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Tcash
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Joined: July 20, 2011
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Location: San Jose, California, USA
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 Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 5:47 pm Post subject: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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| [url=https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8825012#8825012]1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix)[/url] |
1968-70 Front Brake Job
1. Jack up the vehicle high enough to get the Floor Jack or the Kicktail of a Skateboard under the tire, and secure vehicle on a jack stand. Note: the jack stand is positioned inward slightly to miss the grease fitting located on the beam.
Lower the jack slightly, to put the weight of the vehicle on the jack stand. Now shake the vehicle, to be sure it is secure on the jack stand.
2. Pull the Hubcap, I made a puller out of a shoelace tightening hook.
3. Remove the clip in the center of the grease cap that retains the speedometer cable. Mine is held in place with a piece of wire.
4. Remove the Grease cap. My front drums have the nubs to pry against. You may need to put a piece of wood against the drum to pry against.
5. With a 6mm Hex (allen) wrench, loosen the Bolt on the pinch nut.
6. Remove the Pinch nut with a suitable wrench. Note: Left wheel is Left handed threads / Right wheel is Right handed threads. (righty tighty lefty loosey)
7. Pinch nut removed. Place Pinch nut in Grease cap with the flat side facing down, for ease of installation later.
8. Grab ther tire at 9-3 and wiggle it gently. The washer and bearing should pop out. If not pry the washer off and try again. Don't pry on the bearing cauge, if need be, pry on the hard inner race.
9. Place the bearing and washer in order face down in the grease cap. For ease of installation later.
10. So you do not tear the wheel seal located on the back of the brake drum. With a Floor jack or the Kicktail of a skateboard, support the weight, of the wheel and pull straight out.
11. Lay the wheel on the ground so you have something to sit on.
12. Take a picture with your phone or a camera. So if the internet goes down, you have a picture for reference.
13. Note the position of the screwdriver is NOT ON the Brake LINE.
Use a Screwdriver to pry the shoe out of the adjuster.
Note: you can back the adjusters off, but do not break the adjuster detent spring clip in the process. I chose not to.
14. Let the shoe rest against the brake adjuster.
15. With a gloved hand pop the top of the other shoe out of the wheel cylinder.
16. Rotate the brake shoes down. Guiding the spring over the speedo cable. Then pull the left shoe out of the brake adjuster, followed by the right shoe in the wheel cylinder.
17. Lay the shoes to the side as an assembly.
18. Pull the dust boots off the wheel cylinders and inspect for brake fluid. If brake fluid is present rebuild or replace wheel cylinder. If wheel cylinders are ok, skip to #20.
19. Clean the backing plate and wheel cylinders with brake clean.
Wheel cylinder replacement.
Prop the brake pedal depressed down about an inch. This will block the compensation ports in the master cylinder and stop the brake fluid from draining.
To remove only the bottom wheel cylinder.
With an 11mm flare nut wrench if clearance allows for it (or 11mm open ended wrench) remove the brake line from the wheel cylinder.
Use a 15mm socket to remove the two retaining bolts.
To remove the top wheel cylinder as well.
Use a 17mm flare nut wrench to slightly loosen the brake hose attached to the back of the top wheel cylinder.
Use a 15mm socket to remove the two retaining bolts.
Now by hand unscrew the wheel cylinder from the brake hose.
Reverse order for installation.
Bleed brakes after installation of the brake shoes and brake drum.
19a. Removing wheel cylinder by hand.
20. Clean the backing plate and wheel cylinders with brake clean. Apply Anti-Seize to the brake adjuster threads and pockets. Then apply it to the backing plate rubbing blocks located at 2-4-8 and 10 o'clock. Pictured in grey.
21. Note the light brown patches at the top of the brake shoes. They where not making contact in this area. Due to Manufacturing tolerances brand new brake shoes can suffer from this. This would reduce braking by about 1/4 I'd say. They would eventually break in with multiple brake adjustment.
22. Note the gap between the brake shoe friction material and the brake drum.
23. Grinding the high spot off the brake shoe on a smooth concrete surface. As if you where working a file in a forward direction following the curvature of the brake shoe. What you are doing is Arcing the brake shoe to the drum.
24. Note no gaps between the brake shoe and the brake drum.
25. Note the square edge on the brake shoe.
26. Put a nice tapper on at least the leading edge if not both ends of the shoe.
27. Use some sand paper and scuff the brake drum.
28. Put a rag in the bearing and seal to protect it. Now flip the wheel over to get the brake dust and sanding debris out of the drum.
29. Clean the brake shoes and brake drum with brake cleaner.
30. With clean hands, install the brake shoes. Put the right shoe in the wheel cylinder first (making sure to locate it in the notch of the wheel cylinder piston) move the assembly to the left. Then insert the left shoe in the brake adjuster.
31. This part is a little tricky. The left shoe will want to kick out of the brake adjuster. With your left hand applying pressure to the left shoe (so it does not kick out) raise the shoes up guiding the spring over the speedo cable with your right hand.
32. Install the left shoe in the wheel cylinder (making sure the shoe is in the groove in the piston)
33. Position the right shoe and the screwdriver (not pinching the brake line)
34. Pry the right shoe into the groove of the brake adjuster.
35. Strike the shoes with the palm of your hands to center them.
Measure the width of the drum. Then adjust the shoes out evenly until they are within about a couple of Millimeters (1/16") of the drum diameter.
36. Time to get greasy. Apply grease to the tip of your finger. With an upward motion, squeeze the grease into the bearing, until you see it come out of the top side of the bearing. Move to another position and repeat until grease is coming out of the top of the entire bearing.
37. Now put a blob of grease in the palm of your hand (like you where getting ready to Pomade your hair) and with the other hand rake the side of the bearing across your palm. As if you where trying to scrape the grease off your palm. Until it comes out the other side. Then coat the rollers on the outside with grease.
38. Slide the Washer and Bearing onto a screwdriver. Chamfer on washer faces bearing. Set it across the grease cap for ease of installation later.
39. Clean any grease that may have got on the drum from greasing the bearing.
40. Again so you do not tear the wheel seal located on the back of the brake drum. With a Floor jack or the Kicktail of a skateboard, support the weight, of the wheel and push it straight on.
41. With the wheel on. Pick up your screwdriver loaded with the outer wheel bearing and washer. Setting the blade of the screwdriver on tip of the spindle. Raise the screwdriver handle so the bearing and washer slide down the screwdriver. Align the bearing with the spindle and use the screwdriver to push it on.
Followed by the pinch nut (machined flat side toward the bearing).
42. Tighten the pinch nut while spinning the wheel until it is tight. The idea is to seat the bearings, not crush them.
Now loosen the nut slightly.
43. Now to adjust the wheel bearing. VW specifies .001"-.005" play, about the thickness of a human hair. With One Hand on the Top of the Wheel and the Other Hand Adjusting the Pinch Nut. Shake the wheel while loosening and tightening the Pinch Nut. Feel that point where the wheel just starts to move. That is the sweet spot.
44. Tighten up the 6mm Hex (allen) pinch bolt. (taking care not to loose your adjustment. Final check is too use a screwdriver and see if the washer will slide side to side with ease. If it won't the adjuster is too tight. Readjust.
45. Pack some grease into the cap, align the speedo cable with the square hole in the cap. If the cable is pushed in, reach around the back of the wheel and push the cable out. Tap the cap back on with a hammer. Reinstall the retaining clip (wire)
46. I did not get a picture for brake adjustment. So picture the bearing has been adjusted and the grease cap it back on.
See the hole at 9 o'clock in the brake drum. You stick a brake adjuster (screwdriver) through that hole and pry on the brake adjuster star nut one click at a time, to adjust the brakes.
Now get in the cab and apply the brake pedal hard a couple of times. To center the brake shoes. Adjust the brake shoes to the point to where, they just begin to drag. Stab the brake pedal again and check adjustment.
47. Put the Hubcap back on, taking care not to break the Hubcap clips. Align the bottom of the hubcap with the bottom clips first so you can see. Position the top of the hubcap with the rest of the clips (being sure none are left out) Now give the hubcap a gentle whack with your free hand. If it does not go on a bit. Stop and realign the cap. After it has reached home. Give it some whacks with your hands or a rubber mallet on the sides to center it. This last step will keep it from passing you up on the freeway.
48. While you have the grease gun out give the five grease fittings on the front Beam a few pumps. Remember I said to note where the jack stand was.
Good luck
Tcash
Last edited by Tcash on Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:08 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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pioneer1
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OB Bus
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Amskeptic
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:12 pm Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job |
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| OB Bus wrote: |
Please do not equate Erb with anything that TCash has done. |
^^  ^^
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Tcash
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Joined: July 20, 2011
Posts: 12844
Location: San Jose, California, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:42 pm Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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Ya I forgot to mention that I did the job in Slab City, CA., 130*F, Winds 50 with 60 mph gust. In nothing but my cut off jeans and my ribbed, sleeveless white cotton undershirt (wife-beater) T shirt.
Just kidding, I'm not a bad ass like Amskeptic.
It was in my driveway, 75*F, 2-3mph winds and when it got too hot. I went back inside until it cooled off.
Hey I can dream can't I
Tcash |
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HarryFD
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Joined: February 24, 2012
Posts: 749
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:29 pm Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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Tcash: Just replaced my front brakes using you guide. Very helpful. Thanks!
One issue though, at Step 30 the return springs magically get placed on the new shoes. You should point out that care needs to be taken to orient the spings correctly.
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appetite
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| Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:11 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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Thank you very much for this comprehensive guide. I was halfway through my brake job when I found this. So clearly one side of the job went more smoothly.
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19super73
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onehappykombi
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 4:35 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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I opened my drum to inspect the brakes for fluid leaks and found them super dirty:
I cleaned everything with diluted Simple Green and the drum too.
The problem is that in my rush because it was getting dark, I did not rinse off the Simple Green.
Do you know if this leaves a slippery residue that would affect breaking power?
Or does the diluted Simple Green just dry out and it’s fine?
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Wildthings
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| Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2023 9:06 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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| Brake dust is pretty normal, I use a wire brush and a smallish screwdriver to remove the majority of it and drive on. Don't use air unless you wear a good quality mask. No clue on what effect the Simple Green would have on the braking. |
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willt
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Location: Benton, LA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 9:36 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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in regards to the spring orientation, this has cause me some headache. It seems like original springs coil and exit with center alignment, the "brake hard ware kits" come with springs that coil and exit with alignment to the outside of the coil. So these springs either rub on the drum or have to bend weird around the cylinder. I ordered 4 original vw springs here: https://www.busdepot.com/j17078 and received two of each pictured. Seems like i'm having more problems with this that I should, potentially, i'm an idiot?
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busdaddy
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Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 10:23 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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It's not you, it's China!
Just another example of aftermarket parts that "aren't quite right" 
I guess if they have to rub on something the cylinder body is the better choice, they shouldn't wear too much.
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Wildthings
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| Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 10:51 am Post subject: Re: 1968-70 Front Brake Job (lots of pix) |
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| busdaddy wrote: |
It's not you, it's China!
Just another example of aftermarket parts that "aren't quite right"
I guess if they have to rub on something the cylinder body is the better choice, they shouldn't wear too much. |
Yeah, it's hard to get the shape of something like this perfect when you only tools are a pair of slip joint pliers and a claw hammer. |
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