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jopather · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 58 Location: California

I spent the last hour looking through old posts abou soft breaks, but wanted to clarify and get some more opinion before spending more money...

My brakes work, but are definitely softer than I would like, when I'm out driving "for fun" and have to stop suddenly, there are definitely times when my pulse rises quite a bit and I'm not totally sure I'm going to stop.

The most common advice is to adjust the rear shoes - already did that. I also have all new rear wheel cylinders, rebuilt front calipers, all new drums and rotors, and a new master cylinder. Had the brakes vaccuum bled at a shop.

I didn't replace the hoses that go to the drums/calipers - if they are old rubber, could that be the problem? Also, what about the vaccuum system.

Any ideas before I spend more money?

Thanks
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1978 924
My car - a hole in my driveway where all my paychecks go...

skemcin · Joined: 02 Sep 2003 Posts: 1284 Location: Plainfield, IL

I dunno, but it just seems like the next logical step would be to upgrade the brakes all around. Get some larger venter discs for the front and upgrade the rear drums to vented discs.

I'm not sure you will get too much more out of the stock disc/drum setup- but I could be wrong.
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jopather · Joined: 16 Jun 2005 Posts: 58 Location: California

of course that would be ideal, but I've driven enough cars with drums in the back to konw that these could certainly work better. I'm going to have to wait for more money and more time before I do the conversion...
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1978 924
My car - a hole in my driveway where all my paychecks go...

OutOfTheBox · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 434

You wont believe what a HUGE difference, fitting a set of Koni adjustable shocks will do for your braking, plus the handling is improved ten fold.

For the 924 NA, your money would be better spent on the koni's

Its a simple job, cheap even if someone else does it for you.

The car will alsop "feel" a lot more confident under harsh braking.

Slam · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:32 am Post subject:

Yes, old rubber lines could be your culprit. They can balloon under pressure. I know whereof you speak - just busy going through a brake fix on my wife's 924. Good luck.

Suspension upgrades will make a big difference, but you may as well change your brake lines first. Cheaper, and the only thing you've listed as not having been done.
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'88 944 Auto - may or may not resurrect

Paul · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:43 am Post subject:

Rubber brake lines should be replaced within 10 years of their date of manufacture.
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gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

By all means if you still have the original 25 year old or older rubber brake lines, new brake lines could help you.

BUT, you should know up front that the standard 924 front disc/rear drum brakes are very able stoppers, with a firm brake pedal when properly adjusted. The first stop or two from 60 or 70 miles an hour will be similar to four wheel disc brakes. After that, braking performance will start to fade with the advantage going to the four wheel discs.

The point I am trying to make here, is that if you have a soft pedal from a cold starting point, then there is something wrong with the braking system. To me, the definition of a soft pedal is one that can be depressed with much effort, and has little if no braking effort. Like you have to pump the pedal, before the pedal gets firm, and the brakes start to work.

The cause of a soft pedal is usually rear brake shoes that need to be adjusted, that's both brake shoes on each side. Many 924 Newbies only adjust one show on each side, not realizing that there are two adjusters on each side. That's one for each brake shoe on each side.

Some people might define a soft brake pedal as a brake pedal that when stepped on (whether the firm or soft) that fails to generate significant brake effort. This could be a result of poor brake pad and shoe selection, not just the effect of wron or defective brake parts.

So if your brake pedal is physically soft, then something is wrong. If you are saying that the brake pedal is high and firm, and your style or type of driving requires more performance because the disc brake/rear drum brake setup fails because of your driving stlye or driving conditions, then you need to switch to four wheel disc brakes. With 944s becoming more abundant in salvage yards the four wheel disc brake conversion is not near as expensive as it once was. You should be able to get everything except for tires (and you could reuse your existing one if you have 15" tires) you should be able to buy everything, including wheels for less than $1000. Some people have purchased wrecked 944s for $300-$500 to salvage the parts.

When you go to buy the replacement brake lines, consider getting the four brake lines from a 944. The rears are the same as the 924, and the front should be the same, except they are longer. Then, if you decide to do the four wheel disc conversion, you can reuse your new brake lines. Personally, when I did my brake conversion, I switched to teflon coated stainless steel braided lines. The pedal is much firmer with the four wheel disc brakes and the teflon coated lines than it was with the disc/drum brakes and I no-longer need to crawl under the car every month to tighten up the brake shoes.