Kevlar compound brake shoes (as seen on Wheeler Dealers)

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Pete_01

Pete_01

Member
Posts
12
Location
Tunbridge Wells
Hi all,

I was watching Wheeler Dealers the other day (car restoration show for those who haven't seen it) and they put some kevlar compound brake shoes a classic car as an alternative to doing a disk brake conversion. Apparently the friction is much higher so you stop way better than tradional shoes with the only draw back being you have to replace them a bit more often.

As I was about to do an overhaul of my Series 3 88" brakes, I thought I would look to see what I could find price wise...

Unfortunately, I can't find anything on google for cars, let alone my car but there are some about for bikes.

Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction?

Thanks

Pete
 
Pete_01 said:
Hi all,

I was watching Wheeler Dealers the other day (car restoration show for those who haven't seen it) and they put some kevlar compound brake shoes a classic car as an alternative to doing a disk brake conversion. Apparently the friction is much higher so you stop way better than tradional shoes with the only draw back being you have to replace them a bit more often.

As I was about to do an overhaul of my Series 3 88" brakes, I thought I would look to see what I could find price wise...

Unfortunately, I can't find anything on google for cars, let alone my car but there are some about for bikes.

Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction?

Thanks

Pete
Click to expand...
I had a look for those too for my series Land Rover but couldn't find them. I got the feeling "sportiness" and Land Rover doesn't go hand in hand...
 
I can't comment on Kevlar brake shoes, but I would be tempted to first find out about what stresses they might place on the brake drums; many modern rear brake drums do have a certain amount of fins to aid cooling.
If you're really dissatisfied with the stopping ability of the standard brake set up on your vehicle when fully serviced and operational then I would be tempted to investigate and consider converting your front brakes to discs.
 
brian47 said:
I can't comment on Kevlar brake shoes, but I would be tempted to first find out about what stresses they might place on the brake drums; many modern rear brake drums do have a certain amount of fins to aid cooling.
If you're really dissatisfied with the stopping ability of the standard brake set up on your vehicle when fully serviced and operational then I would be tempted to investigate and consider converting your front brakes to discs.
Click to expand...
The point of the product (as described by Ed China) was that you get an improved braking response that is almost as good as having discs. This is meant to work out cheaper than a conversion and be just as safe.

It is a little bit like having pads with a "racing" compound for your disc brakes but this time in the format of a brake shoe.
 
Stretch said:
I had a look for those too for my series Land Rover but couldn't find them. I got the feeling "sportiness" and Land Rover doesn't go hand in hand...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think you might be right. The best I could find was someone who custom makes brake shoes for classic racing cars. I didn't bother getting a quote from him because I imagine it is more than I want to spend.

brian47 said:
I can't comment on Kevlar brake shoes, but I would be tempted to first find out about what stresses they might place on the brake drums; many modern rear brake drums do have a certain amount of fins to aid cooling.
If you're really dissatisfied with the stopping ability of the standard brake set up on your vehicle when fully serviced and operational then I would be tempted to investigate and consider converting your front brakes to discs.
Click to expand...

Good point about stresses. Will investigate if I can find the shoes. I am not that unhappy with the performance, I know series 3s are slow to stop, it is just when someone (normally in a modern german car who has excellent brakes) pulls out in front of you expecting that you will be able to brake like a modern car and you have that stressed couple of seconds when you slam it into a low gear to get the engine brake as well as slamming your foot down. Luckily it doesn't happen that often and most people understand that you might need some extra room. However, if there was a cost effective way to really improve the performance I would be interested
 
If you could find the gucci material fitting it to old shoes wouldn't be too difficult - I used to do that back in the day...
 
Stretch said:
If you could find the gucci material fitting it to old shoes wouldn't be too difficult - I used to do that back in the day...
Click to expand...

Hmmm, interesting... That would make it a lot cheaper. The material is around as there are tons of sellers for brake pads, just none for shoes
 
Pete_01 said:
Hmmm, interesting... That would make it a lot cheaper. The material is around as there are tons of sellers for brake pads, just none for shoes
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure the pad stuff is the same. I'll have a hunt about for brake lining manufacturers and perhaps have a chat with someone I know who might be able to get me a bit better educated about this stuff. Back in the day I just used the friction material I was told to use. Using the wrong bits might prove to be interesting...
 
Stretch said:
I'm not 100% sure the pad stuff is the same. I'll have a hunt about for brake lining manufacturers and perhaps have a chat with someone I know who might be able to get me a bit better educated about this stuff. Back in the day I just used the friction material I was told to use. Using the wrong bits might prove to be interesting...
Click to expand...

Cheers. I had a shot at sending Mike (off WD) a message through his website but I very much doubt he'll respond unless the people he used have paid to have their stuff featured in the show so he passes me on to them.
 
@pete1 saw on 1 WD where they took the shoes to a brake specialist. The specialist took the old friction material of the shoe and then bonded on the new high tech material to the shoe and then cooked it for a while to cure the bonding agent. So seems like they used old shoes with new material. Might want to find a brake specialist that does that kind of stuff.
 
Thor1950 said:
@pete1 saw on 1 WD where they took the shoes to a brake specialist. The specialist took the old friction material of the shoe and then bonded on the new high tech material to the shoe and then cooked it for a while to cure the bonding agent. So seems like they used old shoes with new material. Might want to find a brake specialist that does that kind of stuff.
Click to expand...
Thanks Thor1950, that sounds perfect. Will search for brake specialists instead of the shoes as they come... I imagine if I speak to enough of them someone will be able to, or know someone who is.
 
Pete_01 said:
Thanks Thor1950, that sounds perfect. Will search for brake specialists instead of the shoes as they come... I imagine if I speak to enough of them someone will be able to, or know someone who is.
Click to expand...
I just did a google and there are several brake relining specialist in the UK listed in the search results
 
Had a call back from Industrial Friction, a nice chap called Michael who seemed to know his stuff about brakes, and he said that a Kevlar comound wasn't the way to go as it is very expensive and way above what you would need. Apparently, kevlar is exceeds everything else at high temperature but if you just want to be able to stop better in an emergency and your brakes are cool then he has something else he recommends (he did tell me and I tried to write it down but I don't think I heard him properly as google gave me nothing).
He said once he was done I would be able to stop on a sixpence. Has previously done work on large amercian classics that failed their MOT because they wouldn't stop so they went to him to sort it out.
Price was £80 for 4 shoes and he would have them sent out within 1 working day of recieving them (if he got them in the morning, they would be out again that day)
 
ovalandrover said:
On my series 3 i fitted a vacuum servo and the braking improved dramatically.
Click to expand...
Yeah I have a servo and the brakes are still very casual.
As this is my first old Land Rover it's difficult to know if there is an issue or if I am just being a bit precious.

When I first got it the brakes were scary and I spoke to other people and they said "yeah, that is just old land rovers". Turns out they needed bleeding and that helped massively.

I haven't taken them apart yet so there could be some slight contamination which if cleared would help more.

After speaking to the friction expert he said I could end up with brakes that are properly sharp so I am tempted to give it a go...
 
Pete_01 said:
After speaking to the friction expert he said I could end up with brakes that are properly sharp so I am tempted to give it a go...
Click to expand...
The only downside I can see with this approach is the guy behind you in the fancy new car with the monster disc brakes all round will see your brake lights come on and think to himself "It's only an old Land Rover, I don't have to start braking ye....." Crunch.:eek:
I look forward to reading your thread on rebuilding the back end of a Series 3.:D
 
brian47 said:
The only downside I can see with this approach is the guy behind you in the fancy new car with the monster disc brakes all round will see your brake lights come on and think to himself "It's only an old Land Rover, I don't have to start braking ye....." Crunch.:eek:
I look forward to reading your thread on rebuilding the back end of a Series 3.:D
Click to expand...

Haha. Good use of ":eek:" emoji!
I never looked at the possibility of being rear ended as being a luxury...
 
Pete_01 said:
Had a call back from Industrial Friction, a nice chap called Michael who seemed to know his stuff about brakes, and he said that a Kevlar comound wasn't the way to go as it is very expensive and way above what you would need. Apparently, kevlar is exceeds everything else at high temperature but if you just want to be able to stop better in an emergency and your brakes are cool then he has something else he recommends (he did tell me and I tried to write it down but I don't think I heard him properly as google gave me nothing).
He said once he was done I would be able to stop on a sixpence. Has previously done work on large amercian classics that failed their MOT because they wouldn't stop so they went to him to sort it out.
Price was £80 for 4 shoes and he would have them sent out within 1 working day of recieving them (if he got them in the morning, they would be out again that day)
Click to expand...
NIce - but it would be good if you could find out what type of product he is recommending!
 
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