2 - Brakes & Wheels
     
             2.1 Front Wheels & Brakes
             2.2 Rear Wheels & Brakes
             2.3 Master cylinder
             2.4 Brake Booster
             2.5 Parking brake
             2.6 Parts List

                2.7 Tire changing
                2.8 Wheel alignment
             Table of contents
 
KUBVAN brake diagram

 

 

2.1 Front Wheels

KUBVAN FRONT WHEEL BEARING This is what the front bearings look like.
I had never replaced a set before the RedVan project, but it turned out not to be too difficult. I was able to get them out of the wheel hubs with 30mm socket and a hammer. Putting the new ones in I did use a friends 20ton press.
Piece of cake.
kubvan wheel hub click on the image on the left to zoom.
You can see the big "C" clip there is one on each side that you need to remove, then push the bearing out. If you have a press you can actually use the new one to press out the old one, don;t push it to far as you will need to get the"C" clip in first to where it bottoms out.

CV Joints and Boots

kubvan cv joint
           click to zoom
Cleaning and rebuilding your CV joints might seem like a difficult task, but if you follow the Bentely manual its not difficult. The most difficult thing is to get the wheel nut off, once you have managed that the rest is straight forward. I have a 3/4 bar and an extension pipe. You have to block all the tires, and put it in gear, then lean into it with all you got. kubvan cv joint      
                     CV BOOT
kubvan cv boot
                    CV KIT

2.2 Rear Brakes

The most important aspect of the rear brakes on the Kubvan is the larger diameter drum used. These are not Rabbit of jetta drums which are normally 180mm.

The brake drums and shoes for the Kubvan are drums are 201.5mm these are from 1980 vintage VW Dasher or 1984 vintage VW Pickup, I note that some of the newer Jetta's  now have a larger 201.5 mm drums but I do not know if they are compatible. see the parts list at the end of this page.

kubvan brake drumThe Bentley manual is the definitive guide on how to take apart and put back together these drums.

The skecth on the left is a bit iff the axle stubs don't look like that, and the back bearing or sleeve seems to be missing but it gives you an idea of the lay of the land.kubvan rear wheel bearings

If you make note of nothing else, Make sure that if the drum is stuck on you release the adjustment wedge that keeps the shoes tight. (I will be adding some pics here for clarity)

 This is done by rotating the wheel so that one wheel bolt hole is at a 10:00 o'clock position. Pushing a small flat blade screw driver in  this hole finding the spring,, running up the spring then levering the wedge up releases it. Sounds tricky but it's not that hard ,and allows the drum to come off with no struggle.

kubvan brake adjustment kubvan cylinder
                                                                      Adjusting wedge BECK ARNLEY 072-8176
Rear Brake Wheel Cylinder


Here is the brake shoes, springs and rear bearing (placed on stub, you need to install the bearing in the back of the drum.) kubvan axle stub
                 Axle stub
kubvan rear brakes
               Click to zoom
Kuibvan Drum Installed
                     Drum installed

 

The pictures below show something to watch out for, you will notice on the inside of the bearing sleeve some residual sand left over from the cleaning process at the factory. It looks to me like it is sand from sand blasting the drums after casting, or possibly just casting sand that never got cleaned out. Needless to say if this was left in it would have likely made short work of new bearings. Bottom line here is inspect all your parts for cleanliness before installing.

Kubvan 201mm drum Kubvan brake drum sand kubvan clean drum
Note diameter of Drum 201.5mm Sand in bearing sleeve Sand removed from sleeve Clean bearing sleeve

Rear Wheel Bearings:

kubvan wheel bearing

2.3 Master Cylinder

The original VW part number is vw 175 611 025 it's from a VW Rabbit Pickup

kubvan master cylinder

 

2.4 Brake Booster

95mm Power Brake Booster 81-84 VW Rabbit GTI Pickup Jetta MK1

Kubvan Brake booster

Original Part # VW 175 612 107 A

 

 

 

 

 

2.5 Parking Brake

Kubvan parking brakeThe rear drum part of this is standard rabbit gear the factory Number is 171 609 721C, the cable has Gemo 433 566 on it.

Getting it out can be a challenge.

 

 

 

 

Kubvan hand brake cable This is the arm that link the left and right wheels to the single handbrake cable.

 

 

 

2.6 Parts List                  Lordco Part Numbers      -     manufacturer Name & Part Number           OEM

Master Cylinder                                                                                                                            175 611 025

Brake booster                                                                                                                            175 612 107 A

Rear Brake drums                BDR 080-1977

Rear drum brake shoes         963-495PG

Rear drum spring kit             759 17241                                Carlson 17241

Rear Brake cylinder (piston) BHY 072-8176                         Beck Arnley 072-8176

Rear Wheel bearing kit          BBE 051-4165                         Beck Arnley 051-4165

Rear parking brake cable                              179 609 721                                                       171 609 721

Front Brake Pads                 BFR 082-1325

Front Brake rotor                 66R 3416

Front Brake Bearing             BBE 051-3851                          Beck Arnley 051-3851

Lower Ball Joint                                                                     OneSource K9061

Reatainer Kit                        759 13168

Control Arm Bushings      Beck Arnley 101-3817

2.7 Tire Changing.

One of the best tools I have ever bought is the tire changer as depicted in my YouTubes below. A number of versions are available, from your local automotive supplier, harbour freight or as you can see in the second set of videos, from a bloke in Australia. I bought the unit I use from Lordco up here in Canada. The lever mechanism for breaking the bead was not very strong and tended to twist to one side, beefed it up with two chunks of flat steel, and put an extra foot on the back to stop it from slipping on difficult tires. I find the aluminium rims more difficult to un-mount than steels, I think it is because the oxidize on the inside. Steel rims tend to be painted on the inside and so the rubber slides off easier. The Australian tool shown in the second video's below looks like a better choice bit it seems like a long way from here to ship. Since modifying mine it works much better even on aluminium rims as you can see in the video below. Changing tires and rims is now real easy and my unit cost me less than a $100 and it has paid for it's quickly. How many tools do you own that you can say that about.

     
|Breaking the bead Taking the tire off Putting the tire back on

Here is a  cool variation on the Harbour freight tool from Australia, I especially like the bead break, seems like a long way to ship though.

   

 

  2.8 Wheel alignment  (find the original full article here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=4

Toe angle

The toe angle identifies the exact direction the tires are pointed compared to the centerline of the vehicle when viewed from directly above. Toe is expressed in either degrees or fractions-of-an-inch, and an axle is said to have positive toe-in when imaginary lines running through the centerlines of the tires intersect in front of the vehicle and have negative toe-out when they diverge. The toe setting is typically used to help compensate for the suspension bushings compliance to enhance tire wear. Toe can also be used to adjust vehicle handling.

A rear-wheel drive vehicle "pushes" the front axle's tires as they roll along the road. Tire rolling resistance causes a little drag resulting in rearward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Because of this, most rear-wheel drive vehicles use some positive toe-in to compensate for the movement, enabling the tires to run parallel to each other at speed.

Conversely, a front-wheel drive vehicle "pulls" the vehicle through the front axle, resulting in forward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Therefore most front-wheel drive vehicles use some negative toe-out to compensate for the movement, again enabling the tires to run parallel to each other at speed.

Toe can also be used to alter a vehicle's handling traits. Increased toe-in will typically result in reduced oversteer, help steady the car and enhance high-speed stability. Increased toe-out will typically result in reduced understeer, helping free up the car, especially during initial turn-in while entering a corner.

Before adjusting toe outside the vehicle manufacturer's recommended settings to manipulate handling, be aware that toe settings will influence wet weather handling and tire wear as well.

Excessive toe settings often bring with them drivability problems, especially during heavy rain. This is because the daily pounding of tractor trailers on many highways leave ruts that fill with water. Since excessive toe means that each tire is pointed in a direction other than straight ahead, when the vehicle encounters a puddle that causes only one tire to lose some of its grip, the other tire's toe setting will push (excessive toe-in) or pull (excessive toe-out) the vehicle to the side. This may make the vehicle feel unsettled and very "nervous."

Additionally the vehicle's toe is one of the most critical alignment settings relative to tire wear. A toe setting that is just a little off its appropriate setting can make a huge difference in their wear. Consider that if the toe setting is just 1/16-inch off of its appropriate setting, each tire on that axle will scrub almost seven feet sideways every mile! Extend it out and you'll discover that rather than running parallel to each other, the front tires will scrub over 1/4-mile sideways during every 100 miles of driving! Incorrect toe will rob you of tire life.

 

Camber           The full article for this excerpt can be found here : http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

Camber is the angle of the wheel, measured in degrees, when viewed from the front of the vehicle. If the top of the wheel is leaning out from the center of the car, then the camber is positive ,if it's leaning in, then the camber is negative. If the camber is out of adjustment, it will cause tire wear on one side of the tire's tread. If the camber is too far negative, for instance, then the tire will wear on the inside of the tread.

Camber wear pattern

If the camber is different from side to side it can cause a pulling problem. The vehicle will pull to the side with the more positive camber. On many front-wheel-drive vehicles, camber is not adjustable. If the camber is out on these cars, it indicates that something is worn or bent, possibly from an accident and must be repaired or replaced.