Itinerant Air-Cooled

When driving I hear a clicking coming from the front right wheel. It gets faster & slower depending on speed. It gets louder when I apply the brakes. I'm assuming it would be the bearings but don't they usually growl/whine when they go out?

Jack it up and spin the wheel and look, listen.....Yes bearings generally growl at low speeds....Do you have disk or drum brakes?

RSorak 71Westy wrote:Jack it up and spin the wheel and look, listen.....Yes bearings generally growl at low speeds....Do you have disk or drum brakes?

Disks in the front. Drums in the back. I think all '72 and later were like this. Could it be the brakes?

Sluggo wrote:

RSorak 71Westy wrote:Jack it up and spin the wheel and look, listen.....Yes bearings generally growl at low speeds....Do you have disk or drum brakes?

Disks in the front. Drums in the back. I think all '72 and later were like this. Could it be the brakes?

Take off the hubcap and drive. Quiet now? Pebble in the rolled lip of the hub cap. Not quiet yet? Check pads and separator spring and pins for secure installation. Some pad shift noise when applying brakes is normal.
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:Take off the hubcap and drive. Quiet now? Pebble in the rolled lip of the hub cap. Not quiet yet? Check pads and separator spring and pins for secure installation. Some pad shift noise when applying brakes is normal.
Colin

I wouldn't guess it was a pebble because the clicking is perfectly timed. If so, that pebble has great rhythm.

I'm thinking brakes. I also get one louder click right when the Bus comes to a complete stop. It happens whether I'm applying the brakes or not. But it's a little louder while applying the brakes. Sometimes I don't even hear it till I apply the brakes.

I'll take a look at the brakes this weekend.

THANKS!

Sluggo wrote: I wouldn't guess it was a pebble because the clicking is perfectly timed. If so, that pebble has great rhythm.

Ask satchmo. . . . . . . hmmhmmm-hmmmmmhmm

Do you have any trim rings or other wheel adornments other than the factory snap-on hub cap?

The sound was coming from the right rear tire. It sounded like the front because I was hearing it through the front window.

The rear brakes were way out of adjustment causing the parking brake arm to be very loose and barely hit the tangs on the back of the (spinny thing with the rim studs on it). Adjusted my brakes and the problem went away. Plus my braking is even better now. Parking brake is at 8 clicks.

Okay. It's back but only when I hit the brakes. For some reason when I hit the brakes the bar that the e-brake cable connects to hits the tangs on back of the hub(?). I can't figure out why or how to rectify it.

Any suggestions?

Hmmm.....

Is the brake shoe retaining pin keeping the shoe snug against the backing plate?

Does the brake drum or brake shoe have a taper across the braking surface that would cause the brake shoe to kick outward when pressed against the drum?

Is the backing plate bent?

Is the e-brake lever bent? Is its retaining rivet tight?

That's about all I can think of!

Sluggo wrote: the bar that the e-brake cable connects to hits the tangs on back of the hub(?). I can't figure out why or how to rectify it.

Perhaps you ought to look at that lever and see if it belongs on the other side of the car. They have a little bend in them to help tuck everything in tidy. Or perhaps the brake shoes are wider later style brake shoes and they now stick out too close to the rotating lug studs. '72 had shoes unique to them and '71s. Early '73s were wider but still had early style emergency brake lever. Oy, ya know? Oy. The details. . . . . .
Colin
(just make the damn things stay clear, attack with pliers and a hammer, be workmanlike but effective)

Amskeptic wrote:(just make the damn things stay clear, attack with pliers and a hammer, be workmanlike but effective)

This is what I did. Vice grips and a 5lb Hammer. Weird that it took 5 thousand miles to do this. It had a bend out to make it clear the springs and then bent back to avoid the tangs on the hub. I bent it back just a little further and it seems to have worked.

THANKS!!!

vwlover77 wrote:Hmmm.....
Is the e-brake lever bent? Is its retaining rivet tight?

The retaining clip is the thing I'm least comfortable with on my recent brake job... is a new replacement clip an easy to source part? What's the ASE-approved shade-tree method of installing a new clip?