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Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:15 am

I just installed all new front and rear brakes. How much backing up does it take to get the rear brakes adjusted since they are self-adjusting. The parking brake needs to be pulled way up to get it to engage, an indication that the brakes are not fully adjusted yet. I want to be sure they are fully adjusted before I attempt to further bleed the brakes. We have already bled them until the fluid was running clear, but I have to pump the brakes to make them work.

Should I pull the rear brake drum and adjust them out by hand first?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:25 am

The rear brakes are adjusted with the drums (and everything else) in place by spinning the adjuster wheel accessed through the slot on the inboard side of the brake backing plate.

Try that, then readjust the parking brake if needed once your pedal engages the brakes correctly.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:26 am

Love My Westy wrote: I just installed all new front and rear brakes. How much backing up does it take to get the rear brakes adjusted since they are self-adjusting. The parking brake needs to be pulled way up to get it to engage, an indication that the brakes are not fully adjusted yet. I want to be sure they are fully adjusted before I attempt to further bleed the brakes. We have already bled them until the fluid was running clear, but I have to pump the brakes to make them work.

Should I pull the rear brake drum and adjust them out by hand first?

I have the same issue, I just replaced the back shoes and pistons though. I bled them. There is a small hole on the back where you can get to the adjustment screw. On my stock syncro suspension I could get to the holes without jacking it up. I bent a small flathead screwdriver about 30 degrees since the hole is too small for the tools made to adjust brakes on US cars.

I adjusted until it got fairly difficult to keep ratcheting the adjustment screw, but I still need to pump the brakes.

What should I check next?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:27 am

When I did mine, I adjusted them out by hand, then threw the drum on and checked if the shoes were rubbing. I was told that you want just the very slightest of resistance on the drum from the shoe, and then you have it properly adjusted. It takes a couple of on and offs, but you eventually get it.

I believe there is a hole on the inside part of the rear brakes that allows you to adjust without removing the drum, but I couldn't figure it out.

You can also change the tension in the parking brake with the tensioner underneath the van.

Scott

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:30 am

You don't need to back up to get the automatic adjusters to work. Just pumping the pedal hard is all it is supposed to take. In my experience the automatic adjusters don't always work all that well though, best to get them close by manually turning the adjusting star through the hole in the backing plate.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:35 am

Thanks, I'll try your suggestions. You guys are great!!!

Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:12 pm

I did it like floggin molly-- if you cant get the drum on, theyre too tight.
don't feel bad-- since the patent ran out on that item, everyone seemed to experiment with them. they made my 92 toyota pickup stop badly too.
and my 2000 camry. front wheels lock up and it doesnt stop. then you go through pads and the park brake is loose.
that's why i went to the 7 series rears. solid rotors with little drums inside for parking.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:58 am

As was said, backing up doesn't affect the function of the adjusters at all. Whenever I have redone the rear brakes on one of my vans, the adjusters have worked from that point onward. When cleaned and assembled correctly I have found them to be reliable. The parking brake should always engage at 2-3 clicks. If it takes more than that, then the self-adjusters are not working properly.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:04 am

I took the rims off and adjusted them so they would be tight. The parking brake is much tighter now, bit it stll takes more than 2 or 3 clicks.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:25 am

There is also a cable adjustment on the parking brake. Follow the cable about midway under the van and tighten it there.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:40 am

PDXWesty wrote: There is also a cable adjustment on the parking brake. Follow the cable about midway under the van and tighten it there.

On vehicles this old, I would recommend backing off the parking brake before you adjust your rear brakes. This will ensure the the levers on the brake shoes are relaxed. Someone less knowing might have cranked down on it at one time. Once you have the rears adjusted properly, then you can go back and adjust the hand brake. 2 to 3 notches is normal.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:48 am

I did mine this way,

1. adjust till drum barely slips on
2. with ebrake at 2 clicks you should feel it start to drag and at 3 clicks it shouldn't be able to move.

If your adjusters are all loose and clean/lubed it should balance out.

could be wrong I dunno? :lol:

Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:43 am

Yeah, I first loosened the e-brake cable under the van, then worked on the rear brakes and got them properly adjusted. Then I went back and adjusted my e-brake using the adjustment thingamajig below the van until I was at 2-3 clicks.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:08 am

A smilar thread, here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492076&highlight=nirvana

It took a couple tries to get mine close.. and I'll be at them again in another week or so, prepping for our summer trip.
(Discovered the backing plate on one side needs replacing. Worn thru at a "guide point")

In my experience, the new shoes did not make good contact "out of the box".. and they either need to wear/break-in.. or, as yet to be determined, I'll add a shim at the lower pivot point per the suggestion in the linked thread.
I've chosen not ot have them "arc'ed".. but might.. maybe as a last resort.

I am not a real experienced wrencher.. not a surprise I did not get close the first time.
They work OK now.. would like better.. but they are a good compromise, as is.

Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:47 pm

Like a few of you, I tried to get 'close' on the adjustment when I rebuilt my rear brakes. I got them so the drums would just barely go on with a little coaxing. Then I mounted the tires and spun them - and adjusted further (from the back side) until I got about 1 to 1 1/2 full turns of the tire. The emergency brake was then checked, and it engaged at about 2-3 clicks. It felt a 'bit' tight (before the rebuild, the handle would go almost to the top of the stroke before engaging).
The test drive was great - lots of positive stopping power, and a firm pedal.... except for - the brakes started to smoke!! So, too tight. Limped back home slowly, and backed them off a couple of clicks each side - when I did that I did not really feel any perceptable 'drag' at all from the shoes. But now they work just fine, and the e-brake engages at about 4 clicks. I now can use the e-brake as my 'gauge' for rear shoe wear and proper adjustment of the self adjuster.

Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:48 pm

I just replaced pretty much my entire braking system. New master cylinder, van-cafe big brake kit, SA rear drums, new shoes, cylinders, hardware, hard lines, flex lines, backing plates, ebrake cables, the works.

I'm having a tough time getting the rears dialed in. when i get them to where i like the pedal firmness, they get really hot after short drives. IR gun put one drum at 350 degrees F without much braking the other was 250F. that was with the drums just fitting over the shoes. there was a strong smell of brake shoe after the short drive.

I backed them both off a bit, but now the pedal is soft. temps are now around 200F on both. i still feel they are dragging a bit. still smell pretty bad.

It takes a bit of effort to turn the wheels by hand. they won't spin on their own.

I've power bled at 10psi twice. pretty sure the air is out.

do the shoes need to wear in? how long/far?

Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:08 pm

as a follow up to my last post. I was able to get the rears dialed in where I want them.

I started over, loosened the parking brake cable a ton, pulled off the rear drums and backed them off 20 clicks each side and then tightened them click by click until I felt slight resistance with the drum, and then loosened one click. There was a noticeable difference in resistance with that last click. It was pretty much go, no-go.

Bentley specifies 1.5mm of clearance between the drum inner diameter and from the outer edge from shoe to shoe. I measured mine to be about 1.3mm and it was perfect. (Bentley probably expects more from the self adjustment) Did this to both sides, adjusted the parking brake to 4 clicks of the handle to fully engaged and everything is good. Pedal feel is good.

I was simply adjusting the brakes too tight last time. I was getting them close to where the drum would just fit over the shoes. For me this is not correct. The correct adjustment was actually quite a bit looser than that. (about 8-10 clicks looser).

I measured everything with a digital caliper and recorded all the numbers for when it comes time to readjust.

Mon Feb 17, 2025 4:11 pm

I had recently replaced my rear brakes and did not do anything to adjust the brake adjuster as I thought it was self adjusting. Then as I was driving home I head some noise when I was braking. When I got back in I noticed the self adjuster pawl had come off the ratchet (I forgot to take a photo). I had had tightened the adjuster before putting the drum on and the pawl was in the correct spot. Now I am confused about this process because the pawl is barely engaged with my adjuster ratchet and I am worried it will come off again. Did I do something wrong here or is the pawl incorrectly sized? The brake pads I got were the Bosche pads.

Mon Feb 17, 2025 9:42 pm

A lot of these ratchet levers are not properly sized.
You can cheat by changing the 90* angles to make it land on the star wheel.
Like you want.
You can test and validate it by applying a lever to pull the front shoe away from the slave cylinder many times and see how the ratchet function behaves.

Tue Feb 18, 2025 8:42 am

I made a very very brief video just to help aid one particular member of our local club a few years ago, and it's helped a lot of folks since.
Anyways, disregard the portion where "we have plenty of these available to you"- there are none. : )

Hope this helps