did you first loosen the emergency brake cables (not just the lever)? I
seem to recall that as the first step in tightening Bug rear brakes...
which are the same brake, just that the vanagons' brakes are adult sized.

Matthew Pollard          "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry        So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356

On Thu, 8 Nov 2001, Alistair Bell wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Got around to doing what has become an annual rear brake adjustment job.
> We all know how ineffectual the self adjusting mechanism is, and I had the
> usual symptom of soft brake pedal (which firmed up considerably if handbrake
> applied).
>
> I jacked up the rear of the van and supported it on jack stands. I removed
> the wheels to get easier access to the adjusting hole on the braking backing
> plate. Used a little brake adjusting lever (had to grind down the end to get
> it through the access hole), but still had to take the drums off to remind
> myself which way to turn the star adjusters :)
>
> But boy oh boy what a difference! Pedal firm and handbrake applies evenly to
> both wheels.
>
> Alistair
>
>
>
> albell@uvic.ca
> '82 Westy, diesel=>I4 gas
>
>
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