Itinerant Air-Cooled

I hope to tackle the rear brakes on my bus this Friday. Anyone want to stop by and help stomp on the breaker bar please feel free to do so!
I will PB Blast the hell out of the axle nuts and pray for the best. Any tips?

When you get your socket on it give it a few taps with some light torque in both directions and if possible a drift for some light axial tapping. Better yet is to get your handy impact wrench on the nut and start by giving a few thumps toward tight before starting to loosen. This can help loosen crystalized rusty stuff.

I might have a dandy torque wrench with a four foot handle I can bring over. Makes the job sooooooo much easier. Any particular time?


neal

Ooooooo that would be great.
I hope to get started mid morning but that may be hard for you being a nite-owly. Let me know.

Just wondering why you need to remove the axial nut to do the rear brakes? Is there something I'm missing?

Early Bays are different than late. Ya need to or I wouldn't.

I've had good luck with those whacker things. Don't know what they're officially called but it's a thick steel plate with the hex pattern for the axle nut and a square hole for your breaker bar. You put torque on with the breaker bar and go to town on the lobe of the plate with your bfh.

This thing.



I match-mark and use a cheater pipe to torque it back down upon reassembly.[/img]

I've heard that (Empi) tool is decent. But I've already invested a zillion on a new Craftsman TM socket.

I hear you. I have a socket as well as the crappy plate tool. Sometimes you just need some impacts to break things loose. I wouldn't subject a nice socket to that... I have no qualms about whacking a piece of plate steel.

I have an air impact gun too, but I'm thinking the torque will be too high on the nut. We'll see.

I don't have any experience using an impact gun on my nuts.

It is a 'Slug Wrench'. There are many varieties, that is just one.

Done! The whole job took me 8 hours including adjusting the front brakes and lubing the front end. Neal came by with a beautiful old craftsman heavy duty torque wrench which promptly snapped off the head and I felt terrible. The impact gun did it, after stomping on it with the breaker bar and PB blasting. Now I have nice new brakes with only a few clicks on the emergency brake.
Adjusters are like buttah. It's important to clean them well and lightly lube or they will sieze. I used 320 paper and a brass wire brush. Was able to unstick them all but 1 had to be replaced.
New springs too. I learned my lesson reusing old springs when both my fronts broke last year.
Man I'm glad that's done, but the brakes are much much better.

hambone wrote: It's important to clean them well and lightly lube or they will sieze.

Watcha using for lube? Anti-sieze?