I have done it 3 times now.  The steering wheel obscures the brake light and
with all that power, one does not notice the drag applied by the parking
brake - until 20 miles later when I attempted to pull off I-95 and had a
panic attack when the brake pedal sank to the ground.  I "phew" moment.
Just installed South African steering wheel.  Looks great and only took 1
minute. Trouble is it obscures the light even more.
Memo to self; pull rear drums to check for damage.

Geoff Thomas
'88 Westy, 233,000 miles, no frontal damage.

-----Original Message-----
From: David Brodbeck [mailto:gull@GULL.US]
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 9:28 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: [VANAGON] diagnosis of brake issues - what do you all
think? (was: Help...

On Wed, 24 Mar 2004, Ben T wrote:

> IIRC bearings in Vanagons are sealed and are not adjustable as your friend
> mentions. If somehitng was worng with them, you'd be hearing them growling
and
> howling while you drive.

Front bearings in 2WD vans are adjustable, I think.

> Brakes can stick and cause a bunring smell as well. Unfortunately, w/o
> Smell-O-Vision, I can't tell what your friend is sniffing at. Sticky
(front) brake
> calipers can do this. Same for brake shoes (in back).

Riding around with your emergency brake on can make things nice and
smelly!

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon