Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 15:53:12 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Rear Brake Shoe Design Questions
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fwiw,
The rear brake shoes on my vanagons don't wear unevenly very much at all.
I'm looking at my personal daily driver right rear shoes now .......
haven't seen those in about 2 years.......
quite even wear, pretty much.
some possible factors -
I'm pretty easy on brakes generally.
I don't just leave rear drum brakes alone forever - I remove the drums once
in a while......
once a year maybe, empty out the brake dust, and tweak up the adjusters a
few clicks.
I also make sure the contact points on the backing plate are lubed - where
the shoes rub on the backing plates.
And I use ordinary bonded type brake shoes, not the riveted ones. Tried
those once with not great results.
I change the brake fluid about once a year too. And if I happen to be
working on any one wheel area of the van, I usually change the bf to that
wheel while I'm there.
oh yea, .....the first time I ever saw drum brakes on an american car, in
the 60's .....I was almost appalled at the apparent crudeness of them.
But that's how car drum brakes have been for a long, long time. Crude, but
they work.
As drum brakes go, I'm quite satisfied with vanagon drum brakes......for
what they are, they're not bad at all, as single leading shoe drum brakes
go, that is.
The self-adjusters work quite nicely usually too.
Scott
turbovans
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:20 PM
Subject: Re: Rear Brake Shoe Design Questions
> I guess I'm 'easily amused' then. I've not seen any drum brakes other
> than the ones on my motorcycles..or perhaps I haven't paid much attention
> to them. on trucks and stuff....Maybe 'leading shoe' is what I envision
> when
> I think of drum brakes.
> ..Yeah, they do work ok, but it seems like a mistake in the design if
> they
> only wear out one end of the shoe always. Why have that other end even
> in there, if it never really touches the drum or helps stop the vehicle,
> execpt perhaps when you pull on the parking brake? Don't go all huffy on
> me...I am not trash-talking the Vanagon...just sayin'....
> Don Hanson
>
> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 3:07 PM, Mike <mbucchino@charter.net> wrote:
>
>> If that's true, then most production vehicle's drum brakes must also
>> be
>> laughable. They practically all use this same design, not just in the
>> rear,
>> but in the front, too.
>> Oh yeah, it really works, too, and has for millions of vehicles, over
>> millions of miles, for decades, even on Vanagons..........believe it or
>> not!
>>
>> Mike B.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
>> *To:* vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> *Sent:* Thursday, April 30, 2009 2:45 PM
>> *Subject:* Re: Rear Brake Shoe Design Questions
>>
>> The rear drum brakes on MY van..an '84..they are laughable. First time I
>> looked at them, I was amazed..."This is how it was sold?" I thought. The
>> brake shoe mechanisim in the rear hub reminded me of what you might see
>> on
>> a
>> stagecoach...except the stagecoach ones must have worked better with just
>> a
>> single 'center'.rather than pretty much pivoting on one end and moving
>> only
>> the other end.... I bet you can find vanagon rear shoes with linings
>> that
>> are untouched on one end and worn to steel on the other.
>> They do help stop the van, I guess. Musta been a Friday when
>> the VW engineers sent in that design to Managment..I am not complaining
>> though..they work.
>> If I lived and worked somewhere involving a commute through the
>> mountains
>> or over a pass, I guess I'd swap them for something different, a set up
>> that
>> actually used the braking surface that you pay for on the shoes...
>> Don Hanson
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 10:27 AM, neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi all.
>> >
>> > I read of details regarding spacers (Dennis Haynes) one could install
>> > at anchor end of the brake shoes. My understanding is that this would
>> > help ensure more of the shoe contacts the drum.
>> >
>> > Does adding spacers accomplish something similar to arcing the shoes?
>> > (not done much these days from what I've read)
>> >
>> > Were VW shoes shaped to fit the drum better than aftermarket shoes?
>> >
>> > If so, would one be wise to install these spacers when installing new
>> > shoes and hardware?
>> >
>> > AFAIK, my braking system is working right. But, I notice that with
>> > foot on brake engine running, I pull up the handbrake and feel the
>> > pedal drop a *little*. Is this because the lower portion of shoe is
>> > pushed out to contact drum?
>> >
>> > Curious minds just need to know,
>> >
>> > Neil.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>> >
>> > http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
>> >
>>
>>
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