Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:22:51 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Brake work pictures
In-Reply-To: <015e01ca0cb8$ed2e9810$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Pretty much ever car I've worked on since the sixties (yes, european
cars had them back then) you pull out the two bolt or knock out the
two pins with a punch (in the case of a Vanagon) that hold the shoes
in. Then you can take some longnose and pull the shoes out.
If you are just replacing shoes (this seldom happens) you can use a
prybar or screwdriver to reach into the recess where the pads came out
of and slowly and carefully pry the calipers EVENLY wide enough to get
the new pads into that spot, because the new ones are always thicker
than the old one. There is a special tool to spread the calipers
available at your FLAPS. If this is all you're doing, replace the pins
and put the wheel back on. Be sure to keep track of any shims and
springs you might have taken out and get them back in exactly the same
way or you will have squeals and squeeks.
If, when you inspected your brake disc, you felt much of a lip at the
edge, you need new rotors too. Good german engineering dictates that
the pad and the metal of the disk wear together. You can mike the disc
and compare it to specs, that's the right way to do it.
If you're going this far, pick up a set of bearings and replace them
now or you will have to do the whole thing over come bearing time. And
get a spray can of anti-squeal and a can of brake cleaner.
Ok, you've pulled the shoes as above. Now remove the bolt at the top
or bottom of the caliper housing and swing the housing up off the
disc. Use a coathanger length to suspend it so that the brake hose
doesn't get strained. Pull the cotter and undo the nut. Before you can
do this on the drivers side on a VW you have to pull the little clip
on the square thing sticking out of the grease cover (this square
thing is the end of the speedometer cable) and keep the clip where it
won't get lost. Pull both calipers. Take a long brass drift on a stack
of newspaper and tap the bearings out, letting the drift go around the
outer bearing race as you tap as if you were giving it a circular
tatoo, if you are saving the bearings. If not, chuck the whole
rotor/bearing assemblies.
Get yourself a good tube of high temp grease (Amsoil Purple will do
nicely) and open the tube. Put plastic out and get a handful of grease
and work it into every space in the bearing and do this to all four
bearings. Tap the new greased bearings into place. Use the brake
cleaner to get every vestige of grease off the disc and then coat both
sides with anti-squeal spray. Change gloves. Tighten the nut to
bentley spec and put the cotters in and bend the tips. Put the grease
caps on and pull the speedometer cable through the drivers side and
press the clip on. Drop the caliper assemblies down over the disk, put
the fastener bolt back in and go to paragraph two.
NO grease on the shoes or the rotors/discs.
Put the wheels back on and you're done.
Jim
On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 6:46 PM, Scott Daniel -
Turbovans<scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> or, I was gonna say ......
> the Bentley Manual isn't of sufficient help ?
>
> also .......there are more than one version of disc brakes on a vanagon
> .....
> so you might say what year.
> the early type is very straightforward, the 86 and later a little more
> involved.
> Scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 3:46 PM
> Subject: Re: Brake work pictures
>
>
> It's pretty easy. I don't think I have any pictures, but what do you
> need to know?
>
> Jim
>
> On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 5:38 PM, John Rodgers<inua@charter.net> wrote:
>>
>> Would someone please point me to some web pictures of Vanagon Disc
>> Brake Repair?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> John Rodgers
>> 88 GL Driver
>>
>
>
