brakes

[vaibhav]

why does the bleed screw have to be at the highest position while bleeding?where can I order braided brake lines and joints from??

[vaibhav]

why does the bleed screw have to be at the highest position while bleeding?where can I order braided brake lines and joints from??

[Pete M]

Brake fluid is more dense than air, so the air floats to the top. It's a lot easier to bleed something if the air naturally wants to go to where you are bleeding it from.

[Drew Price]

If the bleeder is above the surface of the fluid in the reservoirs you will have to use a pressurized bleeder, or some fabrication to force fluid all the way to the top of the caliper and out the bleeder.

This can be done as easily as tilting the car, but I like the calipers mounted low anyway, and isn't a problem for us.

Best,
Drew

[exFSAE]

Now that I think of it.. if the fluid level in the reservoirs is higher than the bleed point do you even need to pump the brakes and crap when you're bleeding em?

Or can you take advantage of that whole gravity thing?

[Drew Price]

If the system flows freely enough it should bleed itself by cracking the bleeders, pumping the pedal/masters will speed everything up though, especially on an FSAE setup, where "above the bleeder level" may only be above by a few inches, thus not much pressure head. In a road car where the masters are up near the top of the engine compartment, you might have 12-18 inches to get a good pressure head going.

Try it an see!

Best,
Drew

[mtg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by exFSAE:
can you take advantage of that whole gravity thing? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, unless you value your time.

I use a vacuum pump until it gets close to stiff, then finish it off the old fashioned way. That works every time.

I've seen some kart racers use the gravity technique successfully, but they took the whole brake system off and could manipulate it very easily.