BigCol Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 My car failed its IVA this week The main reason (amongst some other astonishingly pedantic ones that according to Caterham "Gillingham VOSA don't worry about") was that the rear brakes lock their wheels ahead of the front ones. The tester didn't think it was due to the brakes not having bedded-in but something more inherent in the design/build. As the brake lines etc are fitted by Caterham and they re-bled the brakes at the PBC, I can't see it's done to the build! Anyone know of this sort of thing previously and/or got any other suggestions as to cause and a cure? Mr VOSA suggested using either more aggressive pads on the front (or less aggressive one on the back). Caterham have sent me some new front pads which I've fitted. (Minitex ones to replace the AP Ones initially supplied I think) The retest is on Wednesday. If relevant, the car's a 140 Supersport SV with standard brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 TADTS, as mine used to for some time until.............. ..........use more aggressive pads on the front (like wot the tester advised). Hawk pads were a favourite a while back...... ...........brake balance adjuster....... ...........4 pot caliper up front.......... My set-up is 4 pot front caliper & standard rear with Pagid brake pads: RS15 front & RS14 rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECR Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Or, cut the read pad friction material down a bit ....... This was a technique adopted by Caterham racers when the regs prohibited the fitting of non standard brake pads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team Garry7 Posted June 2, 2013 Leadership Team Share Posted June 2, 2013 Big Col, I feel your pain!! Mine failed first time on exactly the same thing last year. I had paid CC to present the car so they sorted it out. Basically they changed the rear calipers and pads and left the fronts alone, which when represented had done twice the mileage of the rears and were better bedded in. Passed second time. Does make you wonder what the ratio of first time passes to failures is though, especially as all the factory cars go through the same process. Best of luck for round two!! Garry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Thanks all... I decided I could cope with a bit of pain and a failure (or two...) for the £420 saving I'd make by presenting the car myself. Also, psychologically, having built the car I didn't want to have someone else do a major part of what's necessary in putting it on the road, if you see what I mean. Whatever happens on Wednesday, the car is going back to Dartford on Friday for Caterham to fit a replacement gearbox (even though the gear knob goes up to 5, there are are only four forward gears in it!), so if the worst comes to the worst, I'll throw the brakes issue at them too! I too would be interested in the pass/fail ratio and exactly how cosy the Caterham/Gillingham VOSA relationship is but, to be fair, that'll be part of the value of the £420 presentation fee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ. Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 When they presented my car at Gillingham, I had a chat with various Caterham staff and I got the distinct impression that they are given a harder time than amateurs presenting their cars. They also said that they can present two cars that have been prepared in exactly the same way and one will pass and the next fail Finally, they said they had stopped using their local DVLA office as they had started demanding all cars were presented for inspection! Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Quoting Mick Day: ...........brake balance adjuster....... Don't think they're allowed if they can be adjusted while driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 My first car failed for the same reason, Caterham stuck the Mintex pads in the front and it passed. On the car I just built I put the Mintex in from the outset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3MCJez Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Quoting Roger Ford: Quoting Mick Day: ...........brake balance adjuster....... Don't think they're allowed if they can be adjusted while driving. You know that's an MSA rule don't you? But best not to read the blue book too closely ... Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Quoting Z3MCJez: You know that's an MSA rule don't you? But best not to read the blue book too closely ... On the contrary, I think one MUST read it closely: © It must be possible under all conditions, running or stationary, for 25% minimum braking effort to be applied by the driver through the braking system to each axle. (Vehicle models introduced prior to 31.12.65 are exempt from this requirement.) (d) Brake balance adjusters must not be available for adjustment during running if they contravene © Of course, I haven't a clue whether my brake bias adjuster DOES allow for less than 25% effort at the rear, but for the sake of argument, I'll assume it doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3MCJez Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Hmmn. Maybe they've changed that one. But I don't have a blue book, past or present, to refer to. I do remember being somewhat horrified at the level of legal drafting in some of the points though, particularly around protests and counter-protests. But as I've given up on protesting (and presume that everyone has given up on protesting me ) it's not really important now. Jez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ford Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Blue Book Online (with apologies to the OP for veering off-topic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Richard Price Posted June 3, 2013 Area Representative Share Posted June 3, 2013 Quoting Z3MCJez: Quoting Roger Ford: Quoting Mick Day: ...........brake balance adjuster....... Don't think they're allowed if they can be adjusted while driving. You know that's an MSA rule don't you? But best not to read the blue book too closely ... Jez Jez, That's for sprints and hillclimbs. S 10.7.2. Brake balance adjusters must not be available for adjustment during running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 For a road car a brake balance adjuster is allowed so long as it can't be adjusted whilst driving.............so put it under the bonnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 When we first built our 7 many years ago, it was positively dangerous because of this. It would swap ends very easily and did so too many times for comfort, particulalrly at sprints. We fitted one of the underbonnet balance adjusters, spent a couple of hours setting it up then wired it up for good and its been perfect since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Harris Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 BigCol, the IVA does seem to be a lottery. Mine failed on the steering wheel not having a collapsible boss. The fact that the wheel was the same on every 7 and was passed at every other IVA station made no difference. I had to put on a horrible wheel with a huge collapsible boss covered in a stretch mesh cover used on European exported models. Caterham were very efficient with posting it out but it still meant another day off work and £90 re-test fee. I had the proper wheel in the passenger seat and put it back on in the IVA car park once I got my cert. On the plus side it was another (fully legal) chance to drive the unregistered and un-plated car to Southampton and back on a "winding roads" route! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 I must admit to greatly enjoying passing two police cars that had tugged someone in my un-number-plated car on the way back from my IVA failure the other day... was tempting deliberately to pass the speed cameras faster than I should too! 😳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCol Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 as per other post - it passed its retest! the more aggressive front pads seemed to do the trick (with an hour plus drive to the test centre to bed them in) had a conversation with the chief tester there - and the topic of steering wheels came up and he said that he knew I'd be swapping over to my nice quick-release wheel as soon as I got home but as long as the car is presented satisfactorily, that's what counts! Edited by - BigCol on 5 Jun 2013 18:37:21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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