Date: Tue, 7 May 1996 13:51:41 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@vcn.bc.ca>
Subject: RE: drum brake adjustment
On Tue, 7 May 1996, Dan Soiney wrote:
> From: Claralw@aol.com[SMTP:Claralw@aol.com]
>
> you can get these poundy things- its a piece of d*mn sturdy flat metal =
> about
> 1/2 thick that had a place for the big nut, and a place to hit it, you =
> take a
> big hammer and pound the nut off. works a treat. they come in 36mm =
> and
> 46mm sizes. I've seem them for sale at vw shops for ~$5, and well =
> worth it.
> just make sure the wheels are on the ground and the parking brakes on.
> actually, this could also be used to free stuck rear wheels too.
>
> It also helps to use a soft (brass, etc) hammer, as otherwiseyou will =
> mar up the wheel (personal experience). But, these things really work!
>
> danno
I have one of these, and use it every now and then. I have two concerns
with it, though:
1) I don't like delivering that kind of severe percussive shock to my
wheel bearings. I use a 5-pound hammer with full-tilt strikes holding
the hammer with both hands--that's a lot of force. I actually block the
wheels and leave the bus out of gear with the brakes off so that the bus
can roll back and forth with each strike and so I don't stress the
tranny or brakes. But should I worry about my bearings? Replacing rear
wheel bearings is a dirty, clumsy, frustrating job, and I don't want to
do it any more often than I have to.
2) I don't hit the wheel with the hammer, but the "wrench" does touch the
wheel and it leaves impressions/scrapes along the surface where it was
touching the wheel when struck. And yes, I have the wrench pushed *all*
the way back onto the nut, cause I'd hate to have that heavy wrench thing
flying in my face after I've creamed it with a 5-pound hammer. I'm not
going to have it less than securely seated on the nut just to save the
look of my wheels!
Comments?
Tobin
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Tobin T. Copley VW Busses to Inuvik! =============
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