I’m still recovering from yesterday’s revelry – it sure helped that my safari windshield kit came this weekend! Unfortunately I also haven’t fully figured out the new noise I’m hearing from the right-hand side of the bus.
I’ll start with the good (and might just end with a rant). I bought this safari kit from EIS parts, the kits are some of the newest on the market, and have a v-shaped frame similar to original factory installations. They’ve had decent reviews, and I’m looking forward to making this upgrade to the bus. I was thinking I want shiny chrome frames, but the options for this kit were primer or powder coated white. I went with primered so that I can either paint them, or have them chromed. Although it will be a while before I get these bad boys installed, they are going to look cool, keep us cool on the road, and thats cool!
Ok now the bad – I noticed on Friday that the bus is making a new noise on the right side – it started as a swooshing/ squealing noise, and seems to be getting worse. It’s not engine related, and I think its coming from the right rear wheel. I started to try to diagnose by jacking up first the front, then the back passenger-side wheels.
The front spins freely, the back does not. I can spin the wheel by hand, but it takes quite a bit of force – not good! I’ve also noticed the outside of the drum is a lot dirtier than it was before I drove it to the shop. I run inside to do some research on what could cause the brake drum to stick – first culprit – brakes need adjusting. Didn’t I just pay a guy a bunch of money to adjust the rear brakes?! It turns out its extremely easy to adjust the brakes; Thanks to Noelle for these great and exciting action shots.
I turned the little adjuster stars until the drum would rotate nicely with just a little resistance, had Wifey help me test that the brakes still work to stop the drum, and took the bus out for a spin in the parking lot. The swooshing noise has now turned into more of a rapid clicking noise, and is very noticeable even just creeping along. Clearly there is more wrong than just a brake adjustment – again not good! From the research I’ve done, it might be the wheel bearing, but doesn’t sound quite like they say it should; it could be something with the axle nut, or maybe the CV joints.
Either way, it’s really disappointing that I just waited six weeks and spent the better part of a grand to get the bus back and have it break after 1 day of driving! I should expect a bunch of gremlins like this though, and honestly it just motivates me even more to get this thing fixed up… and by using my own knowledge and labor! I’ve said before that I don’t/can’t trust car people in business – the nice folks at the local auto stores are so clueless I’m surprised they can get their pants on in the morning (maybe they just don’t take them off?) – the car shops around here are very pricy, and now my bus is broken a day after leaving the local VW expert. I’m definitely not blaming Darby at this point – I know this bus is a jumble of mismatched and rusting parts, but its disappointing none the less. Looks like I’ll be learning how to replace some brake and axle parts!
