Rear Brake Load Adjuster Question

Following a suspension lift on your Jimny has anyone altered their rear brake load adjuster. I've read that when the the Jimny has weight in the back it adjusts the rear brakes so that they do more work. Working on logic, now that mine is 3" higher, it must think that there is never any weight in the back and therefore the rear brakes are doing little, if no work?

My brakes seem pretty good, however I'd like to know that both the front and rear brakes are doing their bit to give the best stopping power possible.

It doesn't get any lighter because it is higher so you will still have the same weight distribution - tyres will have more impact on stopping distances

darthloachie wrote: It doesn't get any lighter because it is higher so you will still have the same weight distribution - tyres will have more impact on stopping distances

My thinking is that now the axle is further away from the chassis, the adjuster spring is now stretched which must 'fool' the adjusted in thinking that the rear brakes arent requires as much so reduced the power of them. Then when I put stuff in the back or have a trailer on, due to the lift, the adjuster spring is still going to be stretched (unless the weight compresses the springs by 3"+ , which would probably take a hell of a lot of weight).

You are correct. The adjuster is designed to adjust the braking power to the rear depending on the load in the Jimny and the way it does this is based on the tension in the spring. You will see that the Trail Master Kit in the store has an additional bracket to put the adjuster back into its normal position after a lift.

However there is some adjustment in the mounting point as standard and the bracket in the kit is only a piece of metal so I am sure you can sort something out.



Martin

doh! how thick am I - knew Martin would have the answer

Funnily enough I have just altered the bracket on mine for the very reason the back brakes aren't doing much. Last time it was MOT'd they didn't do much at all. I have a 3" lift so I have extended the spring bracket by 3" so the spring is not now under any tension and pushes the leaver on the valve back to where it was. Not sure it makes much difference but makes me think it should!

Obarno wrote: Funnily enough I have just altered the bracket on mine for the very reason the back brakes aren't doing much. Last time it was MOT'd they didn't do much at all. I have a 3" lift so I have extended the spring bracket by 3" so the spring is not now under any tension and pushes the leaver on the valve back to where it was. Not sure it makes much difference but makes me think it should!

Thanks for the info all . Obarno, Do you have any photos of the bracket? I think I will fabricate one this weekend and would be great to see one already done and fitted.

Cheers,

Adam

Hi Adam - its very simple really just a piece of 4mm strip with a hole at each end 3 inches apart. The bottom hole is offset slightly so that the strip locates against the lip on the original bracket. It seems perfectly strong. The part the spring fits on to unbolts. I have attached a couple of pics - if I had known when I made it that it was going to be photo'd I would have painted it!
Have fun - Peter

Obarno wrote: Hi Adam - its very simple really just a piece of 4mm strip with a hole at each end 3 inches apart. The bottom hole is offset slightly so that the strip locates against the lip on the original bracket. It seems perfectly strong. The part the spring fits on to unbolts. I have attached a couple of pics - if I had known when I made it that it was going to be photo'd I would have painted it!
Have fun - Peter

Thanks for the photos Peter! Looks very straight forward so I think I'll make one this weekend . Did you notice your braking power increase after you fitted it?

Cheers,

Adam

Hi Adam - I noticed two things after fiting it - the brake performance was definitely better and also the pedal felt better too - a bit firmer. Hope it works ok for yours - Peter

I've made my bracket which was very straight forward and have noticed 2 things:

1) My brakes are better
2) My Steering wobble has reduced significantly !!

I haven't got a clue why doing something to the rear brakes would reduce the wobble, it is most probably just a coincidence but it is now much better to drive .

I' also fitted a Klaxon (argh oogh aaa) horn

Thanks for the all the info and photos Peter!!

Well done on the wobble!!! Luckily I've never experienced it (touches huge piece of timber )

Can't wait to hear that Klaxon