Disc axle swap
- Thread starter George Hogg
- Start date
Proghound
Admin Team
George, my thinking goes like this. The 1.4 petrol and TDI75 only ever had drum brakes, even with a 42L tank. The first A2 disc brake axles appeared on the FSI, followed by the TDI90. Both of these only ever had the 42L tank. So there will be no disc brake cables for a 34L tank. To my understanding, the difference is that the 42L cables (or at least one of them) are longer to get round the larger tank. But there would be no difference between the functional lengths of the inner and outer cables for disc brakes when used in a 34L application, there would just be more slack in the routing, so in theory they should still work the same.
Alan_uk
A2OC Donor
Hi George. Have you thought about the brake pipes being different? If you get another donor axle then it may come with the brake lines though they will no doubt need replacing, but I'm sure I read on this forum that the disk & drum axles are the same.
I restored an axle from Steve Birchall's former A2 and when I got home realised there were 4 brake lines. One set must of been from his donor's disk axle. It has different nipples at the disk ends. When I was sorting my garage last week I came across them and I've just photographed them (see below).
If your donor axle does not have any brake pipes and you wish to have a pattern to make new ones, then you can have mine for the price of postage (about £9), though I will need to find a large box!
I restored an axle from Steve Birchall's former A2 and when I got home realised there were 4 brake lines. One set must of been from his donor's disk axle. It has different nipples at the disk ends. When I was sorting my garage last week I came across them and I've just photographed them (see below).
If your donor axle does not have any brake pipes and you wish to have a pattern to make new ones, then you can have mine for the price of postage (about £9), though I will need to find a large box!
Attachments
George Hogg
A2OC Donor
Hi, I made new brake pipes but thank you for the offer
Little Dog
A2OC Donor
I suspect you may regret this change. You could create a car that lifts at the rear under emergency braking. Drums work well with the aluminium space frame.
Also they, rear discs, have a tendency to roll away when parked on a hill, unless you always park in gear.
Also they, rear discs, have a tendency to roll away when parked on a hill, unless you always park in gear.
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q292u
Member
I had that issue on a Renault Mégane (rear discs). The damned thing tried to roll downhill overnight once, when parked at a hotel/Golf club. The only thing that stopped it going for a birdie was the grassy bank at the edge of the car park.
Rear discs were a pain in the arse.
Little Dog
A2OC Donor
Yes, VAG rear discs aren’t great. Cables clamp the pads onto the discs then the discs cool down and contract then the car is away
They aren't great in action either causing the rear to float in heavy braking. In all honesty if I had rear discs on my A2 I would consider a drum conversion.
audifan
A2OC Donor
I also fail to see the need for the rear disc conversion. Enough of us have had issues where they were fitted as OEM. Her tdi 90 was written off when it rolled backwards into a wall and crushed the nearside rear quarter. As she was sitting down and adjusting her position she must have pressed the clutch ( always left in gear ) and as she probably was not looking the car rolled away.....
Jeff Sutcliffe
A2OC Donor
Two things. If you concentrate on the job in hand i.e. driving, there should never be a reason for 'emergency braking' and, if you followed the advice given in the Highway Code, you'd always leave the car in the appropriate gear when parking, especially on a gradient.
Jeff Sutcliffe
A2OC Donor
Have a look at what the Highway Code advises about parking on a gradient