[Vwdiesel] Brake Job?

[James Hansen]

I would definitely say they did a bad wheel reinstallation.  If you 
tighten a used bearing set up as tight as a new one is usually 
installed, it is too tight. That is a common mistake.
To say there was nothing wrong with the brake job is kind of tongue in 
cheek about things, in the sense that just how in the hell does the new 
brake job get to work properly if the wheel bearings pile up and the 
wheel falls off?

Sounds like they need to properly pack the wheel bearings with grease, 
and tighten the retaining nut properly, like not too tight. "backing 
both off so it doesn't recurr" is not how to tighten wheel bearings, 
particularly used ones.

With freshly repacked bearings, tighten the retaining nut with a wrench 
until you feel drag, and the wheel noticeably slows when you spin it, 
and the nut is quite snug to get everything seated properly.  stop 
there.  loosen the nut.  Now spin the wheel and tighten the nut with 
fingers until it is just finger tight. Stop there, install nut lock cap, 
and new cotter pin, and dust cap.

At this point, BOTH sides need to be looked at inner and outer (cup AND 
cone not just the rolly bits) to be sure that the bearings are okay.  It 
doesn't take long to make the rolling elements blue, and when that 
occurs, they don't have long to live. When the bearings die on the 
freeway, they can take the vehicle occupants with them, so don't let the 
shop shit around with this.
New bearings, packed with new grease, and a new inner seal properly 
installed, both sides.  Bearings cost under twenty for both sides, so 
they can't whine about price either.  Education costs time, money, or 
both.  Every now and again, a shop has to pony up some tuition money, 
it's built into the bill you paid, so don't feel bad about that.

What probably happened, is the first time it was overtightened.  Second 
one is the cup or what most people call the "race" that is pressed into 
the hub was screwed, and they never bothered to replace it.  That ate 
the second cone's rolling elements up, and put your car back into the shop.

What shop Craig?
-james


Craig Osborn wrote:
> A few days ago, I heard a thumping noise coming from the rear passenger side
> wheel of my '81 pickup.  Never having messed around with drum brakes, I went
> to a franchise muffler/brake shop to have the noise investigated.  I was
> informed that my brake shoe had broken into pieces.  I authorized a repair
> that included brake shoe replacement on both sides, and a new wheel cylinder
> on the passenger side (because the bleeder screw was broken off).  I
> additionally requested a brake system flush (power bleed) since I have only
> owned this vehicle for around 10,000 miles of it's total 200,000 miles and I
> was not sure how old was the brake fluid.
> 
> I paid the bill and proceeded to drive the 50 mile commute to work the next
> day and immediately  noticed a drag that felt like the brakes were on all of
> the time.  I also felt a vibration and heard a faint whining noise.  Upon
> arriving at work, I felt the wheel and noticed that the wheel was very hot
> on the driver's side rear, but not on the passenger side rear.  It didn't
> seem so bad as to prohibit driving, so I elected to drive the 50 miles home.
> When I arrived at home, I noticed smoke coming from the "hot" wheel, that I
> assumed was bearing grease burning off or brake shoes smoking.  I
> immediately took the car back to the shop.  They put it on the lift and
> announced that the bearing was "fried", but that there was nothing wrong
> with the brake job that they had done.  He said that the mechanic may have
> over-tightened the wheel bearing and caused the problem so he agreed to
> replace the outer bearing.  He said the inner bearing/race was OK. He also
> said he "backed off" the nut so as to loosen the pressure on both back
> wheels so the problem wouldn't reoccur.  I drove about two miles home and
> felt the same drag and noticed the wheel smoking again.  I took it back to
> the shop and they said they will look at it tomorrow.  
> 
> I never had any feelings of "drag" or any overheating or whining from the
> rear wheels prior to this repair.
> 
> Any experts reading this -
> 
> Does this sound like a bad brake job that caused the overheating, and
> subsequently caused the bearing problem?  OR was the bearing problem
> coincidental.  If this were your car, what would you say in order to point
> the repair mechanic in the proper direction?   
> 
>  
> 
> Craig 
> 
>  
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>