Red Westie wrote:Speedo drive is on the N/S not O/S.
And the MOT tester would usually report excessive play as bearing noise is only usually heard under load (unless very bad of course)
Martin
But the speedo is on the O/S... Thats where the noise comes from if the cable is loose.
Mark.
I'm Not A Complete Idiot... Some Bits Are Missing!
Feeling a bit more relaxed about it now, I was getting a bit wound up. I was only guessing that the noise must have been coming from o/s bearing because I'd suspected the bearing was worn and that was the only wheel which was stiff to turn. I couldn't understand why I didn't hear the noise when turning by hand but guessed it might only happen under load. Yes, fair point, i probably shouldn't be messing about with brakes when not too competent but I didn't know that's what would be involved when I started, although I did have a bad feeling about this one and suspected it wouldn't be plain sailing.
The outer bearing looks fine, plenty of grease and no signs of overheating so I will try to free up the brake cylinder and reassamble everything tomorrow. i don't fancy my chances of undoing those bolts holding the caliper on anyhow, I had a go and they weren't having it.
I just changes my o/s wheel bearing tonight, Like your self i had no idea what to expect, but i got stuck in and job was done in about 2 hours, (had a brew mid way through) i did not need to remove ball joints or anything other than the calaper, wish i did step by step pic's now.
VWCamperfan wrote:Right, brake calipers! The caliper that is stiff needs to be moved in and out a few times to free it (possibly both sides if both stiff).
Use a strong lever to push the piston back in to the caliper housing and use the brake pedal to move out again. Keep the lever in between the piston and brake disc as you do this so you can move it back in again.
Keep the brake pad in the one you aren't moving to stop it coming out too far.
Should free up after a few attempts.
Be sure to remove the brake fluid resevoir cap or you'll never get the piston moving back, its located under the dash cover, but tbh if its started seizing then i'd just replace it as it will only prob last a couple of months before its binding again and wearing out your pads and discs.
Good luck and keep us posted
I'm in my own lill world but its ok cos everyone here knows me !
Thanks for that, I wouldn't have known about removing the resevoir cap but I can see it makes perfect sense.
Anyhow, the reason Haynes advises removal of the steering linkage joint (?) is so that the calipers can be removed as at the moment the are connected by the copper brake pipe via a bracket (outlined here in yellow) to said ball joint. Obviously if people are saying they've done it without having to free this bracket then that would be great. It's probably not all that clear from this photo but I'm not at the van right now - hopefully will be having another go at it later today.
I can somewhat see your issue with that pipe! I'm sure mine's not set up that way but if you cant remove caliper bacause of the solid pipe running between caliper and flexible hose, just undo the fitting at the caliper end (where the solid pipe goes into the caliper). Make sure you clamp the flexible hose first though to prevent brake fluid escaping. Give it plenty of penetrating fluid first to give you half a chance of getting it undone!
As I said earlier though, the bearing seems fine but your brake calipers do need freeing a little.
Mark.
I'm Not A Complete Idiot... Some Bits Are Missing!
Day 2 in the Big Bodger house:
I managed to have another look this lunchtime and have tried freeing up the brake cylinder to no avail. I can lever it back home with a big spanner but it sticks every time I apply the brakes, so I guess that's got to be replaced. The ball joint has got me beaten, I've tried everything I can think of to try and tighten it back up and that's the bit that annoys me most - the fact that I've made things worse by trying to have a go.
On the plus side, the bearings are fine as the wheel spins nicely with no noise or wobble when the brakes are free and I've got a slot at a garage first thing Friday morning so there's a chance I might get away for a weekend camping after all, although my pocket will be several pounds lighter.
My plan had been to pack the van up on Thursday and be ready to hit the road first thing Friday and I wish I'd ignored the ticking noise and just gone ahead, but I supose binding brakes aren't a good thing to have. Not sure now whether it would be tempting fate to load up the van tomorrow in the hope of getting away by lunchtime.
Just on the solid brake pipe issue, at the point where the solid pipe meets the brake caliper there us a 11mm union (think it was 11mm on mine) any way after i clamped the rubber brake pipe i undone this union after removing the two main bolts the caliper its free to be taken off this means you dont have to mess about with that bracket or any ball joints, you will have to blead the brakes after though, not a big job but will need two people...
I'll know for next time not to attempt to free the bracket but I guess that would have been the easier option if the ball joint had come undone easilly. I'm not sure how the garage will tackle it - burn the nut off maybe. I'm not going to attempt to tackle the ticking noise until after the weekend, assuming the van will be ok to drive on Friday.
Thanks for all the advice, it is frustrating to be beaten by such an apparently simple task but at least I won't have the niggling doubt that I'd done something wrong to the brakes when I'm driving down the other side of the Black mountains (hopefully!).
i decided to go for two recon calipers because my inner pistons were sticking and wearing pads unevenly, and discs are worn so will prolly replace them too.
it's fiddly work but worth it, i bought some brake pipe spanners today to make working on brakes a bit easier. 8, 9, 10, 12. 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24 mm sizes. one of those piston retraction tools wouldn't go amiss either, but as i said, my inner pistons were very seized, they should come back with not much force.
you do realise that the balljoint has a pair of flatsides which you put a spanner on to allow tightening the big nut without the centre turning dont you?
and that if you place a small jack under the bottom balljoint and apply lifting force it will jam the top one back onto it's taper to stop it turning.
and did you force both pistons back into the caliper or just one?
i'd honestly use the services of a mechanic m8 as it's quite obvious you could injure yourself through lack of basic knowledge.
enjoy your van and let the experts repair it
LT owner and positively rattling around with the new found space
member 3339
Yes, got the brakes sorted by someone who knows what he's doing. I didn't know about the flat sides for gripping but did try jacking it, as did the mechanic. He did have to burn it off in the end, it really was well stuck. I still haven't changed the bearing or tackled the strange ticking noise but the van is booked in for full service and MOT on Thurs so I may get them to do those jobs too.
When weighing up the pros of DIY (saving money and learning a bit more about the van) against the cons (fecking things up and ending up upside down in a ditch in a ball of flames), the option of paying the garage is slightly ahead at the momnent.
rainman wrote:
When weighing up the pros of DIY (saving money and learning a bit more about the van) against the cons (fecking things up and ending up upside down in a ditch in a ball of flames), the option of paying the garage is slightly ahead at the moment.
i hope he's got it fixed by now 
