squeaking from front wheels while driving -please help

[Mr. Bungle]

this may or may not be your problem, and if you go this route, do so at your own risk!

i have a july 63 bus and i had the same problem after the first 100 or so kms on my fresh back on the road build...stock spindles/backing plates/drums, aftermarket shoes/springs/wheel cylinders...squeaking at the right front, drum wearing a mark in the spring.

i decided it was the aftermarket wheel cylinders. the shape is slightly different than stock and there is alot of material around that one mounting bolt hole, and that forces the spring out of position and it contacts the drum. its hard to tell from your pics because of the angles, but it looks like your top & bottom springs are being "pushed" slightly out of straight by the wheel cylinders.

so...because there is alot of "meat" around that one hole in the cylinder and it would not effect the structural integrity of the cylinder, i filed it down until the spring sat relaxed straight across from shoe to shoe. it doesn't take much, just look how shallow that groove is in the spring and file out that much, plus a hair more.

after i did that i've had thousands of squeak free kms since (and i'm not afraid to drive my bus, in the city, highway, road tripping, camping).

cheers & good luck!
_________________
Silas

Zundfolge Car Club

Stock Motor Challenge website

[CanStan]

Thanks for the ideas. I gave a bigger bend to the spring and it seems to be quiet for now.

I did think about having the drum snout machined down a bit, but that probably won’t be cheap, and being an old original VW drum, it should be correctly made.
Since the springs seem to be correct, that only leaves the shoes and cylinders as the wild cards. The springs are definitely hitting the cylinders.

I do want to replace the worn spring soon anyways, so I think I’ll take Silas’ suggestion and grind down those cylinder flanges when I have it all apart.

I appreciate the extra eyes looking at this!

[BarryL]