. So if you do think you need to shorten the push rods to adjust your pedal height, make sure that does not limit your M/C piston travel. If you don't have a full stroke AND/OR your clevis gap is not set correctly you may not have brakes if you should lose one of the brake circuits. When adjusted correctly, one M/C can have no resistance and the other will still have enough stroke to provide full pressure.

[edwardb]

If not trimmed, the pushrods can go all the way through the clevis and run into the balance bar. That's with the pushrod in the MC against the internal stop (critical) and the pedal adjusted to stop short of the cross bar on the frame (also critical). Having said that, I'm a measure twice and cut once person and I didn't find they needed to be cut the full 5/8-inch. Only about 1/4-inch as I recall. I always mock things up (or try to) before cutting. Especially something that critical.