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> The type 3s with front disks had better brakes than any other car VW ever made. > Since most of the braking is done by the front wheels, there is really very > little to be gained by adding rear disks. Even on our cars, with the engine in > the rear, most of the braking is in the front. With a front engined car, there > is very little to be gained from rear disks, and whatever you do in the rear > has to be balanced in the front in order to get ANY advantage out of it. > I'm still worried by the suggestion Type 3 front and rear brakes differ a lot in their contribution to braking. Every year my brakes are tested on a rolling road, and the fronts go about 120 on the dial before locking up, while the rears are around 220. There's no weight transfer operating, but in most normal brake use, I don't think there is much of that anyway. Also, I suspect the volume of lining material that wears off from the rear shoes is comparable to the front pads, and when I was running the '59 Beetle, the rear linings needed replacing with a similar frequency to the fronts. I think the fronts were maybe 30mm width to the rear 25mm. Maybe drum-braked Type 3 owners can remind me what my '64 was like for that. I certainly agree that in front engined watercooled models the front does a lot more braking than the rear. The Golf estate registered about 100 on the rear and 320 on the front the other day during its annual MoT test. That's about right for total braking as the Golf diesel is quite a bit heavier than the Type 3. I don't see how consistent results on measuring equipment which is regularly checked in accordance with the Ministry code can be ignored. Also if so much more of our braking was done on the front, wouldn't our front tyres wear out quicker than the rears, or at least about the same rate? As it is, my fronts do at least twice as many miles as the rears if you don't swap them round. With burn-outs it would probably be 4 times as much, but I can't spin the wheels with my stock engine unless it's very slippery! On the front engined VWs it's the other way round, with traction and braking on the same tyres. Before I rest my case, m'lud, I put it to you that the major reason our cars were outstanding in their braking was precisely because they could produce high braking force on the rear as well as on the front wheels. As a side issue, rear discs on modern VWs is becoming the standard, to keep up with the spec. from other manufacturers. This has increased the number of runaway parked vehicles, as the discs cool and contract, releasing the brakes! Just a thought for those putting rear discs on their Type 3s. Dave. UK VW Type 3 & 4 Club http://www.hallvw.clara.co.uk/ ------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org