Club 80-90 Forums

Hi All,

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can beef up the brakes on my 84 camper? It has passed MOT, but I would prefer the brakes were a bit more responsive.

As I cannot do the job myself, due to age and infirmity, I will need to be able to explain it to the garage or mechanic I take it to.

All suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers Jill

Brakes on a T25 if in good mechanical condition are quite sufficiant.You need to get some one to check the rear&front brake condition and servo oparation.A garage or mechanic should be capable of this by inspection & testing.Try to take it to a garage with a good reputation and get a price from them to do any work before its left with them.There are some good moble mechanics around that should be able to do this at a place of conveniance to you.If you feel the brakes are not good get it done as soon as possible.

VW spent lots of time and money on R+D so they were once more than good enough for the job - remember when they are built/designed etc there is a safety margin built in (ie will brake for your vehicles gross weight + some)
even though they passed MOT , when did you last have em serviced ? check condition of pads/discs/drums for excessive wear etc .adjust rear shoes up. even though hoses passed they can bulge when old ( when you press peddle , some of the fluid 'force' is taken up by the hoses bulging) also how old is your brake fluid ? its not something that springs to the front of your mind but its amazing the difference just changing fluid can make to tired brakes.
certain types of brake fluid (non silicon)are hydroscopic - attract water- over time this water collects in your braking system. explained well here

http://www.stealth316.com/2-brakefluid.htm

IMHO spend ya pennies wisely ( ie a lot bloody cheaper than carlos fandango brakes) and service your existing brakes - GSF etc do brembo/pagid etc parts at sensible money.

Do you know when the brake fluid was last replaced or bled? If it's been the same fluid for years and years this could well be your problem as it degrades and absorbs moisture which could well give you an unresponsive feel.
This will be a cheap fix too - one hour's labour and 1L of Brake Fluid.

camper - u can type quicker than me

Elvis - What's your opinion on Silicone Brake Fluid? I used it on an Alfa I once had and then on a Fiat Punto and it was fine for a few years then I started having rear brake cylinder seal fails (x3) and clutch cylinder seal fails (x3). It might just have been coincidence but I started to suspect the silicone fluid wasn't compatible with Italian seals so I don't use it any more. I'm back to DOT 4 Fluid and change it every 2 years.

As a precution to get the brakes checked out as soon as possible you could try a high street tyre wheel alignment &brake fitting centre some where near you.

just to note:

Some early n/a diesels came without servo assisted brakes (they were on the options list in early years). I used to have one of them. Whenever I had to brake hard, I almost tore the steering wheel out of its mounting, hangin' on for dear life.

i believe silicon can make seals swell , the older the seal the higher the risk involved. i guess some cheaper patern parts with greater tolerances/quality of material might be at increased risk.
IIRC it is ok to add any fluid to a system with silicon in but not the other way round.

Have you got the early type or the later type with larger pads

Easiest brake upgrade is new/rebuilt calipers, aftermaket pad set, grooved, vented, (available from the us) or crossdrilled brakes and aeroquip braided hoses. This equals better initial bite, less fade, less heat within discs and better more solid brake feel.
OK so the original VW designs alright especially when well maintained BUT that was 1970's technology and brakes and compounds have progressed since then and so has road traffic i.e it's more crowded than ever! Also many of us have wider wheels now and they grip the road more so you're overloading the boriginal brakes to an extent too!
And all vehicle manufacturers build to a cost and adequacy scale hence why newer cars are on larger single sliding piston brakes and why we aren't all driving around on 6 piston 320mm carbon set ups!
I always think that if u ever want to spend money on a van to make it safer start with how it stops!
!

and of course remembering about sensible braking distances , awareness of weather and road conditions , good observation , anticipation of fcukwits etc etc all aid to effective braking

Jill wrote:Hi All,


I will need to be able to explain it to the garage or mechanic I take it to.

All suggestions gratefully received.

Cheers Jill

Im not sure if the grease monkeys in the garages will be able to understand our replies

It's not just early Diesels that came without servos.
Early commercials with 1.6 petrol engines also had no servo and a cable clutch.

The brakes are sufficient if serviced properly.

The brakes are rarely serviced properly.

Brake fluid should be changed every two years as it is hygroscopic, it readily attracts water from the atmosphere, thus lowering it's boiling point, and making them more suseptable to brake fluid fade (not good)

Strip, clean, inspect and adjust brakes, replace faulty parts.

Most poor brakes are down to the rears being out of adjustment.

You can adjust the brakes via the inspection hole in the back plate, but they must be cleans first!

If you are sure your brakes are in good fettle but want them even better there are a few inexpensive tweeks you can do.

Stainless steel braided brake hoses, these will improve pedal feel, less effort wasted in swelling rubber items.

I am just having manufactured some fast road brake pads, made from a different material to the normal road pad, these again will improve fade resistance and improve braking.

The braids and the pads will be in a bundle pack for about £100 (bargain!)

This was originally a petrol engined bus, I bought it from the guy who restored/converted it.

Cheers, Jill