Sunday, August 17, 2008

Soggy brakes


Soggy brakes
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
Having checked, cleaned and re-assembled one side of the back brakes on my Type 2 camper, I had assumed that the other side would be very similar. To be honest I'd almost planned to leave them for the professionals as the standard jack won't go into the mounting in that side - and no I don't understand why, it's another job to be fixed.

A rare sunny afternoon combined with a need to leave some stuff alone to dry made me have a butchers anyway. Doing both sides is sensible.

First surprise is that the drivers side is rustier than the passenger side. Perhaps this is because it normally stands against a wall so there is less air movement. That might explain the 4ft long hole that needs dealing with on the side. The back plate on the brakes is pretty manky too.

Inside, what the hell ?!?! A furry brake cylinder !

No rust though because everything is soggy with brake fluid. No wonder the brakes were iffy. A hour spent with turps, brake cleaner and a half inch paint brush and things are a lot cleaner. The shoes are in the bin. In theory you can clean them but for 25 quid for two pairs I'm not going to bother risking it. Instead I'll get a new cylinder ordered and bin the old one. A pain but better than squiffy brakes.

Oh, and while I was in there I discovered one of the brake retaining thingies that gave me so much grief had been replaced with a split pin and washer. This worked quite well but I'll be going back to stock all the same.

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