Front wheels bind

- C
- Chris D'Agnolo
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Jan 20, 2004 1:26 AM

Hey guys!

74 Super Beetle, trying to get it back into regular service (it has sat allot in the last year). Part of that attempt led me to have to push the car a few times and discovered something was wrong. It pushes like it weighs 4000 lbs. I jacked up right side and left side separately and in both cases the front wheels failed to spin freely. One side worse than the other.

Car does seem to drive straight down the road with no noticeable pull to one side or the other but when the brakes are applied it does get squirley. This could be unrelated as I believe I have a brake hose / line leaking (not inside the drum) and may be getting a healthy amount of air sucked in. It takes a pump or so to get them to firm up and work.

Thanks in advance for any helpful hints,

Chris

74 Super Beetle

- M
- Mac
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Jan 20, 2004 1:36 AM

I would rebuild the brakes...... it's pretty inexpensive and you will know that they are safe after.

>

- Z
- Zaphod Beeblebrox
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Jan 20, 2004 4:48 AM

I second that. Or at the very least take em apart and have a look.

- A
- Ant
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Jan 20, 2004 10:34 AM

I had the same problem a couple of months ago. It was a matter of brakes. I would recommend you to rebuild them, and take then the opportunity to see how the wheel turns without brake shoes (for the case it wasn't the brakes). Good luck.

Ant

Chris D'Agnolo wrote in this friggin' newsgroup:

- J
- Joel Paulson
  
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posted
20 years ago

Fri, Jan 23, 2004 3:06 AM

A warning, though; if the brakes were not maintained by the previous owner you may discover other problems as well.

For example, I replaced drums and shoes this year, which uncovered the problem with the brake lines, which I then changed. The changed brakelines uncovered a problem with the master cylinder. Was much more expensive and time consuming than I had anticipated, but now I'm (hopefully) driving much safer.

My two cents.

Joel

73 'vert