Itinerant Air-Cooled

Just got finished redoing the brakes on my 1970 Bug. And I seem to have a bit of a problem.

Details.......... I replaced the shoes all the way around. New hardware all the way around. New seals up front and wheel bearings packed. New wheel cylinders in the rear. All parts to be reused (the parking brake equipment in the rear) was cleaned and refitted. Matter of fact everything was clean, clean, clean.

Rear drums went back on at 250 ft lbs with a new cotter pin. Fronts went back on and the play in the wheel was tweaked so as not to pinch the bearings. Brakes were adjusted all the way around and then bled out all four. Actually, I bled out way more than I had to so that the system would be cleaned out a bit.

Test run for braking was excellent in most respects. Hands off the wheel and the car stopped in a perfectly straight line. The stop was very short when mucho pressure was applied to the pedal suddenly (as in panic stop). None of the wheels locked up indicating to me that all four are contributing to the stop in an even manner.

Sounds great so far, right? Well the performance was great.

But the problem seems to be that I have to apply noticeably more pressure to the brake pedal. I've not experienced this before in redoing brakes. Any ideas as to why I might be having to use more foot pressure?

ps......Oh, All Omniscient Moderator/Administrator........if this posting is better situated in the Brakes subcategory, please do the voodoo that you do so well.

Hmmmm adjust them again to be sure, but I have noticed different brands of shoes can cause that symptom.
Any chance of air in the lines? A lazy leg? Or maybe you're just dreaming this?

I was thinking air in the master cyl area. bubble in the plunger like???

Hiya Guys,

The air in the lines theory............The only place I broke the lines was at the rear for the new wheel cylinders. Did a rather complete bleeding. The pedal is very firm. Brakes function very well. All this seems to be saying there's no air in the system.

on that rusty 67 that I picked up recently the brakes were all basically shot.
new wheel cylinders, drums and shoes all the way around, even new hard line from front to back (was riddled with little pinholes) - new lines, and then the pedal assembly was taken apart and rebuilt.

the first thing I noticed was the CRAZY firmness of that brake pedal. I barely have any movement before it's in full lock and it's been taking some getting used to. I think over the past 2 weeks it has softened up a touch or im just feeling like it's the norm now, but when I jump in the Vanagon for a spin I almost break my neck from hitting the brakes so hard.

I guess im saying I have nothing at all to add to the 'what might cause that' discussion, but it happened to me after new brakes all around and might be somewhat normal?

Hiya Chris,

airkooledchris wrote:.......I guess im saying I have nothing at all to add to the 'what might cause that' discussion, but it happened to me after new brakes all around and might be somewhat normal?

Yep, I'm thinking I'm in the "Well, I'll drive it around for a couple of weeks and see how it goes" kinda mode.

Interestingly I had a VW shopowner (on another forum) suggest that the better the quality of the shoe lining, the higher the resultant pedal pressure. At least, that had been his experience.

Bookwus wrote:Hiya Chris,

airkooledchris wrote:.......I guess im saying I have nothing at all to add to the 'what might cause that' discussion, but it happened to me after new brakes all around and might be somewhat normal?

Yep, I'm thinking I'm in the "Well, I'll drive it around for a couple of weeks and see how it goes" kinda mode.

Interestingly I had a VW shopowner (on another forum) suggest that the better the quality of the shoe lining, the higher the resultant pedal pressure. At least, that had been his experience.

You must give them time to break in oh ye of little braking. The shoes normally bed-in within 200 miles, but the first few stops can be pretty underwhelming. Be prepared, too, for a couple of adjustments along the way to fully bedded-in.
Colin

Hiya Colin,

Even as I write this I am noticing a definite improvement. So, it looks the shoes are going through the bedding-in process. I'll check for adjust at the end of this week.

I suppose the peculiar thing about this is that I've done a few brake jobs (VWs and other cars) and this is the first time I've noticed this phenomena.

You're driving And writing???

Hiya Run,

Runamuck Bus wrote:You're driving And writing???

Not to mention talking on my cell phone, drinking coffee, and.............oops! Just blew that stop sign..............and reading a map.

Sheesh...............multi-tasking is a good thing, right?

sory it tok soo long, hard to type txt wile steering w knee and taking conference call notes! Apparently, that lady thinks i'm #1. I'm either on Rt79 or they just upped the sped limit.

Runamuck Bus wrote:sory it tok soo long, hard to type txt wile steering w knee and taking conference call notes! Apparently, that lady thinks i'm #1. I'm either on Rt79 or they just upped the sped limit.

=D> So you're a comedian too . . .

Runamuck Bus wrote:sory it tok soo long, hard to type txt wile steering w knee and taking conference call notes! Apparently, that lady thinks i'm #1. I'm either on Rt79 or they just upped the sped limit.

I take great offense to being referred to as a lady! And I was giving you the one finger salute for cutting me off on 79. (Good to see another VW nut in western PA)

Bookwus. Glad to hear the brakes are working out.