Topic

Even Sheila commented that the brakes seemed much better, so it must be really noticeable!

Does the LE500 flex as much? Maybe as bad if not worse given the shells were reverse engineered and mine had to have a brace welded under the dash. Nice solution!

Well that is amazing

I'll check mine later.

MartinW wrote: wrote:

Does the LE500 flex as much? Maybe as bad if not worse given the shells were reverse engineered and mine had to have a brace welded under the dash. Nice solution!

The LE does flex, but I haven't really spent much time checking it out as it is away being fixed at the moment.

I will be adding a nicer brace to the LE, but I am waiting until it is out of warranty before I make too many changes.

Just done mine - rather home made involving old Mirror dinghy bits and some brass sliders all cut/drilled to size and bolted together very tightly. Considerable servo movement has gone to a barely perceptable movement and a brief road test shows an improvement with cadence braking.






Richard

Good stuff. It really makes a difference, doesn't it.

Just done mine using some flat steel bar bolted to both upper and lower bolts and then the same steel bar as a strap to the bulkhead. I haven't used the heater box bolts because I couldn't be fussed with dismantling everything to get to it so drilled a new hole in the bulkhead and shaped the strap accordingly.



It seems strong enough and has stopped the flex completely.

The best part though is the effect it's had on the braking. I didn't think it could be that significant but it really does make a huge difference. It's a bit surprising that this hasn't been the subject of a recall and fix to be honest.

Compared with newer cars I have never been impressed with the brakes on the TF, they always seem weak and spongy, I fitted seal kits, tried different pad materials and fitted braided hoses but found no noticeable difference.

My old TF Sunstorm had the bigger discs and 4 pot callipers but were no better than the 15" wheel version with standard callipers on my current TF Stepspeed.

Looking at what others are saying what a difference the servo support bracket makes I will be manufacturing one at the weekend and hopefully find some improvement.

Brace now fitted, it's the second attempt; I made the first one out of 4mm for the long strip and got my mate (big foot) to push hard on the brake pedal and it still has some deflection.

Second attempt the long strip is now 6mm; there was still some slight deflection but it was where the 3 clamp bolts go between the plastic snorkel (you crush the plastic and the foam gasket underneath and cannot get them solid) I made up some spacers and filed out the plastic to suit so I was not clamping down on the plastic and used M8 bolts with large washers under the nuts; so now it's bolted solid metal to metal.

Another test with Big Foot and deflection is greatly reduced.

I went out for a run and the pedal now feels very firm; as it should with no spongy feeling.

Obviously it will make no difference in the overall braking efficiency, but the pedal now feels great.

I have added a sketch in PDF with some rough dimensions if anyone is thinking of knocking one up. (applicable to the TF only)

Mk 2 Bracket





Spacers and M8 Bolts



Spacers Fitted






Bracket in place






Sketch in PDF.

Hi. After parking my TF up over winter ,I thought it wise to give the brakes the once over. I have only had the car just over a year and the previous owner had fitted new discs and pads all round before I bought it. Last year it passed its test without any problems. Since parking the TF up I have bought a new daily drive ( Honda ) and traded in my trusty MG ZR. The ZR had excellent brakes . The Honda's brakes are to put it mildly vicious and it has taken a while for myself and my wife to get used to. After driving the Honda and then jumping into the TF the comparison in performance is vast. Forgetting the comparison with the overly keen Honda brakes , if I compare the TF to the ZR , I could do an emergency stop with the ZR and feel the ABS operating . With the TF I can't . Now you are going to ask if the callipers or sliders are free , well yes , they are all okay. After reading about the servo flexing and the bracket you can fit to stiffen it, my question is this. Is it worth fitting it and will there be any noticeable improvement in braking performance ? Is it me expecting too much from a braking system that is a throw back to the Metro ? I am prepared to fit the servo bracket but I just thought that you guy's ( and girls) that have more experience with the TF could give me your opinion. Cheers, John

It is worth fitting a servo flex bracket but don't expect miracles . As you say, it is an old design braking system with fairly small discs. Braided hoses also help and I fitted a bigger front brake disc to my previous F. That definitely helped.

Yes well thank you for that Robin, I thought as much. I think that the last few months parked up and add to that the ' stop on a tanner ' Honda brakes made me think that I had both front flexi hoses clamped , the difference in performance was so startling . I think I will still fit the brace to the servo just for my own peace of mind . Thanks again. J

Alan Crossley (www.ac-me.co.uk) deleloped a bracket for me as most on the market were flexible 2mm steel. You can read how successfully it works at: http://mgfmania.com/the-history-of-mgf-mania/ - its Alan who's fitting the brakes to my MGF http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss357/MGFMania/Servobracketfitted_zpscc4d488d.jpg

Typical that you have a one legged version. I bought mine from a guy on another mg forum who made a bunch of em and it's a two legged version so it symmetrical in it's resistent force.
I think it was on MGFregister but i'm not sure.



Note it's a LHD

jaylad on mgf register was making them I got mine from him