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amostcat
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Joined: January 31, 2003
Posts: 11
Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2003 7:29 pm    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

Here is a dumb questions, as I only took a quick look underneath and my mind is slowly leaving me but.. does the thing have drums all the way around? Everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago when it seemed it was getting harder to stop. It feels like I'm pushing on a cinder block instead of a nice smooth brake pedal (checked the brake fluid level and it is full)..... Any ideas on what is causing this head ache? What would have to be replaced and where could I go for nice reasonably priced parts.


Thanks for help as I would hate to run into am intersection or slam someone from behind.


Chris
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chinarider
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Joined: November 08, 2002
Posts: 276
Location: San Francisco, CA
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2003 7:39 am    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

Yes, the Thing should have drum brakes on all 4 wheels. That's the stock setup, at least. There are disk conversion kits out there, so you might want to double check just to make sure yours has all drums.

The drum brake setup has plenty of stopping power when it's maintained and working properly. If the brakes are not adjusted regularly (like every couple of thousand miles), they wear down, and you may end up having only one of the two pads per wheel actually making contact with the drum. This of course will give you only half the stopping power.

I'd take it in to someone who knows older VW brake systems, before you end up in that dicey intersection situation.
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edgy
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Joined: January 22, 2003
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Location: Bel Air, Maryland
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2003 6:23 pm    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

If you have to push extremely hard on the pedal you may have rust in the master cylinder. Too much clearance would make the pedla go further to the floor but wouldn't change the amount of force needed to stop unless it is actaully hitting the front/floor. If this came on all of a sudden, I'd check the master cylinder first.
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amostcat
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Joined: January 31, 2003
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Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 16, 2003 10:10 pm    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

thanks for the help,, ill check the master cylinders
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[email protected]
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Joined: July 30, 2003
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rb47@alltel.net is offline 

PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 8:16 am    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

i had the verry same thing on my 73 the front brake hoses were pluged i was told that when they get old they break down inside ron
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bljones
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Joined: February 08, 2002
Posts: 2377
Location: ontario canada
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:05 am    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

the drum brake system is very straightforward to troubleshoot and repair. check the master cylinder (there is only one), replace as necessary (cheap, less than $50 for a german one) then replace flexhoses, then bleed the system.
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amostcat
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Joined: January 31, 2003
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Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2003 4:30 pm    Post subject: brakes Reply with quote

thanks for the help.... change the master cylinder, and the two front wheel cylinders, still trying to get the back ones off to change those....... I guess I will look into changing the lines also.....

Chris
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