Speedy broke a leg today

Speedy got towed home today. It required a four-wheel tow dolly.

Earlier, at the first stoplight, the brakes felt a bit strange. At the next stoplight the final bit of brake travel produced a hard grab to left accompanied by a

I've been on the phone 3 times today with CB performance with questions about the wide 5 kit they offer. If that's a CB kit, they will sell you the replacement parts separately. Thanks posting this. Good luck with fix. I'm glad I'm not reading about something like this happening at the track or causing a more dangerous situation.

David,

John Steele told me he uses the AC Industries kit.
At least that's what he used on mine.

If that's an ACI kit, socalimports will sell the replacement parts. At least, they have told me they will. I don't think that's an ACI kit, tho. The ACI drums and rotors are a one piece casting, no? That looks like an alloy hub on a steel rotor. You also cannot press studs into the ACI kit due to the hub/rotor design. Either way, I'm shopping wide 5 kits right now, so I'm really interested to know which brand this turns out to be and how the replacement parts will be handled. Please keep us updated.

DG;
SCARY scenario !!
Did you search the Samba/Shoptalk/Cal-look sites for more feedback ?
Year you bought the units ?
Heavy useage ? Slammin the brakes hard lately ?
RIGHT rear pads worn below limit ?

OK, got the handbrake assy separated from the caliper (a pesky C-clip was hiding from me). Now I can remove the upper caliper bolt. This is exactly the type of problem to be expected when you have an aftermarket system and no install instructions. No manual covers this stuff. Making lots of notes for next time! Temporarily removed the caliper and fastened it to the chassis.

Good news - the axle rotates! Surprisingly, the rotor still looks good - smooth and little wear. Both pads are still in the caliper, and show very little wear, but something has been rubbing metal in there for awhile? The remains of the caliper bracket are still trapped and make a god-awful grinding sound when axle is rotated. We replaced the wheel and rolled speedy into the garage for now.

Brake caliper says

I thought VARGA did wonderful renderings of women for Playboy magazine in the 50's and 60's......

That was "Vargas". How could you POSSIBLY forget the greatest artist of the 20th century?

Don't forget about the "Petty" girls.

One more plaintive cry for help:

Does anyone have an IRS with rear disc brakes?

How do I get at the rear brake caliper bracket?

Does one remove the CV axle assy and go at it from the inside - or does one remove the stub axle and bearings and attack it from the wheel side?

Can't find a picture of a rear disc brake assy anywhere on the internet and my few manuals only have drum brakes, so I don't know which pieces are removed and added for this conversion. Thanks.

David: This is all I could find. May help.
http://www.cbperformance.com/pdf/Roto-HubRearDiscBrakeKitPage1.pdf
http://www.cbperformance.com/pdf/Roto-HubRearDiscBrakeKitPage2.pdf
Here's an index for CB Perf. tech pages.
It has a couple of pages for the rear disc WITH e-brakes
http://www.cbperformance.com/techguide.asp

~WB

I believe there is a used set for sale on Spyderclub.com, in the classified section, 4 X 130 pattern. He is selling fronts and rears as a set. Ray from PA is the seller.

Many thanks to you Bill! That pdf seems to be what I was looking for. A copy goes into CRZNTUB's manual.

So it looks like I will attack this from the wheel side, remove the rotor hat and bearing seal to expose the caliper bracket mounting bolts. But I don't have to remove the bearing itself. That's what had me freaked out, bearing removal seems to be a major task with IRS. I should be an expert in a day or so. Thanks again Bill.

David, No problemo. Save me a fajita and a beer if and when I ever get out that way. :)

~WB

The continuing drama:
On my first attempt to remove the axle nut, I removed the wheel, put car in first gear, and applied a four-foot breaker bar (we

There are more pictures in my file, but this browser won't let me select them.

David-FWIW here's a diagram for safety wiring; don't know your spacing/fit issues but could prevent a disaster down the road. SS
ADD-replace suspect bolts (and nuts where applicable) with new ones of equal or higher grade.

Bought four new bolts, nuts and washers today. The original bolt was an M10-1.5 x 35, and it had no identity of any kind on the bolt head, definitely not hardened. Replacements are 10.9, which I believe are equivalent of grade 8 or better. I'm having a real problem accepting that three of the original bolts came loose and fell out with no visual trauma to their threaded holes?

Removed and bagged the caliper and all loose parts for a trip to my local VW supply house tomorrow. They offered to match up parts. Talked to EMPI rep today, and he said they no longer use CAST aluminum brackets. Gee - thanks for that! He also said nobody is using VARGA components today. They got too expensive being an OEM supplier, so all the aftermarket folks started sourcing their own parts and all the aluminum caliper brackets are now FORGED only.

Another mystery: After disconnecting the brake hose, I raised it above chassis floor level - thinking that should stop it from dripping. WRONG. I finally raised it to the highest point inside the rear wheel housing and it seems to have stopped dripping. Conclusion - there is an open line all the way from the front fluid reservoir, down and through the master cylinder, to the rear brake line. Is that right? I would have thought the master cylinder would sorta act like a shut-off valve when the car is immobile? Anybody know?

The final saga:
Two new brake caliper brackets, two new o-rings and two new axle seals picked up from FiberTech. The new brackets are steel (cast iron, cast steel?), not aluminum, but the shape and dimensions are identical. Maybe made in Manchuria?

Put all the bits back together. Used red thread locker on the four retaining cap bolts. Thread locker and wave washers

Just when you thought this was finally over:

Re-torqued the drivers side axle nut today. I'm done!

Well, while I'm here, maybe I should check the passenger side too? Jacked up the car again. The caliper bracket on the passenger side rotates back and forth 1/4 inch! WTF! Bottom line - same problem as drivers side. One retaining cap bolt missing, the other three bolts finger tight!

So the question is:

Is re-torqueing the axle bearing retaining cap bolts a regular maintainence item?

Is anybody else having this problem?

I've never heard of that before now. How'd you make out on the second set? Kinda like lather, rinse, repeat, huh?
Maybe it was originally put together on a Monday in September.

Cory - all is fixed (he said naively?). IMHO the axle retaining cap bolts were never torqued in the first place. But one bolt one each side was still tight? I'm baffled????

Took a second test ride today and then re-torqued the that axle nut. The re-torque on both sides produced absolute NO change. I'm beginning to think that the re-torque requirement is mainly aimed to those who remove and/or replace the axle bearings. In my case, I didn't touch the axle bearings. But no big deal at any rate. The castle nut takes a 5/32 cotter pin, and if it is too long, it will definitely interfere with Fuchs wheels, if anyone is interested!

You are right, the axle nut torque will not change unless you have replaced the bearings. As new bearing seat in, the axle nut needs to be retorqued. ~Alan

So was this a problem that has been there since the car was built in 2001 and only manifested itself lately?

I'm surprised that it took this long for the sole bolt holding it all together on each side to loosen up.

I wish I knew the answer to that one Gorden, I really wish that I knew!

But I have never previously touched any of those bolts since John delivered speedy to me at Knott's in 2001.