Go Kart Racing Brakes

Video Transcript

Hi, my name is Tommy and we're speaking on behalf of Expert Village. Today we are going to talk a little bit about braking systems. The braking systems on these karts are hydraulically operated, they have either two or four pistons in them, they have small brake pads, this is actually a pretty large brake pad, they come in all different sizes and manufacturers of brake pads. They also come in different compounds and different compounds are usually shown as different colors on the backside. It just gives you different degrees of braking. Some of the better brakes are self returning and self adjusting brakes, some of the other brakes have springs in them that make them return and you have to shim them. The braking systems on smaller karts have smaller pads. The braking systems on the front of the karts have smaller pads and then the braking systems on the rear usually have a bigger pad and a bigger heavier braking system. This particular brake here has two, has four pistons in the master, in the brake caliper, this one here has two and on this kart it also has two. It has the little retainer springs inside that go through and return the pads from this one. Generally your brake pads wear and when they get down to where there is not much left and you only have metal, then you have to replace the brake pads. Depending on how many brakes you have on your kart, is, is, has a lot to do with how long they last, and what kind of track that you are on. You know, some of the brake pads, I had one customer that ran very competitively all year and he used no brake pads all year long. He ran eight races and won a championship doing that. I have other competitors that, like at our track, where the track is real short, a lot of stopping, he'll go through brake pads every other week. A lot of it depends on driving styles also.

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