Re: disc brake conversions

Posted by Mike Dowd On 2013/4/26 9:01:06

The kit from Kanter included an adapter sleeve for the inner bearing. I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately. The sleeve portion brought the spindle diameter to the required diameter for the bearing I.D. The sleeve was flanged on the inboard side. This flange butted up against the end of the seal surface diameter and was sandwiched between the bearing and this face. The flange diameter was less than the diameter of the sealing surface...and was about 0.100 thick (I didn't measure it). The flange thickness brought the whole rotor assembly outboard.

Without the thickness of the flange, the rotor would have been located inboard just enough for the seal to engage the sealing surface.

Actually I like the kit. I certainly know a lot more about what's going on with the installation as a result of having to make modifications. If these mods are incorporated on the Mark II version of the kit it should suit anyone's needs.

The basic parts chosen for the kit are robust and more than adequate for this size automobile. The instruction sheet needs to be corrected and enhanced, of course.

I know that my motto has been "Anything worth doing is worth over-doing" but I think I'll leave the rear brakes as drums...at least for the moment.

BTW: At 105,000 miles the rear disc brakes on my '06 VW Jetta TDi just wore down to a point where their replacement was necessary. I replaced the rotors and pads and then took a close look at the front...virtually no wear at all on the pads...and the rotors were not too bad, so I left them alone.

My experience with the Front Disc / Read Drum installations is that the front pads need to be replaced three times for every replacement of the rear shoes so I'm perplexed about this.


Mike