Vanguard brakes

[Argonaut420]

Hello all and thanks for taking time to read this. I purchased my first Argo this summer, a 1996 Vanguard, and love the machine! I don’t have a lot of free time to enjoy it but have managed to give her a little attention and installed some new axles and bearings. The problem is with my brakes. I have installed new pads and adjusted as per the manual but they seem very soft and a lot of pressure is required to stop/turn. I re adjusted last evening and they do feel much better yet I can still smell brakes burning.(note that previously they would overheat within 20 min of light use). I’m aware that the cam needs to be installed over the ball bearings so that the balls sit in the deepest part of cam. When I do this my inside pad on either side will rub the rotor long before the outside pads come close. Thus why it’s been overheating. I shimmed the springs on the pad mounting bolts and got it very close but still can’t seem to get the pads equally spaced and not rubbing.

In all my efforts, I noticed the gearbox appears a little crooked, yet when measured from brake disk it’s okay. Are the box mounting holes slotted for adjustment? And the brackets for either Caliper do not line up perfectly with the rotors and literally flex when brakes are applied. Should I just tweak them with a sledge to re align or is this normal?
I feel like I’m just missing a step on the adjusting but information is relatively hard to find on this machine.

Thanks to anyone who may be able to help me out. And if anyone has any experience converting a vanguard to hyd brakes I’d have a few questions

[2000gtacoma]

Hello all and thanks for taking time to read this. I purchased my first Argo this summer, a 1996 Vanguard, and love the machine! I don’t have a lot of free time to enjoy it but have managed to give her a little attention and installed some new axles and bearings. The problem is with my brakes. I have installed new pads and adjusted as per the manual but they seem very soft and a lot of pressure is required to stop/turn. I re adjusted last evening and they do feel much better yet I can still smell brakes burning.(note that previously they would overheat within 20 min of light use). I’m aware that the cam needs to be installed over the ball bearings so that the balls sit in the deepest part of cam. When I do this my inside pad on either side will rub the rotor long before the outside pads come close. Thus why it’s been overheating. I shimmed the springs on the pad mounting bolts and got it very close but still can’t seem to get the pads equally spaced and not rubbing.

In all my efforts, I noticed the gearbox appears a little crooked, yet when measured from brake disk it’s okay. Are the box mounting holes slotted for adjustment? And the brackets for either Caliper do not line up perfectly with the rotors and literally flex when brakes are applied. Should I just tweak them with a sledge to re align or is this normal?
I feel like I’m just missing a step on the adjusting but information is relatively hard to find on this machine.

Thanks to anyone who may be able to help me out. And if anyone has any experience converting a vanguard to hyd brakes I’d have a few questions

I bought a Vanguard this summer as well. Did a complete tear down and rebuild. I found when adjusting my brakes if the back bolt was too tight that could hinder the adjustment of the front. Not sure if that makes sense. I believe it is possible to convert to hydraulic brakes as the Vanguard 2 is hydraulic. However how much time, effort, and money it would take I am not sure of.

[oz argo]

I carry 2 spanners with me and adjust the brakes as they heat up ,they expand and will get tight as they get hotter and get loose when they are cold,have never been able to get them to not rub a little on one side. biggest problem is the ball cams ware down and once the balls fall out the brake don't work well at all,I have replaced only one set of brakes due to the pads being worn out and another 2 sets due to the ball housing wearing out . 890 hours on the machine now so it is something i have put up with .hope this helps