Front Brakes not biting - Rears doing work? Help!

[tripower]

The Setup:
I have the Baer Track front/Touring rear set up installed. The brakes have 500 to 600 miles on them. Here's some details on the set up:

• Manual set up (no booster).
• MC is the Baer supplied unit and I believe it's 15/16".
• Using a Baer adjustable prop valve mounted on the frame in the rear brake line. Currently turned out all the way so there should be 57% line out pressure. (Heavy bias toward the front, correct?)
• System was bled a few times when installed.
• No leaks in lines.
• Pedal set up in correct specified pivot hole

The Issue:
The brakes don't feel like their biting as well as they should considering 13"/12" rotors. The rear rotors show good wear marks and I see brake dust on the rims. The front rotors look virgin and I can still see the original cut marks. There's virtually no brake dust on the front rims either.

What gives? Any ideas on what I'm missing. Thanks in advance for your input.

[MonzaRacer]

Call around and see if any shops around have a tech with brakes preasure guages.
I bought my set and while I used them maybe twice a year they are invaluable for diagnosing pressures.
Lee

[silver69camaro]

I agree a pressure test is first in order. My guess is two things:

1. Air in lines
2. Bad MC
3. Improper pad break-in

Usually these are the most common culprits I've experienced.

[tripower]

Thanks for the replies.

I took pics of the rotors and sent them to Baer. Rick from Baer called me to discuss and said that wear looked correct for the miles on the rotors and stressed the rotor seasoning process. He said pressures seem correct but that I could get a pressure tester from Autozone to verify line pressure. Rick said the appearant increased wear on the rear rotors could be due to the e-brake dragging on the rotors. Rick said that the brakes would perform much differently after about 1,000 miles.

I'm confident that the lines are clear of air as we bled the system several times and the brake pedal is hard. Rick said a spongey pedal would be a symptom of that. I also asked about glazed pads and he said with the compounds they use that isn't really an issue anymore. (Plus, what are the chances of bad pads on bothe sides of the front and not the rear?)

Basically Rick said to put more miles on the brakes and season the rotors per their instructions. We'll see...

Thanks again for the input.

Rich

[MonzaRacer]

Sorry AutoZone doesnt sell or rent brake pressure guages for brakes.

[tripower]

Sorry AutoZone doesnt sell or rent brake pressure guages for brakes.

Bummer...Do any of the chain stores rent them?

[MonzaRacer]

Bummer...Do any of the chain stores rent them?

Not that i know of. As a tech I bought mine and it has several fittings to screw into ports or calpier bleeder holes and then you set the friction indiactor and then hit pedal and it shows me if I have decent pressure.
you can also pick up a version that goes between the pads and you hit the pedal and check the indicated preasure.
figure most front brakes should see around 500 ot 700 psi on a normal stop.
I have Blue Point tools and I believe Powerhouse sells them too.
Lee

[tripower]

Not that i know of. As a tech I bought mine and it has several fittings to screw into ports or calpier bleeder holes and then you set the friction indiactor and then hit pedal and it shows me if I have decent pressure.
you can also pick up a version that goes between the pads and you hit the pedal and check the indicated preasure.
figure most front brakes should see around 500 ot 700 psi on a normal stop.
I have Blue Point tools and I believe Powerhouse sells them too.
Lee

Thanks for the info.

As an aside, Rick at Baer said that with the manual set up I'm running the pressures should be 900-1,000 PSI front and 600 PSI rear.

[silver69camaro]

you can also pick up a version that goes between the pads and you hit the pedal and check the indicated preasure.

That would indicate a clamping force. I guess you then have to do the math taking into account piston area? That sure is a different way of doing it.