[DeTomaso] tech question for anyone that has upgraded their brake system

[Tom Borcich]

Boyd, to get an initial balance between front and rear here is a quick way to start. Obviously you have to have 
the brakes bled so you are getting accurate pressures to all calipers. Second, put your car up on blocks, so all 
your wheels are off the ground and freely spin. Get a helper to sit and apply pressure to the brake pedal. If you
 can get a two more people to rotate the front and rear wheels during adjustment that's probably best. Have the 
people on the wheels rotating the wheels one side (front and rear) and have the person in the drivers seat apply 
the brakes gradually. The fronts brakes should lock before the rears. Keep adjusting the balance bar until you 
get that spot. You generally don't want the rear brakes to be locking up in corners before the fronts because it 
will put the car into a tail spin. This gives you a good starting point. Now you can start fine tuning.  Weight 
distribution, tire size (larger rears will  have a lot more traction than the fronts) can all be a factor. Driving 
in a straight line may not be the best test line, you want to try driving the car in a nice big circle 
to use as your skid pad (find a big parking lot/football or base ball stadium. Drive the car at speed and apply 
the brakes and see how it reacts and what you like. This is how we set up the McLaren Can Am car and it worked 
great. I've been thinking about the big red brakes for my car with an adjustable proportion valve that has a knob stubbing up
through the floor pan just in front of the drivers seat so I can adjust the brake bias on the fly.  Reality is on a street 
car once you get a good setting you probably aren't driving on the edge and don't need to make any adjustments.`

Best Regards,
 
Tom