Volks, I am having a brake issue with my 81 that is truly puzzling. I have done brake work on several vanagons, and seem to get good results, on one van i know ofjust touch the pedal and you will hit the window!!!!! However on my personal daily driver my brakes SUCK! Here is what I have done. New pads/rotors both sides including new pins and pad plates New rubber flex lines on all corners New rear brake springs New rear pads and drums New master cylinder Rebuilt brake booster As you can see, you name it, i have replaced it, and they still suck. Last Tuesday i pressure bled the system, and same result. Here are the symptoms. Pedal is not harm or firm......spongy. I have done a complete fluid change with the same results....nothing seems to be leaking. The rear drums are adjusted, and the e brake holds on the third click. The only thing that i can think of is just maybe the brake adjusting mechanism is backwards. There is no good pic in any of my repair manuals of how the forked end on the adjustment bar goes..........I only do one side at a time when i do brakes, so i did not mismatch parts, although a previous owner may have..............If anyone has a pic of a correctly put together set of brake shoes on the rear of a vanagon, please send it on...i might be bale to see how that fork should go. They should stop on a dime, and they do not. It feels like i need to pump, but pumping does not help. hold them to the floor and they never "lock up" any ideas would sure help.......other than that my van is running great!!! I do a lot of mountain traveling, and thus need better brakes. Adam P 81 westy (3 of them) 74 beetle 73 Transporter (at paint shop!) 70 Single Cab "Whitey" Vanagon Partsmobiles |
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