TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Dec 29, 2002 2:02 am

i have a 69 bus, and the pass side brake drum is only 6 mo old. it was a new brazilian wide 5. the splines on the center have been totally reemed out, so the stub axle has no traction. the drum was BRAND FREAKING new, and $60! is this typical of brazilian quality, or is there something else messing up that causes this. the splines on the axle are now a little scuffed. i need help!

thanks
chris

Sun Dec 29, 2002 6:41 pm

It would not surprise me if it was a combination of lousy Brazilian metallurgy and too much slop in your splines. Your axle nut torque has to be correct also, so make sure that your last torque-up wasn't all about friction on the threads instead of actually tightening the assembly. 253 ft/lbs of torque add to align cotter pin.
Colin

Sun Dec 29, 2002 7:09 pm

I agree with Colin big time! Most folks think the nut only goes on so tight and line up the hole for the cotter pin, NOT! and never consider that threads on the spindle or the nut itself are galled up or have crap stuck in them so even if trying to torque or... just running them on with an impact wrench one never knows if they are torqued properly or not.
Add to that the poor quality of cast iron in Mexican, Chinese or Brazillian drums and a loose one especially will not last...
Good luck finding a decent drum and you can always pull the one off the other side and compare the splines between the 2 stub axles and see how badly worn the one side is and decide if you need to find a good used one before wasting more $$ on another drum...

Sun Dec 29, 2002 9:43 pm

There are German drums available but they are not cheap! Try oeveedub.com or CIP1.com or even your local German auto parts supplier. I put new German drums on my '69 Westy about two years ago along with a German (ATE) master cylinder...it cost me around $400 total.

Mon Dec 30, 2002 7:28 pm

I would recommend German parts over the others even if it really hurts your budget.
Your labor is worth something, and it is painful as hell to have to re-do something where you put in a lot of time, effort, and pride, only to have it fail because of junk that was sold to you by people who care about nothing but their ill-gotten profit.
Who needs to eat more than once-a-day anyhow, when there is an air-cooled VW that needs some quality investment?
Colin

Tue Dec 31, 2002 7:34 am

Eat? Jeremy