This is normal for the Vanagon, we only get to use 50% of the brake
shoes we pay for!

I have never been impressed with the way Europeans design drum brakes.
They never adopted the American  de-facto standard Bendix self-actuating
design.  Didn't want to pay for the rights I guess.

The self actuating design leaves the bottom of the shoes attached to
each other but unattached to the  backing plate and free to move.  The
piston is at the top, and at about the 11:00 position on the left, and
the 1:00 position on the right.  When the piston pushes out the shoes
the rotation/friction drags  the trailing shoe into the drum--hence the
term self actualizing.  Far more efficient in stopping (forwards
anyway), and gets more of the shoes on the drum, the piston expands them
and they basically have full contact with the drum.

At least the disks on the front do 60% of the stopping!

Ron Bloomquist wrote:
>
> In the process of putting on the tires I pulled the rear brake drums and
> discovered I was almost metal to metal!!  So, I installed new shoes.
> Anyway, the weird thing is...  The shoes I took off had almost full
> thickness of lining material at the bottom of each shoe but the top of each
> shoe was worn down almost to the metal!!  All four - two shoes each side -
> worn the same!  The top almost gone, the bottom full thickness!
>

> Anybody know if something is wrong set up wrong with the rear brakes on my
> '84 or is that normal?
>

--
Stuart MacMillan
Manager, Case Program
800-909-8244 ext. 8208
Fax: 206-269-6360

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