Just one more safety thought...check your brakes

I’m admittedly a little paranoid with brakes, I check everything before hitting the track, every time, no exception, and I recently got reminded of the importance of it.

Yesterday I was track side for the last session of the day and called a friend in, interrupting his session after a couple of laps, for something unrelated. As he pulled into the pits, I noticed one of the reservoir caps was not on anymore, and of course it was the front, oil leaked out almost completely. One more lap and he would have faced disaster.

So as you check everything, don’t forget the stupid little screws that hold the caps (or tighten the cap, if twist type), as it may save your day

4 Likes

Scary to think about what can happen when brakes fail. I always make sure to put tape around the screw type reservoir caps.

1 Like

I’ll have to dig up the video where I just had to set it sideways and hang on as I realized due to an axle shift I had no brakes.

Big take away I know recognize the signs of axle shift from a brake pedal feel

2 Likes

I had this happen my first KA race last year. Turns out my chassis is a little tweaked in the rear, and loosening the 3rd bearing because it was set up as a shifter caused the set screws on the others to unbind and loosen up.

Barely missed the jump at the end of McMinnville’s CW straight.

3 Likes

Yep mine was going into turn 3 hairpin at PSGKA. Little scary. Tires softened the blow.

1 Like

pretty much, the only mechanical issues i’ve had karting have been brake related. scary stuff when you find out on track. mine were related to not bleeding the system correctly, and pad wear. the pad wear was the sneaky one. with my kart, arrow x2, the pads are pretty thick to start with, and they’ll have plenty of material on them, even when the pistons are maxed out. so it all looks good, you’ll have enough travel and pressure to stop the axle on the kart stand, but not enough on track, and you take a trip into the grass or the guy in front of you.

1 Like

Last race at BMP a guy stepped on the 90* fitting on his TB kart. That loosened up the break line and he had no brakes going into the first turn. He hit my rear tire and flipped. The was knocked out but luckily no one was hurt.

Here’s my son running into to things due to brake failure.

I’ve always ruminated on this… what exactly would I do if I found myself EOS at 60+ with brakes failed? I suspect I’d try to get it sideways, take the hit broadside, glancing if I can.