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whynotvw Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2004 Posts: 1322
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:48 pm Post subject: need advice installing big brake kit, (small car) |
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I'm getting big brake kit from small car. (front) Is this a difficult job? can a novice mechanic do this or should i take it to a shop?
Any advice on install would be appreciated. thanks in advance. |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16504 Location: Brookeville, MD
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whynotvw Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2004 Posts: 1322
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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dobryan wrote: |
How novice are you? If you have ever changed out your brake pads, removed calipers, or bled the brakes then you can definitely do it. If you are not afraid to follow directions and ask questions then yes you can do it.
I'd say go for it. Anything you get stuck on can be answered by Smallcar or the good folks here. |
I'm pretty good with my hands but I never installed brakes before. do i need any special tools? |
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anthonywesty Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2007 Posts: 107 Location: Sunshine State
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Raynor Shine Samba Member
Joined: November 07, 2005 Posts: 552
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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Brakes are a bit overwhelming at first. But you can do it & it will build your confidence to take on other things. I remember the 1st time, I think I was most intimidated by bleeding, seating the races, properly greasing the bearings & getting the peening nut right.
You have a great support group. |
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whynotvw Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2004 Posts: 1322
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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anthonywesty wrote: |
It's very simple, you can do it!!!!! |
Nice ride, what kind of wheels are those? is it 15 or 16 inch. nice |
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JPrato Samba Member
Joined: December 15, 2006 Posts: 791 Location: Livonia, NY
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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It's not too bad. Read up on the instructions and or Bentley for brake maintenance. You will have to take out the old bearings, races and dust seal (or buy new ones). Either way you will have to (should) repack the bearings with grease, install the races and dust seal. You are suppose to get a new spindle nut every time you take it off, but some folks re-use them........ You will need to disconnect the flex brake line and replace it with one that comes with the kit. Put the hub on, the rotor, then the caliper with the little spacer that comes with the kit attach the brake line and bleed the system.
Allow plenty of time to do the job. I always like to do one side at a time (except for the bleeding) so that I don't have everything apart at once. Make sure everything in the van is secure the first time you try them out _________________ Joe
87 Syncro Tin Top project
84 Westy, 2.5L Subaru power
06 Subaru 2.5 turbo in waiting
46 Cessna 140 |
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buildyourown Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2009 Posts: 1668 Location: Seattle
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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Until I did my homebrew kit, I had never done car brakes either.
If you can turn a wrench and follow directions, you can do it.
If you get stuck, turn to your internet friends... |
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magician Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2007 Posts: 95 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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A question for those who have done the Small Car front brakes ... if the kit uses turned down hubs, then the rotor adds offset ... yes? ... how thick is the rotor at the hub? I need to know how much to reduce the thickness of the adaptors (i.e. Porsche to 112x5). The SC website doesn't say how much.
Or should I be trying to find a kit with SA hubs? _________________ 04 R32 | 85 Cabrio | 79 Rabbit | 91 T3 Carat Auto
'00 Jetta TDI (sold)| 91 Cabrio (sold) | 81 Rabbit diesel (sold)| 87 T3 GL (sold) | 91 T3 Carat 4sp (sold) |
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240Gordy Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2008 Posts: 2354 Location: Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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don't know about the Small Car rotors but I have some Mustang Cobra rotors and they are much thinner in the hub area than I imagined. _________________ Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR |
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insyncro Banned
Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:26 am Post subject: |
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magician wrote: |
A question for those who have done the Small Car front brakes ... if the kit uses turned down hubs, then the rotor adds offset ... yes? ... how thick is the rotor at the hub? I need to know how much to reduce the thickness of the adaptors (i.e. Porsche to 112x5). The SC website doesn't say how much.
Or should I be trying to find a kit with SA hubs? |
SA hubs makes the conversion very easy . |
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whynotvw Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2004 Posts: 1322
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Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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Just finished installing it. Little bit harder then I thought.
1. I couldn't get the original caliper nuts lose, so I took it to a shop and they charged me $20 to losen those 4 bolts. Wow, they were on tight. PITA( lack of experience and tools )
2. The original rotors are held by one allen nut, well the nut was frozen, so I had to drill it out and grind it so it will be flush. I assume most of them are frozen. Expect to drill it out. (PITA drilling it out. drill and dremel tool did the trick) 30-40 minutes
3. The brake dust cover has to be cut at 1/4 inch. ( No instructions from small car ) ( look at the link with pictures must be cut or calipers won't fit) ( dremel with cutter 5-10 minutes )
4. The spacer that came with the kit wasn't lining perfectly so I had to make the holes little bigger. ( poor workmanship from small car ) ( make sure the spacer and the bolts line up ) ( dremel made the holes little wider ) 5-10 minutes
5. you Need 24mm socket for the caliper nuts and 24mm wrench or 15/16 wrench to tighten the caliper bolts.
All in all it was a great learning experience, I would reccommed this kit from small car, but instructions would've saved me a lot of time. and the spacer not lining could've been better, but it was minor fix. Because there was no instructions and trying to do things by trial and error, I must have wasted at least couple hours of frustration. I found some pictures on other sambanistas thread that helped a lot.
The brakes looks nice and feels good.
Thanks for all your encouragements.
This thread might help, it helped me.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=242786[url]
Last edited by whynotvw on Thu Mar 25, 2010 6:58 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16504 Location: Brookeville, MD
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anthonywesty Samba Member
Joined: May 06, 2007 Posts: 107 Location: Sunshine State
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