TR 4 brakes

[hooperman46]

The basic brakes on a TR4 are not brilliant, what would owners recommend for the biggest cost effective improvement?

[RogerH]

My 4A is basically the same but work quite well.  A little heavy with no servo.

 

What can you do.   Better discs, Better pads,    Are the brake shoes in good order. Quite often not.

Are the cylinders sliding as they should.

And a servo.

[Drewmotty]

Be careful not to confuse poor brakes with high pedal effort.

Can you lock the wheels if you really lean on the pedal?  Does the car stop in a straight line? Does the front lock before the rear? If so the brakes are more than likely fine.

A servo will reduce pedal effort but not improve braking. Relatively high pedal effort on a car without ABS is not a bad thing. It stops you locking everything up in an emergency and makes the brakes a lot easier to modulate when driving quickly.

[Hamish]

Whilst mine is a 3a the brakes are very good with the right pads. 
I run very sticky tyres so should be hard to lock with poor brakes. 
someone kindly shared this picture of me braking a bit too late at Loton park hill climb. 

Edited August 25 by Hamish

[RogerH]

The sound effects are good as well

 

 

 

 

[North London Mike]

LNK is an early TR4, and has TR3a brakes, no pins, and, as a pre 63 car would be eligible for historic racing.

i.e, SIX hours at Spa at full tilt using the standard brakes, pads choice is optional, no problem, AND by extension more than adequate for road use

So, nothing wrong with the brakes and, despite numerous upgrades, I still have standard brakes............and at its best on 1144's (if you can stand the dust 😑)

My one concession to my 70+ years is a servo................

[stuart]

18 hours ago, hooperman46 said:

The basic brakes on a TR4 are not brilliant, what would owners recommend for the biggest cost effective improvement?

If your brakes arent brilliant then they need going through with possibly caliper rebuild and new discs and pads and rear cylinders and shoes. Also the rear cylinders need to slide properly in the back plates. TR brakes are very good and OK maybe fit a servo but all that does is lessen the pedal effort. Dont be swayed by so called "Upgrades" I can lock mine up under hard braking and thats on 195 tyres.

Stuart.

[Kiwifrog]

Every time I take my TR3a for its French MOT the tester comments on how good the brakes are. If your brakes are not upto standard I would highly recommend taking Stuart’s advice above 

[earckens]

On 8/26/2026 at 8:30 PM, Kiwifrog said:

Every time I take my TR3a for its French MOT the tester comments on how good the brakes are.

When I took my TR4 to its 5-annual checkup (southern France) the controller did not even know how to release the handbrake.

Never would I let a french mechanic even touch my car 😁.

[stuart]

Just now, earckens said:

When I took my TR4 to its 5-annual checkup (southern France) the controller did not even know how to release the handbrake.

Never would I let a french mechanic even touch my car 😁.

Thats OK there arent many UK testers that understand a fly off handbrake either!

Stuart.

[David Farmery]

Must admit,  it took me a while to grasp it🥴

[Kiwifrog]

On 8/31/2026 at 5:21 PM, earckens said:

When I took my TR4 to its 5-annual checkup (southern France) the controller did not even know how to release the handbrake.

Never would I let a french mechanic even touch my car 😁.

Not quite the case for me, I know a couple of French mechanics who I would trust completely to work on my cars if need be, one even posts on this forum from time to time. It’s like everything you have to do your homework 

[earckens]

8 hours ago, Kiwifrog said:

It’s like everything you have to do your homework 

I did. That is why..