Brakes upgrade?

[Dave F]

Hi,

 

I have a 3.0 2006 Alphard, converted to camper, and never been very impressed with the brakes.  It stops, but to stop quick it needs a real proper push on the pedal, and seems to lack initial bite.  There's no real lip on the discs, and the pads look ok.  Is ths normal with the added weight of a conversion ?  Surely thats no more than a full load in passenger form?  Has anyone upgraded?  Thanks

[Rojie]

10 hours ago, Dave F said:

Hi,

 

I have a 3.0 2006 Alphard, converted to camper, and never been very impressed with the brakes.  It stops, but to stop quick it needs a real proper push on the pedal, and seems to lack initial bite.  There's no real lip on the discs, and the pads look ok.  Is ths normal with the added weight of a conversion ?  Surely thats no more than a full load in passenger form?  Has anyone upgraded?  Thanks

 

You could try and bleed the brakes to see if that improves the 'feel'.

You could consider changing the front pads for ones known to be OEM.

I believe some owners fit improved brake hoses too.

 

Good Luck

[Dave F]

Thanks Rojie,

 

Good plan, I'll start with a brake fluid change, i've no idea how old the stuff in there is.  👍

[OldTrouserFace]

Hi Dave, 

 

I spotted your post and wondered you managed to get the brakes to improve? We’ve recently picked up a conversion and I’ve been thinking the same as your original post here; they are fine, but you have to press pretty hard if you need to stop fast. 
 

I then spotted you are in Southampton; us too! Did you get the bottom half wrapped? Are you pleased with it and could I ask where you had it done? 
 

Many thanks!

Josh

[Dave F]

Hi Josh,

 

Did the brake fluid, I think the old stuff may have been very old, it was the colour of milky tea! The brakes are better, but only an improvement, they are still not what I would call good, but a bit more bite on the first part of the pedal travel.  Guess the old fluid had got "airy" over time, thats why it looked like that.  I gonna put some new pads in next, not decided what ones yet, need to do some research.

 

The colour - we specced it like that and it was quoted at £1200. Not sure if it was any cheaper because we had it done while the van was being converted.  Its paint, and if I say so I think its quite a good job.  I dont think a wrap would have been much cheaper.  We bought the Van from Milldown campers in Kent - he has a local paint guy he uses for all his "two tones".

 

If you are looking for a wrap - I would recommend monster wrap in Hedge End - my buddy had his motorbike done there - bikes are supposed to be quite difficult, and they did a good job on it - it looks very good.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[MonsterS]

Alphard servo/drums give longer travel length. There is really no way of improving them unless you replace all rubber lines with race lines (metal braided lines, available from Ben Hau).

 

 

[OldTrouserFace]

On 6/6/2023 at 10:19 AM, Dave F said:

Hi Josh,

 

Did the brake fluid, I think the old stuff may have been very old, it was the colour of milky tea! The brakes are better, but only an improvement, they are still not what I would call good, but a bit more bite on the first part of the pedal travel.  Guess the old fluid had got "airy" over time, thats why it looked like that.  I gonna put some new pads in next, not decided what ones yet, need to do some research.

 

The colour - we specced it like that and it was quoted at £1200. Not sure if it was any cheaper because we had it done while the van was being converted.  Its paint, and if I say so I think its quite a good job.  I dont think a wrap would have been much cheaper.  We bought the Van from Milldown campers in Kent - he has a local paint guy he uses for all his "two tones".

 

If you are looking for a wrap - I would recommend monster wrap in Hedge End - my buddy had his motorbike done there - bikes are supposed to be quite difficult, and they did a good job on it - it looks very good.

 

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave. That’s all really helpful stuff. Sorry for not replying sooner (I didn’t realise it wouldn’t send an alert). 
 

I will keep an eye out for you in Southampton!

 

J