Tom, I just went through dealing with a "clunk" or knocking in one rear
wheel once with each revolution. My main mechanic said he thought it was
a brake shoe and not to worry.

Well, I worried. And then one night when going up a realy long steep
grade with a steep drop-off on one side, I began to get noises I would
have sworn was a CV about to let go. All kinds of "clunk" or knocking
noise. Well, I had a new set of Lobros and determined to install them. I
removed the screws from the CV at the Trans axle, then started to remove
them at the hub. Three of the damn things were loose - so loose you
could turn them with your fingers.

Well, as it turned out, three loose bolts or screws allowed the CV face
to work against the face of the hub making a "clunk" with every
revolution.

Check the torque on your CV cap screws before you do anything else!!

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Tom Young wrote:
>
> Hi all:
>
> I've just finished doing a complete rear end brake job on my '82 Westfalia,
> and now I've got a problem I'd sure appreciate some help on.
>
> Background:
>
> '82 is new to me; purchased 3-4 weeks ago.  Drove it once or twice a week
> since then and noticed no noise, no problems.  Just finished installing new
> rear brakes - shoes, drums, hardware, wheel cylinders - and now I have a
> definite "clunk" in the left rear, one clunk per wheel rotation.  I'm also
> feeling it through the brake pedal when I apply the brakes.  It seems like
> the noise and the brake job go hand-in-hand but I've done rear brakes on my
> '81 before with no problem and I've pulled the left drum on the '82 now a
> half a dozen times and would swear everything is correct: E-brake attached,
> front shoe in front, rear shoe in rear, 4 springs in place.  The noise is
> consistent on straight runs and left turns (haven't turned right yet).
>
> At first I thought maybe by pure coincidence a CV joint had gone bad while
> the car was sitting there, but I've had an outboard CV joint go bad before
> and I don't remember feeling it through the brake pedal in this fashion.
>
> I also thought about the wheel bearing, but I've read that bad bearing tend
> to make more of a rumbling sound while this is a definite "clunk."
>
> Can anybody think of anything wrong in the brake job that could be causing
> this?  Something installed wrong, defective drum, anything?  I figure an
> out-of-round drum could give me the brake pedal "pulse" but I sure wouldn't
> expect any sort of "clunk."
>
> TIA.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Tom Young                        '81 Vanagon
> Lafayette, CA 94549          '82 Westfalia
> ----------------------------------------------------------------