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billyisme
Samba Member
Joined: November 28, 2001
Posts: 360
Location: Ventura, CA
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 Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:21 pm Post subject: Rejuvenate or Replace: A Braking Quandry. |
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The brakes (or "breaks" as some spell it  ) on my panel are BAD (spongy and distant-feeling), but the shoes look as if they have good pad life on them. I also have not found a leak in the brake lines. The bus received a new master cyl and front calipers and then sat for 2 years with the current fluid in the system (according to PO, and I believe him). My question is should I flush and fill the system with fluid and see if it cures the sponginess, or should I invest in new pads, calipers, master cyl, and soft lines right off the bat? Do lines and parts corrode from just sitting?
Thanks for your time.
P.S. I consulted the Bentley and my magic 8 ball before posting this question and the "answer [was] not clear," so I hope it is an appropriately non-ignorant query to post here. |
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Lind
Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000
Posts: 9919
Location: idaho
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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calipers? what are they  I though you used those to measure things.
what type of brake system are you running? what type of fluid? silicone brake fluid is twice as compressable as normal brake fluid. shoes that are not making full contact with the drums due to different arcs will also cause a little spongieness. |
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spookymulder
Samba Proletariat
Joined: January 02, 2004
Posts: 3298
Location: I'm either at 95608, 97537 or 94708 only my CPA knows for sure
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Did you replace your hoses, sometimes they can give the spongey feeling. |
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OG Velvet
Samba Family Man
Joined: February 24, 2003
Posts: 2168
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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I sometimes get that not-so-spungy feeling...
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turbo_g
Father of Samba Cookie Lover
Joined: October 30, 2002
Posts: 717
Location: Laguna Hills, Ca
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| OG Velvet wrote: |
| I sometimes get that not-so-spungy feeling... |
You should try Irish Spring, to cure that spunky-funky-feeling 
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Turbo_g
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"Three out of four voices in my head say 'Go for it'." |
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spookymulder
Samba Proletariat
Joined: January 02, 2004
Posts: 3298
Location: I'm either at 95608, 97537 or 94708 only my CPA knows for sure
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Look what Lind started, let in a little levity and it's contageous. Now everyone is yanky their wanky without spanky. |
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OG Velvet
Samba Family Man
Joined: February 24, 2003
Posts: 2168
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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| spookymulder wrote: |
| Look what Lind started, let in a little levity and it's contageous. Now everyone is yanky their wanky without spanky. |
LMAO!!! 
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'77 Westy
'69 Sunroof Beetle
'65 Honda Dream |
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billyisme
Samba Member
Joined: November 28, 2001
Posts: 360
Location: Ventura, CA
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Lind wrote: |
calipers? what are they I though you used those to measure things.
what type of brake system are you running? what type of fluid? silicone brake fluid is twice as compressable as normal brake fluid. shoes that are not making full contact with the drums due to different arcs will also cause a little spongieness. |
calipers=wheel cylinders...sorry! That's my Eurovan brake parts vocabulary slipping in there!
Its a stock set up in front (1960), but someone installed a big nut tranny in the rear. Actually, I have not measured the width of the front shoes, so I cannot be certain that the front drums are not a later replacement as well.
Fluid type is unknown. The bus has not been on the road in years--the PO didn't have it running, he just started with the brakes and was sidetracked by other projects. I have had the bus for almost a year, but just recently finished the required metal work and got it running.
Mulder-- The hoses look recent (looks as if the PO put them in when he did the master cyl), but they have been sitting. Do these lines corrode from sitting with "new" fluid in them?
My instinct is to completely flush and fill the system, adjust the shoes and go from there. HOWEVER, I wanted to post this here first to see if my instinct is sound or if it is retarded and will end up killing my "too-cheap-to-buy-brake-parts" self.
Thanks again for your time. |
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krusher
Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2002
Posts: 7652
Location: europe
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| Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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flushing the system and a brake ajust is a half hour job, go for that and see what happens
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