Re: [T3] Late front disc pads

[Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 10 Mar 2003 at 14:32, Mark Seaton wrote:

> While I was adjusting my front stabiliser bar at the weekend, I noticed that on
> one side my brake pads are almost to the backing plate. I had one pair of
> original type4 pads which I took to my FLAPS ( GSF in UK) where they manged to
> match them to the Golf MKI pads. They are almost identcal but not quite. The NOS
> ones have brake material on the back - I guess to stop squeaking. The profile of
> the backing plate is almost identical- same width and height, but much thicker.
> On the NOS ones the pad comes flush to the sides of the plate, but on the golf
> ones it's set in a bit. I'm sure they will work OK though and they cost just #5
> for 2 pairs! and they're genuine Pagid as were the NOS ones. If anyone knows a
> reason I should not use these, please yell loudly.

I'm not familiar with Golf pads, but these sound fine. There really aren't all 
that many patterns of pads out there. Aftermarket pads with thicker backing 
plates and no sound dampening material are very common and usually work just 
fine. I'm surprised that genuine Pagid pads would not have all the OE stuff, 
though. Perhaps VW just didn't use it on Golfs.

> I have a question though about the fitting hardware. If the pads are
> almost identical ( to all intents and purposes I think they are) would
> the Golf also share the fitting hardware?- I mean the location pins,
> anti rattle spring and the strange plates that locate in the pistons to
> stop them turning (?). If not does anyone know of a source for these
> (maybe another car- it would seem that this pattern of pad was used
> quite extensively in the '70s) 

I'm surprised that the Golfs used calipers that were anything like ours. I'm 
gonna have to check my manual on this. The hardware was pretty generic to dual 
piston Alfred Teves calipers, however, and many repair shops would have these 
parts as individual spares. They are getting hard to find now, however, as this 
style of caliper has not been used since the mid 70s.

> On a bum note though I was told that GSF are going to stop supplying parts
> for aircooled VWs in the next 2 years as they don't make enough money on
> them, so a good cheap source of parts bites the dust ;-(

Too bad. You should just buy a couple of sets now and keep in mind that they 
should each last 30k miles or more.

BTW, if you see that your pads are not wearing evenly, that is a sign that the 
pistons are seizing in the caliper bores. In your case, you seemed to imply 
that both pads on one side were thin while those on the other side of the car 
were okay. If that's the case, I'd worry that the rubber flex hose on the thin 
side was bad. You can check for this by opening the bleed valves and seeing if 
brake fluid drips equally well from both sides. If the thin side also drips 
slowly you should replace the rubber hose on that side.

2nd note: When replacing brake pads, remove the pad hardware and then use the 
old pads to push the pistons back into the calipers. NEVER pry directly against 
the face of the piston as you will almost certainly slip and tear the rubber 
boot, which means that the caliper will have to be rebuilt.

Once you have used the old pad to push the piston back into place, carefully 
remove the old pads and use a finger to run around each piston and push the 
rubber boot smoothly into place in the recess around the piston. Make sure that 
the piston retaining plates are not bent and are properly positioned in the 
piston recess. Then slip the new pads into place. I often find that I have to 
file the top and bottom edges of aftermarket pads to let them slide into the 
caliper without binding. It's okay if they are snug, but they must not be 
hammered in. You need to be able to install them easily enough that you know 
they are going in without catching on, and tearing, the piston sealing boot.

Calipers with torn boots, no matter how small the tear, should be rebuilt right 
away so that the caliper bores don't rust and seize the pistons. Even with 
intact boots, this will eventually need to be done, although those of you in 
dry climates will probably not need to worry about this nearly as much as those 
of us in the rust belt.

-- 
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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