Re: rear disk brakes

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

The aliens commander decided jbade@domain.elided would make a perfect
specimen for dissection, and he yelled...

>All you end up doing is making sure the front wheels lock up before the
>rear...

I'm not exactly sure what you're saying here Jeff.  Are you implying that
by screwing around with a proportioning valve you *risk* having the front
wheels lock up before the rear, or are you suggesting you *want* the front
to lock up before the rear.

We just hashed this all out within the last few months here on the Digest,
and I hope everyone left the last big discussion understanding that you *do
not* want the front wheels to lock up before the rear.  Of course it's best
not to have any wheels locking up ever, but the fact is that if the brakes
do lock up, your brake system should be proportioned and balanced so the
rear locks up first and hopefully not the front.

If the front wheels lock up, you will loose any effective steering
control... whereas if the rear brakes lock up and the front wheels are
still turning, you can control the skid.  The skidding rear wheels can be
made to (more or less) stay behind and follow the front tires by careful
steering control.

Regards,

John L.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
jlandry AT halcyon DOT com      | 
Conservative Libertarian        |  "The road to  tyranny, we must never
Life Member of the NRA          |   forget, begins with the destruction
WA Arms Collectors              |   of the truth."
Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   |                     William J. Clinton
http://www.halcyon.com/jlandry/ |    10-15-95, speech at the Univ. of CT