Sudhir,

One thing about a race vehicle, it's weight balance changes only from
the
fuel load being used.  The majority of them use a bias control that
changes
the front/rear brake bias depending on load and road conditions.

Concerning the rear brakes on an upgraded Vanagon, it's hard to say.

How bad are they out of balance?

VW used the same front and rear brakes on the basic Vanagon through
the
Westy for the same model years.  They did use different manufacturers
calipers, but the total braking force was very similar.  The balance
is the
important thing, but with a vehicle that the balance changes, adding
passengers, hauling, towing etc... it's hard to setup.

Without an ABS system, you have to set it for the empty van.  That
makes the
rears weak for any type of load you add to the van.  With ABS, like
the
pickups use, you can use rear brakes for the heaviest load and allow
the ABS
to prevent lockup.

For the average driver, it's better to have too much front brake than
too
little.  The tricky part would be to add rear brake without getting
the rear
too strong on a panic stop, even after increasing the fronts.
Admittedly,
they should be upgraded so the ration is the same or even a little
better
than factory, but how much is the question.

GregM

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
Behalf Of
Sudhir Desai
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 9:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Seeking Input - Big Disc Brakes

Either Tom,
Will you be considering a larger rear brake setup as well?
I don't think it is very safe to have an unbalanced braking system,
and
would definitely recommend checking one out if you haven't.
(people with more than limited racing experience, please chime in :D
)
sudhir

On 3/4/07, Tom Sinclair <neeemo@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have the Smallcar kit on a Syncro.  I'm very happy with it.  It
> clears 15" SA wheels OK.  They came with no brake lines, but some
21"
> stainless lines with 3AN-10mmx1.0 adapters did the trick.  Terrific

> braking power and easy to find pads and rotors.  Superior to the SA

> kit IMO.
>
> Tom
> --- Tom Salicos <Tom@SALICOS.COM> wrote:
>
> > I'm planning on buying a "Big Brake" front disk brake kit from
> > either Van-Caf� or SmallCar. I'd like to get  inputs on ease of
> > install, completeness of instructions, post-install problems,
etc.
> > I'm not so much a mechanic and understand that there is at least
a
> > little bit of machine shop work to be done.  I already have 15"
> > Rheins installed.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Tom Salicos
> > '87 Syncro Westy EG-33
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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