Date:         Wed, 3 Jan 1996 14:13:36 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         jbrill@unlinfo.unl.edu (James Brill)
Subject:      Front disks '71 bus

Hello all, I wonder if I could bother you for a second with a couple 
or three questions about my bus.  I have a '71 Campmobile.  This past 
week I was off from work so I took the opportunity to do some work on 
the bus.  What else?  I replaced all four of the rubber brake hoses, 
all front wheel bearings and seals, front pads and had the rotors 
turned.  Oh, I replaced the seals in the calipers.  I now have brakes!
Also, the sound of the dying bearing is gone.  I guess this is where I
get into questions.  The bus used to pull when I applied the brakes.  
It was either a partially clogged line, a stuck caliper or a 
combination of the two.  It didn't appear that either caliper was 
moving too much.  On one side the pads were within a mm or two of the 
metal, on the other, they looked new.  It used to be that I had very 
little pedal travel and it was very firm.  Now, I have about two 
inches or so of travel, about one third of the way to the floor.  They
have been bleed several times.  I am assuming that the firmness of the
pedal before was a result of the tiny amount of movement I was getting
out of the calipers.  It makes sense to me that the pedal would move 
more now since the calipers are actually moving.  So, is the amount of 
pedal movement I have now within the acceptable range?  It stops 
straight and fast without pumping or fading.  The rears are as 
adjusted as they are going to get.  They get all the same treatment in
the near future.  The pedal moves that 1/3 and stops.  Nice brakes, 
just more pedal movement than I used to have.

Next item.  I took the book and the rotors down to the machine shop to
get them turned.  Maybe I read it wrong, ok I did.  Somewhere in there
it said to not use them below 11.5mm, somewhere else it said to not 
machine them below 12.0mm.  I remembered the former.  When I picked 
them up I had them measured and they were 11.6.  I happily took them 
home and put the whole mess back together.  A day later I was 
rereading all the books and discovered my error. :(  So here I sit 
with front rotors 0.4mm below spec wondering if anybody else has ever 
done this.  They are not below the 'usable' thickness.  I don't have 
the book in front of me but it said something like don't machine them 
below 12.0 and then don't run them after they get below 11.5.  If I am
to expect the worst, and I think I am, where is a good source for new 
rotors.  So far the only source I have has them for $75 each.

Finally, my brake bleeder helper says that the pedal does not go all 
the way to the floor when we do the bleeding procedure.  It stops an 
inch or two short.  Is this normal or is something wrong in the master
cylinder?  The pushrod is adjusted per the book.  While I am on the 
subject, could someone tell me again how to make a one person brake 
bleeder?  I searched the archives but didn't find it.  The FLAPS wants 
$8 for a piece of hose and the instructions.  ha

Thanks, Jim
-- 
James A. Brill Jr.         \\  //
jbrill@unlinfo.unl.edu   \\ \\// //      If you're not outraged
University of Nebraska    \\//\\//     you're not paying attention.
free-lance homo sapien     \/  \/