The Brake SubsystemThe brakes get their hydraulic pressure directly from the suspension. While the suspension subsystems are themselves isolated front and aft, so are the brake subsystems. Each pressure line comes into the brake "button" independently, and is sent independently to the front calipers and rear drums respectively. The primary reason for taking the pressure from the suspension is safety. If there was ever a catstrophic loss of pressure in the vehicle, for example a failure of the pump, there would be adequate pressure in the suspension to power the brakes enough to bring the car to a stop. The side effect of this, however, is that the loss of pressure in the load-bearing shocks causes a slight but sudden loss of height. This effect is counter-acted in the front by introducing another pressurized sphere into the system. It is called the "brake accumulator," and it stores enough pressure that the front suspension height is not affected when the brakes are applied. There is no such accumulator in the rear, because the loss of suspension height is not a bad thing in this case. When brakes are applied at high speed, the vehicle naturally wants to "nose dive." By reducing the height of the rear suspension when the brakes are applied, the rear sinks slightly and counter-acts the dive effect.
<-- previous | done | next --> |