Date:         Thu, 19 Jan 1995 13:45:01 EST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         hupham@fscvax.fsc.mass.edu
Subject:      Re: Speakin' of brakes



Brakes!!!


AUUUGHHH!


Someone wants me to stay alive and that's all there is to it.

I was running an errand for the shop where I work.  Cruising about in my '70
campmobile, I get to a red light.  My brake pedal felt a little... weird.
I wouldn't hae noticed it if things were different, i.e. radio on or anything.
But there was clearly a difference in how my pedal felt.  So I did something
I often do to check my brakes, and I would suggest others try it too.

I stomped on them with all my might, putting the proerbial "four men and a
boy's" pressure into the system.

A rear wheel cylinder promptly exploded, gutting my brakes and rendering my
bus undriveable for a bit.

After a tow back to the shop where I work and a 3-day wait for parts, I was
back in business.  I was especially nice to it, giving it new rear wheel
bearings, shoes and a cv boot/repack while I was at it.

The dash light never came on, but was tested operational the day before
and immediately afterwards...  Odd.

I recommend that everyone give their brakes an amazingly abusive test every now
and then.  Sure, time it right so that you are in the parking lot of a good
Auto-supply house with no major trips planned if you are suspect, but it's
a whole lot better to discover braking deficiencies when you expect to,
rather than when you can't afford them.


Harris