Alcon officially launched its SMART brake insert at this year’s expo. SMART stands for Spherically Mounted ARTiculating inserts, and were developed to address brake pedal feel degradation from uneven or taper-worn brake pads.
Taper-worn pads introduce an angular gap between the pad and the caliper piston as the contact relationship is no longer parallel. A brake caliper with taper-worn pads will use more brake fluid in closing this angular gap when the brakes are applied and therefore present a longer brake pedal travel to the driver.
