The bearing housing was probably over packed. Some folks feel that more
is better. When it expands, it has to go somewhere so into the brakes it
goes.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Lucas Thompson
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 11:10 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Grease mess in rear brakes

Hello list!

I finally got around this weekend to taking apart the rear brakes on my
sitting-for-7-years 82 Westy. I found the second worst mess I've ever
seen -- grease *everywhere*, drum in sorry shape from disintegrated shoe
lining. Almost like the grease seal was missing. The black paint on the
backing plate was also soft like there had been a brake fluid leak.
To be on the safe side, I ordered new bearings/grease
seals/shoes/cylinders and cleaned everything up.
My question, before I reassemble everything, is there anything I should
especially check? It seemed like the grease seal was in OK shape and all
bentley-illustrated parts were present, but it had obviously not been
effectively sealing grease.

Thanks in advance,
Lucas