Undecided on disk or no disk

[68IHscout]

1974 sb , replaced rear soft hoses ,wheel cylinders , just got new shoes and drums ,e cables as well, going to slap the shoes and drums on , after that i am moving to the front i got soft lines and cylinders ,wont know about drums and shoes till its apart.

Being that i have driven this car for about ten years I didn’t have a problem with braking till one of my cylinders leaked , i live in So California so not a whole lot of rain and even then brakes worked with some extra caution on keeping shoes dry by applying pressure to pedal after deep puddles .

Now the question do i really want to do a disk conversion ,is it a necessity or a want?? I would like to read some feed back .

Thanks

[Tim Donahoe]

You’ll get various opinions, but I noticed a difference in braking after installing front discs.

I also don’t have to adjust the fronts anymore. Seven years now and no problems.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[68IHscout]

[Bama Dave]

I have both front discs, and rear discs with ebrake. Works great, stops better than drums, especially when heated up from heavy use.

Drums are fine if kept in good order. I went to discs for the lesser maintenance aspect, as well better performance.

Is the cost worth the improvement? Front, definitely. Rear, probably not as much.
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David Richerson

1970 Beetle
1971 Super
1972 Baja

[Cusser]

[Zundfolge1432]

If doing maintenance is a bother you might want to consider a Toyota. My Prius is damn near maintenance free, oh and it has disc brakes. The disk is a farm implement.😀

[db69]

Put disk on front of my 69 before I ever drove it and it is night and day different than our 72 sb with drums as far as stopping power goes. The lack of required maintenance is just the gravy on the biscuits. You wont regret it . But it will make your wheels extend past the fenders or my kit did anyway so if that bothers you, you can always narrow the beam its all a snow ball effect. More=more.

[creative native]

A timely discussion as I've lately been considering converting my Super Beetle front drums to discs. The question I keep coming back to is that when I need replacement pads in the future, where do I get them? Would it be more convenient to use say, Karmann Ghia or Type 3 discs or are the aftermarket conversion parts easily found and readily available?

[ashman40]

[viiking]

Beetles from '68 came with VW discs as standard here in Australia. Previously they were drums and in my opinion the discs are substantially better and don't need power assistance like bigger cars.

Drum brakes need proper consistent adjustment to keep the performance up. Most people don't or won't spend the time to do this. Hence discs provide better long term performance.

In particular the discs are significantly better when working the brakes hard e.g. in mountainous areas or where high speed braking is required. They don't fade like drums.

Rear discs however are an overkill.
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3

[cletus_zuber]

[Tim Donahoe]

68, the only mod was installing the kit, itself. I reused my good races and bearings, so that was a little pain in the ass, but no biggie.

The disc kit was a gift from my wife. It was an Empi set up, and was surprisingly well made. The only thing that bugged me was having to bend the included metal brake lines at the calipers. I blew it when bending the first one and had to replace it. Still, no big deal. However, if I had it do do over, I’d get Topline’s flexible stainless braided line with their brackets. No bending, no fuss, great quality. In fact, if doing again, I’d just get the more e pensive Topline Super Beetle kit. It comes with new races, bearing, flex lines, etc.

An idiot can install these kits, and the pads are common Karmann Ghia ones, so no problem getting the replacements. You just want to be sure to torque all the nuts and bolts to spec, etc.

I couldn’t be happier with the quality and stopping power. Although, I did have squealing pads for the first 200 miles, but that was because of soft pads. When I replace them (which seemingly is still a long way off) I’ll get harder pads.

And, Zund, I don’t mind maintenance, but if I can find an improvement which doesn’t detract from my stock appearance, and don’t have the maintenance, I don’t mind a bit.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[creative native]

That's what I needed to know, Tim. Thanks for the information!

[68IHscout]

First off thank you all for the comments and great info , i will check the front drums to see how they are wearing if they look good ill just wait (taking cussers advice) ..

Tim .i have been checking around for a kit , and the one that caught my attention is the Topline kit's , one you can save some cash with the china calipers the other is exactly the same but with TRW calipers and all the other goodies that comes with it, plug and play pretty much.

bottom line if i need drums ill go wit the cheaper version .if i have life left on drums it will give time to save a little more for the next up kit.

[VW_Jimbo]

[volksworld]

i have no experience with the china calipers...but those TRW vargas have been on the market for like 40 years and have never been a problem

[Jimbug57]

I just replaced my front brakes. I wanted disk, but my budget wanted drum.
I got 2 Italian drums delivered for $78. Found German wheel cylinders cheap enough. I got some decent shoes. Also put new bearings in the drums (FAG).

I've owned a lot of bugs, all with drum brakes. It's what I know. I don't mind adjusting them when I change the oil. My engine is stock, I don't drive fast - I feel safe with my drum brakes.

Disk brakes are better, but drums are adequate for a guy like me.
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Repeat after me "I am smarter than metal!"

[61 BUS]

Last year I replaced the stock drums on my 76 Standard with discs in the front. After doing a bunch of research here, I decided to go with stock late model Ghia spindles, backing plates and calipers and go the full German OEM route and purchased a used set from a vendor here. Big difference, and I like the idea of keeping everything as close to OEM as possible. The aftermarket kits didn't look as well made as the original stuff. I particularly didn't like the idea of a relatively thin bracket to hold the calipers welded on to the spindle. The OEM late model Ghia spindles are cast all as one piece and look a lot more sturdy.
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61 Bus, 71 Bus, 76 Beetle, 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth, 47 Plymouth Business Coupe, 58 BMW Isetta 300

[Tim Donahoe]

Like most of us, I realize that Empi (although I hear they’ve improved their line recently) is not a company we trust. But in the case of my front disc conversion, I have to admit, they did a great job.

Obviously, my kit was made in China, but, as stated previously, it was well done. The caliper brackets were not thin. They were machined perfectly and were very meaty. Everything lined up perfectly. Seven years—even with Chinese calipers—and I’m still impressed with the quality.

So, this is my experience. Not all Empi stuff is substandard. At least, not their front disc conversions.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[68IHscout]