Brake conversions

[Dave307]

Just wondered if all you brain boxes out there can tell me how easy it is to swap from drum brakes to disc breaks and an idea of what's required to do this.

Cheers.

[Ian Hulley]

I believe Futbus do these kits.

Yep, here ya go ... http://www.futbus.com/Brake-conversion- ... e-Kit.html

Ian

[DavidPallister]

I believe Ultimate Engineering and Holman Engineering (silverbullet on here) also do rear disc kits. I think they are based on Sharan/Galaxy set ups

Dave

[axeman]

scroll down this page to have a look at ian's work.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 5&start=75" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

neil

[California Dreamin]

Probably been said before but:
Braking systems roughly work on an approximate 60 : 40 split front to rear (fronts doing 60% of the work, rears only 40%)
This is because weight moves to the front wheels when braking whilst the weight on the rear wheels reduces)

Fact: If you increase the rear braking efficiency you effectively upset that balance which can result in dangerous rear wheel locking under only moderate braking.

So to maintain the necessary 'balance' any rear disc setup will offer little improvement in braking efficiency.

So why the heck would anyone spend that kind of money for no apparent gain? the simple answer to this is heat disipation.
The 'open' design of a disc/caliper arrangement over drum and shoes means that under sustained and heavy braking disc brakes are much less likely to suffer from brake fade.

Another fact that many will not know: drum brakes with their leading and trailing shoes have a 'self servo action' where the leading edge of the brake shoe effectively pulls it'self into the drum in a 'wedging action' .... brake pads on disc's do not have this beneficial action.

My advice to anyone wishing to improve their brakes is to look at the front brakes first..they do most of the work so improving the fronts will bring the most gains whilst avoiding that dangerous imbalance (rears being too powerful proportionally compared to the fronts).

I'm betting all the good modders out there who have gone to the time and expense of manufacturing rear disc setups did so after modding their front brakes first.


Martin

[toomanytoys]

^^^WHS^^^

Std brakes in good condition with quality pads and shoes and serviced properly are very good.. of course.. most people are very spoilt these days with over assisted modern cars.. remember you are stopping a 2 ton + vehicle.. press a little harder

Of course if you have installed a much more powerful engine etc, then rear discs could be a nice addition.. but you really want to be upgrading the fronts too..
In South Africa VW only upgraded the front brakes even on the 2.6 I5 140 bhp vans and thats in a much higher ambient air temperature...

There are advantages for offroading in that they perform better in wet and muddy conditions and easier to clean out...

[Ian Hulley]

I much prefer our's on the van to those on the Passat ... big braking power (as Si say's in very good condition with new rear back plates, cylinders, drums, shoes and fittings etc 2 years ago) and not as on or off as the all round disc brakes on the car.

Ian

[California Dreamin]

While we are on the subject: Just been asked a question about the T25's brake regulators and thought it would be a good topic for discussion.

Whilst I cannot see any explaination of their precise operation I have managed to find a couple of pictures buried in the Vanagon manual. Looking at the pictures I believe the front of the vehicle is to the left and looking at the 'testing' information it seems to imply that mounted in it's normal position (30 degrees nose up) the brake fluid pressure is set even between front and rear whilst the vehicle isn't moving or at a constant speed. However, under braking, pressure is reduced to the rear brakes dependant upon decelleration and or vehicle angle under braking (dive).
Does the Bently or other information have a definitive description of this? I assume that the regulator has a ball bearing or plunger operated by inertia or angle? that controls the degree of brake pressure restriction to the rear brakes.





Martin