Date:         Fri, 23 Aug 2002 09:32:53 -0600
Reply-To:     Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gary Shea <shea@GTSDESIGN.COM>
Subject:      Re: Rear brakes, 87 syncro - how long?
Comments: To: van man <vannman99@YAHOO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20020823151627.14899.qmail@web14913.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

[2002-08-23 08:16 -0700] van man (vannman99@YAHOO.COM) wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Hoping someone can shed some light on how much more
> difficult it is to do the rear brakes on an 87 than it
> is to do the fronts.  Will it take much longer?  I did
> the fronts recently without much trouble, and have
> done other things like cv's, starter, slave,
> alternator, throttle body, etc.
>
> Im short on time these days, but 400-500 bucks = my
> Old Man Emus...
>
> Any special tools?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jeff

The rear brakes are a bit more trouble, especially if the drum doesn't
want to separate from the hub.  There are more parts and more tweaking
to be done (for instance if the drum is sticking because the shoes are
catching in a wear groove in the drum).  A lot dirtier too!  But
overall, they're very straightforward and require no special tools.
If the drums won't separate from the hubs due to corrosion, well, then
things get fun.  But that's just when you _don't_ want some mechanic in
a hurry whacking on your drums with a sledgehammer...

Be very very clear on how the self-adjuster fits in there!  It's easy to
get it in upside down and backwards, and then the self-adjuster doesn't
work (not that mine have ever worked in _either_ position...).

Good luck!

        Gary