A Sign From Above?

Atomicalex

Just shoot me. I hopped into the Rabbit after my lunch errand yesterday and I heard a “plink” sound from the back end as I released the ebrake. Increased rolling resistance and a newly non-functioning ebrake cable meant I was not going anywhere fast. I babied the car home after work, and pulled the driver’s side rear spindle apart to find that the self-adjusting wedge on the drum brake mechanism had fallen and basically stuck the brakes on. Rear drums aren’t really that efficient, so it wasn’t a major crime to drive home on it, but what a pain in the butt. Now I either have to find a brake shoe to replace the fried one with, or finally get around to installing that rear disc conversion I started building last fall.

Rear brakes

Permalink:

Posted at 8:20 am in Katherine, Rabbit

Comments

scyrusb
Jul 22, 2009 at 8:32 pm

Over 60% of your braking is done with the front brakes. Drums are lighter and cost less to make. Many people convert the read discs to drums to save weight.

pttransamdriver
Jul 14, 2009 at 3:02 pm

I’m sooooo glad I have four discs on my T/A, I hated those dumb drums on my old truck.

1_eyed_bob
Jul 14, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Does anyone know if there is a rear disc brake conversion for a 2007 silverado classic? If so pm me or drop me a line in the box on my page.. much thanks.

GTwildfire
Jul 10, 2009 at 8:54 am

Scoob, Rear disc brakes never gave me a problem, and their pads last a long time, just like rear drum shoes. If drums are so wonderful why aren’t they still on the front axles of cars? Leaf springs were great, too and they’re still used in certain applications but they were a really old idea that had its time and became outmoded.

oldscoob
Jul 10, 2009 at 5:32 am

rear drums are the champs. rabbits suck. it may be the sign from above for volkswagen after giving up a real engine. I just swapped 22 year old rear pads out in maine, 123k miles, a transcontinental journey and enough salt to break the rear end in pieces like glass…the brakes kept working. Stop the rear hub quibbling. you got a problem with rear hubs, it is the particular car and owners. Sniveling jerks. Hey, I wonder which one of you would put disc brakes on a tractor trailer. Ridiculous lack of facted rotor warped brains and sideways…I feel great now. That felt so good to write.

GTwildfire
Jul 9, 2009 at 11:22 am

drums SUCK MAJORLY. I think its a crime that they have been installed in cars for the last 20 years. Its inexcuseable and I refuse to believe that drums are cheaper for car makers to include and that’s their motivation for providing this antiquated technology.
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Toss the damn salad bowls and put real brakes on the rear axle.

hotrod_heven
Jul 9, 2009 at 11:00 am

That’s definitely not worth repairing. Get discs!

FordRulesAll
Jul 9, 2009 at 8:30 am

Screw it go with the conversion it will look better and function better, so don’t think about it as the brake breaking think about it as your ride telling you to do the conversion.