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Rear Disc Brakes on Off-Road VW\'s

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Rear Disc Brakes on Off-Road VW\'s

22 votes · Voting is open

  • Must have - wouldn\'t drive a car without them 5 votes · 23%
  • Nice luxury - but not necessary 6 votes · 27%
  • Nah - Discs on the front and drums on the back are fine 5 votes · 23%
  • Brakes? Who needs brakes when you have a horn? 6 votes · 27%

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ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#578584
Hi all,

Just wondering what your thoughts are regarding rear disc brakes on Baja's and Buggies....
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

11CAB If ya got it....Baja it

4,674 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#578585
Well how are Dave's going?
65 Meyers Manx
68 Country Buggy (KO 367)
68 Country Buggy (KO 669)
68 Country Buggy (KO 789)
68 Country Buggy (KO 815)
68 Baja Bug
76 Baja Kombi Twincab

Baja Wes V6 Baja Pioneer

3,119 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#578635
Well mine did save me from having a nasty accident by holding the rear wheel on when the axle nut sheered off :thumb
Wes - www.offroadvw.net - 200HP Quad Cam V6 in a VW Baja - with climate control... 🙂
www.taylorcycles.com.au - My DH MTB racing brothers shop.

aussiebaja Insano Dub Head

738 posts · joined Jun 2006 ·

#578763
ive read a few places there a godsend on the front but dont make much difference on the back,,,,exept in wes case i spose 😀😀
BETTER TO BE THOUGHT A FOOL THAN TO OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND REMOVE ALL DOUBT:puke

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#578949
11CAB wrote:Well how are Dave's going?
Daves are going just fine - but most people don't drive like Dave so I thought I would see what normal people thought.... 😀

R 🙂
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

subibaja Wolfsburg Wizard

501 posts · joined Sep 2005 ·

#579152
dave drives like a girl so he probaly doesnt even need brakes
hahahahahahaha
anyone who says it's bad to put subaru motors in vw's.....
hasnt got a clue about smoooooooooth

terry
brisbane
0403252522
you know who i am

LIFE IN THE LOW LANE All people have the right to stupidity but some abuse the pr

2,534 posts · joined Mar 2007 ·

#580838
Disc brakes are prolly one of the best mods to do on a buggy. No more worrying about adjusting brakes and warped drums(if early big 5) I drove a mates car a couple of weeks ago who had some serious work done to his buggy to make it more comfortable to drive on and off road(owns a house on Moreton Island) He went from all country buggy running gear to disc brakes with late kombi 5 stud rims all round with a custom made rear end with Renault transaxle using Bay window Kombi trailing arms modified with total camber/castor adjustment. Also some custom made shocks with full dampener/rebound adjustment from inside the car as well as airbags to help hold loads and keep the car sitting level.

The result: drove the car with country buggy running gear - brakes were ok but when they got wet they would do all the usual things like pull one way or the other under braking or lock wheels and the rear would kick under both acceleration and deceleration. All the characteristics you'd expect from a car with 9Rs on the front and 12.5 33's on the rear sitting up that high.

The result : drove the car with all the new goodies - you honestly wouldn't think it feels like a car with that much ground clearance and big wheels. It steers and stops absolutely awesome like any small to mid size late model car. The airbags also control body roll unbelievably well on road and it feels really stable and predictable. The rear wheels don't squat or tuck under acceleration as they just basically stand straight up. Brake pedal feel is really nice and not too hard unlike the feeling you can get with drums. Airbags also have an off road setting to allow the wheels to travel up and down freely in rough terrain(travel is about 10" from memory) and the beauty of disc brakes is on the beach you don't have to worry about sand wearing linings like you do with drums and you always have a good hand brake!!


So my opinion is go disc brakes. Easier on maintainence and better braking ability when you need it most in those tough tight places off road.😵‍💫
ACCEPT THAT SOME DAYS YOU ARE THE PIDGEON AND SOME DAYS YOU ARE THE STATUE

Alder Outlaws VW Racing - check it out on fb!!

pete wood 23 Windows of Awesome

6,828 posts · joined Jan 2004 ·

#581515
i've had more dramas with my front discs than anything thing else brake related. the rears are early wide five type 3 drums and they seem to be fine.

The only area where you want discs is if your engineer says get em, or you want to be able to use turning brakes on the street. Then you need a dedicated circuit and extra calipers for the turning brakes.

Most of the benefit you get from rear discs isn't needed on dirt.
"stoopid is stronger than axles"
http://drivingnotpolishing.blogspot.com.au/

VWCOOL 23 Windows of Awesome

5,158 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#581529
yeah I've only ever managed to get discs to glow off-road once 😉

but they are better at shedding sand, grit and slurry than drums
Pay your debts, CxxT

MickH Hairy Gutted Sloth

3,389 posts · joined Sep 2003 ·

#581543
they also stop you better than drum brakes.....that alone would make it worth it.
tssnq.com.au

MickH Hairy Gutted Sloth

3,389 posts · joined Sep 2003 ·

#581697
pete wood wrote:have you got rear discs Mick?
Yes..front and rear discs.NO they are not Ford units on the rear...
tssnq.com.au

kroozzn63 Bishop of Volkswagenism

3,005 posts · joined Jan 2004 ·

#581714
whats the best rear setup for a powerful motor road only and i want 4 stud vw ?
" sorry to jack the thread" oh and cheapest lol.
show us your gates

MickH Hairy Gutted Sloth

3,389 posts · joined Sep 2003 ·

#581717
kroozzn63 wrote:whats the best rear setup for a powerful motor road only and i want 4 stud vw ?
" sorry to jack the thread" oh and cheapest lol.
Most likely the Ford setup if you do it yourself.New blank discs can be drilled to any pattern and all the parts can be sought cheaply from the wreckers or the dump,where most of them end up. Pete,my rear setup are Shermans.
tssnq.com.au

kroozzn63 Bishop of Volkswagenism

3,005 posts · joined Jan 2004 ·

#581726
does anyone have details of what bits i need like ford ea falcon ? booster? etc?
show us your gates

ratbug aka toddy101

439 posts · joined Jan 2003 ·

#581805
kroozzn63 wrote:does anyone have details of what bits i need like ford ea falcon ? booster? etc?
First up, you need the calipers and caliper brackets of the EA/EB rear end (others can also work). The Inside diameter hole of the caliper bracket doesnt fit over the VW bearing, so you have to get it machined out a few mm (something like 77 or 87mm can't quite remember). Then you need to redrill the four holes in the bracket that the VW bearing housing bolts through, people normally have it so the caliper hangs to the back end (bleeder nipple needs to face roughly upwards).
If you want to keep the falcon stud pattern, you need to get a vw rear flange in the 5stud falcon pattern, making sure its small enough for the falcon disc to fit over.
If you want to stay VW pattern, then you need to redrill the stud pattern into the discs or get blank ones and redrill (also may have to machine down the rear flange to fit inside the disc depending on what bits you have)..
Then you have to modify the handbrake cable attachment slightly so the vw cables fit in.

I think thats it?

I have the sherman rear discs on my car at the moment, and they are great, easy to install, just bolt on.
I am halfway through doing the falcon setup on my new car.
Sharbuilt Beach buggy with Subaru 2L Turbo
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dubbill Officially Full-On Dubber

336 posts · joined Jul 2005 ·

#581920
it really depends what you are going to use the car for but disc brakes are so cheap and as stated relativly maintenence free why wouldnt you have em??

ill give everyone three guesses how many wrc cars are running drums cos i know no one here has the millions to spend on r+d that the factory teams do:duh

simple really

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