Date:         Thu, 9 May 1996 10:39:16 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@mtest.teradyne.com (William Abbott)
Subject:      torque, rear brakes

	Greg,
	390 foot-lb of torque is 390 lb with a 1 foot lever OR
1lb with a 390 foot lever OR any combination of feet X lb which
gives 390.
	So find your mass (wieght to us software types) and then
divide the desired torque by your mass to find the correct lever arm. 

	For example, on a good morning I might wiegh 238, so
390/238 =  1.64. So I measure 1.64 feet on my breaker bar
and make a mark on the bar and stand with one foot on each side
of the bar, and equalize my wieght. 

	1.64 feet, incidentally, is 1.63 * 12 = 19.68 inches- better
slip a piece of pipe over that 18" breaker bar, and measure from the CENTER
of the 3/4 drive to that 19.68 point- 19 11/16", if you want to be
darn close.

	Is 390 the right number? that sounds a little high, but most of
my experience with these nuts on on the fronts of FWD waterpumpers.


	Darie Duclos wonders if his rear brake shoes have been actually
worn any... under braking, wieght transfers forward, since the center of
gravity is above the center of rotation of the wheels (Its a torque thing)
and so the front brakes do MOST of the stopping. So yes, your rear cylinders
could be so bad that the rear brakes don't do much and the shoes are nearly
new. I've never had to pay anything like $120 for brake shoes, so I normally
replace them if I do the cylinder automaticly. For that kind of money, I'd
be tempted to keep inspecting them until they're worn out before replacing!
Besides the adjustment star plug, there's another plug in the rear backing
plate that allows you to see hom much lining is left.

	Happy Motoring!