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Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:40 pm

I heard that Vanagon rear drum brakes can be fitted to the Baywindow.

I guess that the benefits of this would be that the brakes are self adjusting and that the drum is larger.

Has anyone tried this upgrade and what parts are needed?

I have a 1973 Westy under resto and a 1986 Vanagon for parts.

Gruppe B

Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:55 pm

Who else but Karl would know?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=159611

Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:48 am

yup. i just did this this summer on my '73 it worked great!
before and after pics, cuz i like showing off the only non-rusted part of the bus!

dave

Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:25 am

Is there a particular range of years to look for that have self adjusting brakes that fit, or will any year Vanagon have these?

Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:23 am

Has anybody tried installing the vanagon self-adjustment mechanism in an early baywindow?

Fri Nov 04, 2011 2:42 am

It seems like I always have to dink with my Vanagon rear brakes in one way or another, while my Bay brakes take one simple adjustment a year. I was having so much problem with the rear brakes on my Vanagon at one point that I actually picked up a clean set of Bay brakes to use on it, never got around to installing them however.

My advice would be to think twice before making the jump.

Fri Nov 04, 2011 9:28 pm

Wildthings wrote:
My advice would be to think twice before making the jump.

Ditto. IMHO this upgrade is a downgrade.

Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:09 pm

is that supposed to be a self adjuster?

Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:43 am

SGKent wrote: is that supposed to be a self adjuster?
yep that is what that is.

Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:48 am

hmmmn. I have seen many with self-adjusting cables but not a self adjusting spring. It would seem that would be somewhat unreliable as any change in friction on the adjuster would change how well it worked.

Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:38 am

the old rabbits,dashers,jettas all used it just smaller it seems to work ok.

Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:29 pm

anyone else chime in with whether this works out or not? Year busses it works on, and year vanagons to get parts from?

Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:13 am

Hmm. The upgrade part is for the self adjusting? IMO my rear brakes need so little work, I dont really see the necessity.

Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:06 am

prolly because you have front discs, on my 68 I'm always having to adjust the brakes...

Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:21 am

I worked as a dealer tech back in the early Vanagon days. The Vanagon rear brakes still needed a tech to adjust them. I guess they are ok, but still needed a tech's "fine tuning" to get the shoes closer to the drum.
Curious about shoe life here, as the bay has its adjusters down at the bottom of the shoe whereas the vanagon's adjuster keeps the upper part of the shoe close to the drum. Might be petty, but the shoes don't wear along the entire length of its shoe.
I suppose if someone needed to minimize being under the vehicle this is an alternative, but would the costs offset one way vs the other?
Hope this helps, Bill.