The hydraulic system:

Main menu hydraulics The complete hydraulic system The Brake system The height control system The fluid pressure control The hydraulic diagrams

The brake system:

Introduction Diagnostics table Conjunction of components Components:    Brake calipers    Brake distribution valve      Brake pressure limiting valve    Master cylinder

The Brake calipers

In the next animation two drawings illustrate the working of a brake caliper.
For a view on each separate drawing you can go to the bottom of this page.

The next drawing shows the front brake caliper provided with some explanations:

The Silver Shadow has six brake calipers. The front wheel brake discs are provided with two calipers each that contain one set of pistons. The rear wheel brake discs have one caliper containing two separated sets of pistons. In the beginning the two rear sets of pistons were of different sizes. Later cars have pistons of the same size. The pistons in the piston chambers in the calipers are protected from dirt by a dust seal. The hydraulic fluid flows to all calipers through internal channels drilled in the caliper houses. When the brakes are activated the hydraulic pressure will increase causing the pistons to move in the direction of the brake disc. The braking pads between the pistons and the disc will be forced against the disc surface. This will cause friction on to the disc causing the car to slow down. Brake pistons are made of cast iron. The surface is covered with chrome. These materials are used in order to prevent the pistons from overheating. The pistons are activated by two different brake distribution valves. These valves are connected to the brake pedal. If the brake pedal is operated the valves will open, allowing the high pressure fluid to activate the pistons. Because there is no feedback from this action, a master cylinder is connected to the brake pedal in order to get some feedback. In later cars, when the master cylinder was omitted, a rubber stopper provided the feedback in the braking pedal. The brake distribution valves and the master cylinder are mounted in the brake actuation box. This box is fitted under the car right beneath the driver's seat.

The front caliper looks as follows:

And the rear caliper:

The animated drawing at the top of this page is built-up with the next drawings.

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