Brakes - at my wits end

[arthurnugen]

Hey all,

So I'm so frustrated I almost put my '67 up for sale today! I put all new brakes on the front: wheel cylinders, shoes, drums, brake spring kit, soft and hard lines, new mastercylinder. Everything.

I go to drive it and it feels like the brakes are on all the time. I've adjusted, re-adjusted, adjusted the free play for the brake pedal - and it still does it! It seems worse when I turn the steering wheel left or right - it even stops and doesn't roll backwards on my slightly uphill driveway. I jack it up and the wheels turn freely. All I can say is WTF!!! Please help. Tomorrow I'm doing something for the first time since I've owned old VWs: take it to a shop.

Any ideas?

Arthur
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[mukluk]

Not quite clear on whether "I jack it up and the wheels turn freely" is only in reference to the front wheels/brakes that you replaced, or if you have checked the rear brakes as well for freedom of rotation.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[herbie1200]

First thing is to identify the wheel with brake on. After a short driving you should feel hot the wheel that does not spin free.

[60ragtop]

check the inner front wheel bearings to make sure you have the right ones. VW made a change to the spindle in 68.
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Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[sjbartnik]

How are you adjusting the pedal free play?

The right way is with the pedal stop on the floor of the car.

The wrong way is by altering the length of the master cylinder push rod.

If you do it the wrong way, you can block the compensating port inside the master cylinder which will cause the brakes to slowly lock on as they heat up.

If the new master cylinder is a different p/n or configuration than the original one the length of the push rod may need to be altered to make it work properly - Bentley has the procedure for this.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[[email protected]]

Take a closer look at your brake shoes, and adjusters. An early set would have an adjuster that has a shoe groove that is equally cut through the adjuster, and the shoe would have an end to it perpendicular to the adjuster to properly seat it in the adjuster. The late style has the shoe groove cut at an angle, along with the end of a shoe cut at an angle to mate to it. I would think a 67 would have a late set. Unless you've owned the car from new, who knows what correct, or incorrect repairs have been done in 49 years by previous owners. If the shoes, and adjusters aren't the correct mating ones, the shoes can shift/jam when the brakes are applied.

[arthurnugen]

Thanks all! The rear wheels and brakes are fine. I did adjust the freeplay with the pushrod - and even made it TOO loose as an experiment and the problem did not go away. I also double checked and it does have the angle adjusters and the shoes are seated properly.

I don't know what else could be going on but appreciate the insights!

Arthur

PS the bearings looked the same as the old ones. Weird thing is that I drove it a couple of blocks around my neighborhood and did not use the brakes at all. When I got home and checked the drums they were very hot to the touch!
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[bugheadred]

using the adjusters tighten them until you push all the fluid out of the wheel cyl. then adj the break shoes until you have free play then bleed the brakes

[arthurnugen]

So I thought I would close the loop on this thread and let everyone know that I had the wrong inner wheel bearings!! They were for an earlier year. Got the right bearings and works great now.

Arthur
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[Zylinderkopf]