Robert,

I had the same problem with my 1989 Carat. Last weekend I replaced the
front rotors, pads, and bearings. Oh what a difference it made. I paid a
few more dollars for the PBR Metal Master pads. They produce way less
brake dust, and the squeal is gone! I also used some of that red Disc
pad quiet stuff from our FLAPS on the back of each pad when I put them
in. The red stuff helps to dampen the vibrations between the piston and
pad while braking. My front pads were less than 50% worn, but the brake
dust and squeal was not acceptable to me, so I fixed the problem. It
took me 5 hours to replace the fronts, and my rears are fine, so I am
leaving them alone for now, next brake job will go a lot easier as I now
know what to do, and have all the tools and bearing grease. My Carat
also stops a lot quicker now, and when the brakes hot, they still
perform very well, thanks to the metal masters. My old rotors were
beyond wear limits for machining, so I opted to go with new rotors and
bearings.

I hope this helps.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Andy Yarnell
1989 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition

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Date:    Wed, 1 Oct 2003 10:33:37 -0400
From:    robertmstewart <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
Subject: Squeaky Breaks

Good Morning all,

Have a question, I recently noticed my breaks are squeaking when I apply
pressure to the pedal. I can't tell if it's coming from the front or
rear of
the van. I just had the front pads checked and the mechanic said they
were
fine.

I had the rear cylinders replaced and brake shoes replaced 2 months ago.

Any ideas?

Robert
NYC
89 Carat