A clunk. A death. Angels. A trip to California.

A lot can happen in a week.

Last weekend I started hearing a heavy metal-to-metal clunk when driving over rough roads or expansion joints (ahh.. Highlands Ranch... Beige Hell with shitty roads!). It would go away when applying the brakes.

I crawled around underneath the bus and couldn`t see anything obvious so kept driving it the one block to work. Yep. One block. You`re jealous. Admit it. I could walk, but since I walk 5 miles per day on average at work anyway, I usually drive.

All well and good, but the clunk was getting worse. It got to the point where there was a grinding noise in the brakes when backing up. Ouch.

I crawled underneath again and this time saw the upper caliper mounting bolt was missing from the driver`s side caliper. Scary!

Since I only work a block away ( :P ) I ordered one from Busted Bus, and started driving the Chevrolegs.

Thursday comes around. I`m at work discovering a major project I was working on was canceled. But the universe wasn`t through with me yet. That afternoon I got a call from my uncle in California. Never good news when rarely heard from relatives out of state call. This day was no exception.

My mother passed away.

I went into shock. Then frenzy. Then numb.

I started going through the motions to get the bus ready and drive out to CA. But I still didn`t have a bolt for the caliper! Oh well, I think, it`ll be here Friday for sure, right?

In the meantime my wife reminds me that the kids need to go too. And her. I had kind of hoped to handle this one alone, but of course that was out of the question. So the simple plan of just hopping into the bus and hitting the road became a mishmash of a family road trip.

Like I need this crap now.

Top it off, I don`t have enough $$ to cover the trip, expenses, etc. So I list my BA-6 for sale. No real takers, but a great member of the Type 2 List (who is nameless to prevent others from taking advantage) dropped a good sized chunk of money in my PayPal Account! The trip itself was covered. Yay!

Friday`s mail came, no bolt. Crap. I emailed a bunch of the local guys to see if anybody had a bolt. Jon helped me out and got me the caliper bolt. Others volunteered too, but Jon`s was closer. Less gas money.

During the Great Bolt Chase, more expenses arose. I got to the point where the only way out that I could see was to sell the Guacamole Bus. I emailed the same local guys that I was putting it on the market and why. I listed it on Craigslist too.

While I was getting the infamous bolt, my wife, behind my back, called my boss at the church. While my wife is a member there, as well as an employee, I`m just an employee in the IT dept discovering just how much I hate Macs. Anyway, she called my boss, who contacted the church`s Bereavement Ministry. They kicked down the money we needed to make everything happen.

So we leave in the morning for Cali. Should be a beautiful trip with the leaves changing!

Doing the Front Brakes Part 2

Part 2 of Doing The Front Brakes:

Remove the pads: When you pull the pads out of the calipers, pay attention to the backing plates. They have tabs that stick out and the orientation to the caliper piston is important. You need to duplicate the orientation when installing the new ones.

Remove the brake line clip: Use your screwdriver to pry this out. Make sure you`re not prying against the lines themselves, only using suspension components to pry against.

Loosen the caliper: There are two 19mm bolts on the back of the caliper that hold it to the hub. They`re almost certainly siezed. This is where the mallet comes in handy. I tried using a pry bar initially, but it started bending! But a rubber mallet tapping on the ratchet got them loose. At this point you only want to loosen the bolts, not remove them.

Remove the caliper: Get your coathanger or other wire and tie it to the upper shock mount. Holding the caliper with one hand, remove the 19mm bolts. Slide the brake line out of the holder it`s in and lift the caliper off the rotor. Tie the coathanger through one of the bolt holes, making sure the caliper hangs high enough to prevent stressing the brake line.

Remove the rotor: The old rotor should just slide off at this point. If it doesn`t, rap it with the rubber mallet.

Install the new rotor: Soak the new rotors in brake cleaner to remove the waxy oil applied to protect them during storage and shipping. Slide the rotor onto the studs, making sure to align the screw holes. Install the screws. Bentley has a torque spec (12ft lbs, IIRC).

Re-install the caliper: Lining up the bolt holes is kinda tricky for some reason. There`s just really no natural position for the caliper to rest when it`s not bolted in. So be careful not to scratch your shiny new rotor!

Prep the new pads: Put your anti-squeal stuff on the backs of the pads, making sure you don`t get any on the pad braking material. Let them set the recommended time per the anti-squeal manufacturer. (Mine was 10 minutes.)

Install the pads: Remember the backing plates? Put them in the calipers in the same orientation they were removed. Then put the new pads in. You may find you will have to compress the piston again. Use the old pads and your screwdriver covered with fuel line or wrapped in a rag to compress it. They should slide in place. Re-install the pins and the cross shaped spring. When installing the pins, use your flathead screwdriver to drive them in (once you`ve gotten them set into place with the tip showing through the hole.) The flathead will prevent driving the pin too far and shearing off the shoulder. A common hammer will work, but there`s not a lot of room around the caliper to maneuver the hammer. So a screwdriver and hammer is easier.

Close reservoir: Remove the rags, wiping up any spilled brake fluid, and replace the cap. At this point I usually pump the brakes a couple times and check for leaks as well as make sure the level in the reservoir is adequate.

Button up: Put your wheel back on, lower the bus, torque the nuts on the wheel, and put your hubcap back on!

Go for a drive and enjoy your newly redone brakes!

Doing the Front Brakes

Symptoms: Pulsing and vibration during braking. Also, this week they started squealing.

Tools Needed: Ratchet, 19mm socket, 6mm hex bit, rubber mallet or hammer, flat head screwdriver.

Supplies Needed: New rotors, new brake pads, brake cleaner spray, anti-squeal spray or goop. A roll of paper towels, toothpicks and nitrile gloves are nice too.

Since I got the bus, the pedal pulsed severely during braking. The PO said they`d done that since he bought the bus. So I figured it was time to check the rotors:

I used a dial indicator to check to see if the rotors were warped and/or of uneven thickness. As you can see above they definitely are. Both sides were bad, though the driver`s side was worse. So I started pricing rotors.

Darn near every one I found was around $85 EACH. And that`s for crappy Autozone quality. That much plus serious shipping fees to get good German ones from one of the bus vendors. So I resigned myself to saving up for them.

Until the VWs On The Green show here in CO.

$45 for a PAIR of German rotors new in the boxes! Here`s how they specc`d out:

The brand is Sebro. They came in with 12.85mm thickness. The limit as stamped on the rotors is 11mm. They were coated with a waxy oil to protect them from rusting, but where they rubbed on the boxes, they did have some light surface rust. No biggie as that will rub off the first time I apply the brakes, assuming I remove the waxy stuff.

The brake pads are Axxis brand. Made in Australia of all places! Cool! I bought them last year from a small import parts shop in Boulder, CO (sorry, don`t remember the name) and they`ve been bopping around in my parts box since then.

So I jacked up the bus and stuck a stand underneath:

I`ve never seen a "perfect" place to put a jackstand under a bus. But that reinforced point on the frame is what I`ve always used. Also, look at the seepage from my steering damper! Guess what I`ll be buying soon...

And here`s what things looked like without the wheel:

Ugh.

I`ve always been of the "the pads will wear to fit the rotors" school of thought. But these looked like the surface of the ocean during a storm!

Anyway, here is the order I did things:

Unscrew the rotor screws: There are two socket head screws that hold the rotor to the hub. They take a 6mm hex bit. Spray brake cleaner in the heads and follow that with a toothpick to pick out any gunk and prevent stripping it out. If you have a partner helping, have him/ her press on the brake pedal to lock the rotor in place while you`re unscrewing those screws. Otherwise, grab on tight...

Open brake reservoir: Wipe off and remove the cap. You have a choice here: Either carefully remove some fluid, or just stuff rags all around the reservoir. I used the rags, making sure to lay one over the opening as well to keep airborne crap from the brake fluid.

Remove the pins: 2 pins on each caliper allow the pads to slide as they wear. Bentley says to use a punch or something similar to drive them out. Bah. A baby screwdriver worked just fine with a rubber mallet to tap them out. You`ll also get the retaining spring (cross shaped piece) out with them.

Compress the pistons: Since I`ll not be using the rotor or the pads, I just stuck a screwdriver between the pad and the rotor on both sides and pried. Make sure the pistons are as far as the pad will push them. DO NOT pry directly on the pistons. You`ll push them in unevenly or tear the seals. By the way, my seals looked beautiful. These were recent rebuilds judging by the double bleeding screws.