Club 80-90 Forums

whats available to uprate the brakes a bit guys???

What engine you running?
VW used the same brakes on the '85 on vehicles from a lowly 1.6lD to the 112bhp 2.1l.
So, if your under 2.1 do you really need to uprate your brakes? or just have them properly cleaned and adjusted.
I've never really found the need to uprate the standard brakes if your running a stock engine, they are more than adequate and always pull up really well on the MOT brake test.
If your sure you feel the need to uprate them then there are several things you can do..

Fit a larger servo, Like Oettinger did. Servo comes from "Another large German car" and can be bought from www.t3tuning.co.uk

You can use the South African Vented from brake set up, not cheap and not that readliy available but it is a bolt on affair, these were used on vehicles upto 150bhp.

Fit a rear disc brake kit, www.ultimate-engineering.co.uk sell these, again not cheap but all the leg work has been done and is a bolt on kit.

Or if I were you driving a standard van with a standard engine then I would just look after the ones I had.

probs best to just give the brakes a overhaul

Always use genuan VW pads.They dont fade nearly as quikly and do give a better braking result than all the s--tey aftermarket ones.

there isnt much wrong with a std setup if correctly serviced and quality pads n shoes in..

I always use Pagid pads, these seem to work very well and last well too..
I used to regularly come off the "mountain" at 90 mph and "sqeal" the tyres on the brakes from 90-40 mph..., surprising how well the old girl used to pull up...
Fade is only a problem if you drag the brakes on a long decent.. if you are fully freighted and with a trailer etc.. then you should be driving accordingly..

I always find Pagid pads fine too, thats what VW used anyway. Lockheed also make excellent brake pads and tend to take less time to "bed in" than other brands but tend to be that little bit more expensive.