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Brake Bias?

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UNCDROCK57

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How do you guys have your brake bias on your buggies. Do you have the front so they lock up and the rear just grabbing alittle, or do you have the back so they lock up and the front grabbing alittle. I have mine setup now that the front locks up and the rear grabs alittle, so that the back doesn't lock up. But I found that it takes away from the steering when you brake into a turn when the front wheels lock up. How do you guys have your brake bias on your buggies.
 
I run mine so the rear locks up at full brakes, and the front are just barely turning, this is when I have 50% dual rate on the Tx at dead cold (100% and both will lock hard). So, when I first start running I have the brakes where I like them and as the disks heat up and fade, I just increase the rate on the Tx to compensate for fade.

Setting the front to lock is counterproductive. Locking the front dumps just about all of you turning authority, especially if the rears are still turning. Set them the other way round and you'll be able to get the rear to break free easier in order to enter a drift.
 
The only way a car will steer under any kind of braking is if the front wheels are turning. If you locked up the front wheels and turned them, the wheels would turn for sure. But the car would continue in a straight line. Hence the invention of ABS. I run my brakes 80% up front and 20% in the rear. I don't want lockup either up front or in the rear. I put so much emphasis on the front of my buggy. I have heavier diff oil up front than in the rear, heavier braking up front than in the rear. All of my control for my driving style demands alot of control up front. Under any kind of braking, but more importantly heavy braking, weight will shift forward placing more weight bias up front and less on the rear.
If your setup had more brake in the rear and less in the front and you had to brake hard, the weight transfer would cause your setup to be counterproductive. Look at many of todays passenger vehicles. Large, vented dual disks up front. Small, single, un-vented in the rear. The standard in the automotive industry is 5-10% more bias up front. But hey, these are nitro buggies. And most important of all ...... Brakes don't stop cars ......... Tires do !! Choose them well.
 
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True, I just don't split hairs about the percentages. I look at the buggy, if the front tires lock, I got too much brakes up front. The way I drive, I want the rear to lock so that I can force it to start drifting on tight turns. The percentages I was referring to are the brake dual rates (I run a JR XS-3, so you can adjust the total ammount of brakes by small increments). When the brakes heat up, I edge the rate up, but the bias between front and rear stays the same (just more force comming from the servo).
 
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