Gowesty Bigger Brakes: Product Safety Notice

[ScottDT1]

I just received this email regarding GoWesty rotors used with steel wheels.


GOWESTY BIGGER BRAKES: PRODUCT SAFETY NOTICE

Dear GoWesty customer,

The purpose of this email is to explain, in detail, a problem we discovered related to big brakes and steel wheels fitted to Vanagons.

Background: We have sold thousands of big brake kits (Part#: BIGGER-BRAKES) and steel wheels for many years without any issues at all. A few months ago, we received reports from three different customers that their GoWesty Bigger Brake rotors broke into pieces right at the spot where their wheels contacted the brake rotor. These customers all had rotors from our most recent production batch. One customer reported a failure of a rotor that was not a GoWesty rotor; rather, it was a big brake rotor used by another supplier of big brakes for Vanagon.

Yesterday, we heard from a customer whose rotor from an earlier batch had failed.

All of these customers were using steel wheels (see below).

Response from GoWesty: Our response to the first breakages was to notify all GoWesty customers that purchased either our recent batch of GoWesty Bigger Brakes or GoWesty steel wheels, alerting them to the problem. Even though we did not know the specifics of the problem, we knew it was either the wheel or the brakes—or a combination of the two. We needed to do our due diligence and let people know right away.

Following this most recent rotor incident (from a different batch of rotors than previously reported incidents), we are taking no chances in extending this notification to all customers who have purchased our bigger brake kit.

Investigation: When investigating the first breakages, we concluded the problem is with the brake rotor when used with a steel wheel. What we found was that—because of the way any steel wheel presses on the rotor—it is possible for it to break the larger-than-original rotor, especially if the wheel is over-torqued. This is not a problem with the original OEM VW rotors because of the way they are designed to fit with the hub directly behind it—or in the case of 2WD, where the hub and rotor are integral. The potential for failure increases when a larger rotor is installed in place of the original rotor, over the existing hub (4WD) or new non-integral hub (2WD) as you can see in the diagram to the below:

 
When the first breakages were reported from the same batch of rotors manufactured for GoWesty, we believed that particular batch was slightly weaker than rotors we’d received previously. We believed that difference—when coupled with a steel wheel and possible over-torqueing of wheel fasteners—made for a perfect storm resulting in a small number of failures.

In light of this most recent incident, we learned that this issue is not limited to a single batch of rotors.

Solution: We just received a new batch of rotors. We have tested the rotors from this latest batch by installing one on a Vanagon with a steel wheel and a 5mm aluminum spacer. We intentionally over-torqued the wheel lugs to the point of destroying the wheel and the lug nuts. We did this both with and without an aluminum spacer, and the rotor did not fail. We performed the same exact test on a rotor from the previous batch and it did not fail with the aluminum spacer—but it did fail without an aluminum spacer. Given these results, we have determined a big brake rotor with an aluminum spacer is safe to use with a steel wheel.

Long-term solution: When our next batch of GoWesty Bigger Brake rotors are available online, they will have substantially more material in the critical area so they are absolutely fool-proof, no matter what wheel is used and no matter what torque is applied, without any aluminum spacer required.

What you need to do:

If you have original OEM VW-designed brakes: NOTHING—this issue does not apply to you at all.

If you have a big brake kit (GoWesty or any other) and alloy (not steel) wheels: NOTHING—this issue does not apply to you.

If you have a GoWesty bigger brake kit (purchased after 2013) and steel wheels (GoWesty or any other): Respond to this email, and GoWesty will send you new rotors with 5mm wheel spacers. When installed with the wheel spacers, these rotors will work with your steel wheels.

I hope this information adequately explains the situation. We are committed to keeping you and your Vanagon on the road for the long haul, and we apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you.

Sincerely,

S. Lucas Valdes, PEME
President, GoWesty
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Scott
'91 2.2 Westy "Baba"

[Pinetops]

Ouch

I'm glad to see they are trying to make it right.
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"A rolling bus gathers no rust."

[raoul mitgong]

[Syncronoid]

Any chance this could happen with the Van Cafe Audi-based Big Brake kit?
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'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L

[Christopher Schimke]

[termuehlen]

[ScottDT1]

[Christopher Schimke]

[mackaymanx]

Sounds to me like the spacer is a bandaid solution, the real problem is that the hub is too small and need to be redesigned to support the rotor properly. You can only tell if the spacer is an adequate solution once it has been in service and subjected to the cyclic loading it would endure on a road going vehicle. Over tightening a wheel in a workshop is no substitute for real life conditions.
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[E1]

[E1]

[ScottDT1]

[jimf909]

[Mellow Yellow 74]

[jimf909]

^^^ Done.

It’s still not awesome for GW to be recommending a path that leaves possibly thousands of alloy-only rotors out there.
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- Jim

[hdenter]

IMHO, the only correct solution is to change the hub out for a larger one. The spacer trick is just that, a trick. Selling aftermarket brakes is risky to begin with, leaving hubs out there that can knowingly fail if a minor mistake(or omission) happens during assembly is foolhardy.

Hans
_________________
'79 triple white convertible bug
'84 sunroof vanagon
'85 weekender

[Team WorldTour]

It surprises me that you talk about van ownership as a temporary thing.
Yes, I too have sold vans before, but not because I wanted to.
In my minds eye, I see this same attitude in pet ownership. Families on military bases that abandon a pet because of a future perceived hardship.
Do people really own vans with the intent to sell them off at some future date?
Personally, I know I don't need to tell anybody anything, because there won't be anybody else. My van is mine. If there is a problem, it's my problem.
I have the GW brakes. Somehow, I doubt they will be sending me new rotors to Germany.
I guess I'm going to have to fix the problem myself.

But hey, good job Lucas, on making people aware of this, and trying to make it right. That is the important part.
_________________
1990 Feldjäger Syncro AAZ
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[Jake de Villiers]

[?Waldo?]

[tencentlife]