Rotating drum brake causes the drivetrain to shift/bounce

[4Gears4Tires]

I discovered this on the Westy yesterday. I think I just figured the stiffness in the wheel was misadjusted drum brakes. I went to adjust them and I noticed this.

https://imgur.com/8Vt71q2

I am leaning towards a wheel bearing, but it could also be a CV axle I suppose. I think I can feel it when I drive it around but if I do it's not too noticeable.

Any thoughts?
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'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[zerotofifty]

motor or tranny mounts appear to loose do to me seeing the engine move when wheel is rotated. Check the rubber mounts and the security of the mount cross bar.
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Sorry About That Chief.

Give Peace a Chance.

Words to live by.

[Igeo]

Is it the drag that concerns you? How does the axle rotate without the drum on there?
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1987 Westfalia 2.1 WBX Manual

[dhaavers]

Not at all sure what to look for in your video. I see a little movement at the tail pipe, but prob’ly the same amount just seems to be shake from the handheld camera… Explain?

With the drum dragging that much, doesn’t surprise me that there’s some movement through the unloaded suspension. Prob’ly nothing would happen on the road.

Typical issues with bearings or CV’s usually feels loose, wobbly…I don’t think that’s your “issue”.

Bigger question: can you loosen the adjusters enough to get the drum to spin more freely? If not, I’d say your attention should remain on the brake shoes &/or other hardware. Get the brakes fully dialed in & then see what you see.

Keep up the chatter…

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[do.dah]

I'm sure you know, but, for everybody else, make sure the parking brake adjustment is loose before adjusting shoes via the star wheel.

[Sodo]

Interesting that you noticed this, but there are too many questions.
But basically the engine/tailpipe assembly could be wiggling because your engine mounts are really old & worn out as zertofifty mentioned.

I don't see any driveline problems from the amount of info here.

What is the other wheel doing when you rotate this drum forward?
Is the other wheel rotating in the reverse direction?
Does the engine/tailpipe assembly move when you 'bump against the inertia' of the other wheel?

Or is the other wheel motionless?

Is the trans in neutral or in-gear?

=========

If you wanna worry about your drivetrain,
learn how to change the gear oil.
Very few people maintain their gearboxes
----until-----
it starts making noise.

Once it makes any noise other than "quiet as a mouse"
its already worn out, on its deathbed.
Changing the oil after noise is tens of thousands of miles too late.
Maybe 100s of thousands of miles too late.
Expensive gear oil too late is no consolation to a neglected gearbox.
It's actually a waste of money, like lipstick on a pig.

Maintain it now. Think of it as being worth $5,000 to $10,000 and attribute concern to its well-being based on such a value.
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'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, SyncroShop pressure-oiled pinion-bearing & GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox.
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered original gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[?Waldo?]

Looks normal to me. When you go to rotate the drum, you are rotating the axle, differential, other axle the other direction, the other drum, and the other wheel if it is installed. The inertia of all of those components causes resistance to turning and the force you are exerting will move the engine/trans in their mounts until you overcome the inertia. Maybe your engine/trans mounts should get looked at, but I don't see anything worrying.

[Wildthings]

If you put the wheel back on and go for a 10 mile drive that requires minimal use of the brakes, how hot is that brake drum getting compared to the one on the other side. You might want to back the adjusting nut for the parking brake off several turns before doing this.

[ALIKA T3]

From what I see that's because the trailing arm is dangling past the axle/cv plunge capability (longer shock ?), cv joint super extended and the weight is pulling on the axle. Normal.
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Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[4Gears4Tires]

^ That makes a lot of sense, especially with the context that I'm sure the engine and trans mounts need to be replaced. It definitely drives just fine. Thanks everyone.

I checked the brake temperatures after driving for an hour. DF - 128F, PF - 133F, DR - 151F, PR - 138F. So the corner in question seems fine. But maybe that driver rear needs to be backed off a little bit.

Brakes feel abso-freaking-lutely fantastic though. This electric booster is amazing. I wish it engaged to 100% a bit earlier in the pedal stroke. The 100% point is probably 80% to the floor, but with how much this booster can put the van on it's nose, that's probably the safer way to program it. It definitely takes some getting used to, but after doing so, it is sooooooooooo much better.

Here's my hot take from someone who HATES drum brakes. The electric booster does a better job for brake feel and effective (i.e. including your legs) than swapping to rear discs. I have no concerns with braking now and, as a point, these are literally the brake parts I took off the Syncro.

I will eventually swap to discs, but for maintenance, not performance.
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'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition