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Date:         Tue, 5 Jun 2012 10:19:37 -0700
Reply-To:     Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Big brakes--you have no idea!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

My '68 Westy had non-power assisted drum brakes all around-what a cruel joke that was! One step above dragging your heels on the ground. I converted it into a high top and it was way beyond its design limits when loaded, probably even when not. I was young and stupid. We had to come down a long hill to get to our house, and I could turn off about 2/3 of the way down for the shortest route, but my wife could never stop the thing on the hill and had to run all the way down until it leveled off to stop and turn. We were both young and stupid.

My worst experience was on the Grapevine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine,_California) coming north fully loaded. For those who don't know this route, it's a really long 6% grade. Seems like miles. By the time I realized I was having brake fade, I was going too fast to downshift (trucker's nightmare), and my speed was increasing. To safely negotiate this descent I would have had to slow down and shift into third at the top and go down at 40 to 45 mph, but I learned that too late. Two things saved us: It was long and straight with light traffic, and the poor aerodynamics limited my speed to about 85. Ever seen those gravel emergency truck turnouts? I was considering using one but was able to ride it out. Had to change my pants afterward though.

Sold that rig shortly after that trip.

BTW, brake fade is due to vaporization of the pad material from overheating, which creates a layer of vaporized bonding material between the pad and the drum/rotor. This vapor layer is a real good lubricant! I had a firm pedal (can't get hot enough to boil the fluid in a drum brake cylinder), but it doesn't matter how hard you stand on it. Slots and holes in rotors help cool the pads and dissipate this build-up of gasses.

Stuart

'85 Westy


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