[Vwdiesel] Brake Job?

[mark shepherd]

It might just be me, but I can't see any reason for drag on a brake shoe, 
except not installed/adjusted correctly. The modern trash that brake pads 
are made of cannot sustain the heat like asbestos ones did partly because 
they are no-longer riveted [AFAIK] If binding, check auto adjuster is not 
wedged by 'over' releasing it. Check for freeplay[ no binding] on handbrake 
cable lever too. Want super griping rear brakes? Then in old days we'd soak 
em in parafin and set light to them.... Do that now and the glued linings 
fall off. :o(
However I clean surfaces with methelated spirits and then with a blowlamp 
have a 'mini' burn. [avoid playing flames on the rubber bits though ;o). 
'Pump pliars to tighten nut spin then release then retighten with little 
more than finger pressure. Respin... Oh yea, apply and release foot and hand 
brakes and spinning wheel[brake released and pressure slightly applied to 
align pads...

Mark(UK)



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B & R Decker" <bdecker001 at centurytel.net>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Brake Job?


> I would believe that rather than improper bearing adjustment the
> problem started with the brake shoes. In the good old days when all brakes
> were drum brakes most shops had a machine that arced the shoes to fit the
> drums. Now days most of use have to wear off the high spots by just using
> the brakes. Most of the time when putting new brake shoes on a Rabbit 
> pickup
> I have one or both wheels a little hot from brake shoe drag. If they want 
> to
> drag so much as to cause excessive heat I leave the automatic adjusters 
> out
> for a few thousand miles.
> Brian Decker
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
> Behalf Of Craig Osborn
> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:50 PM
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject: [Vwdiesel] Brake Job?
>
> 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
>
>
>
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