[BarryMc]

can anyone help? have a mk3 tdi and need bigger brakes it has rear drums that need to be bined for discs and bigger front discs but need to keep it 4 stud as i have two sets of wheels.

 

[JMS]

Is it the 90bhp model? If it is then there is 256x20mm discs on the front that can be upgraded to G60 280mm discs by getting calipers and carriers from a G60 mk2 Golf or Corrado to bolt to your own hubs, 8valver pinned a "how to" tread in the performance upgrade section of the forum.

As for the rear end, try and get your hands on a mk2 Golf Gti rear axle, I think a 16v or G60 Corrado one will do too.

 

[Geo]

The drums would probably be fine on the back, it's a fair bit of work to change over to discs and not really worth it in my opinion.

I'd say if you upgraded to 280mm discs at the front the brakes would be well up to the job.

 

[markmcie]

Will the master cylinder need to be uprated ? Can you get braided lines for the rear drums ?

 

[Geo]

The 4 line braided line kit is the one you want for drums, the only flexible brake hose on the rear of the drum braked cars are the short ones going from the car to the axle.

I'd say if the car has 256mm front brakes it probably already has the 22mm master cylinder.

 

[markmcie]

Whats involved in fitting a rear axle with disks? Sounds like a pain but he really wants to do this as he thinks the axle in the car is damaged.

 

[Geo]

Suppose it's not that big a job, you don't have to change the whole axle to change from drums to discs, just the stub axles and brake lines but if he thinks the axle is damaged then it might be just as easy to change the whole thing over from a mk2 gti, which will also have an anti roll bar in it that the mk3 doesn't have.

 

[Baza]

Coleman did this upgrade to his cabby Mark, give him a shout and hell run you through it.

 

[BarryMc]

thanks lads time to search for parts now.anti roll bar at the rear sounds good might help the heart stopping sidways action wen you least expet it.as mark says i think it has a bent rear axle the car seams to have a little bounce in it that can be felt at low speeds i have tryed time and again to get the 4wheel alignment done and not much difference one guy told me it was a bent rear axle. i have had 3 sets of wheels on the car 14in 15in and 17in and its still as bad.

 

[markmcie]

Get some pics of the car up

 

[BarryMc]

my car is a late 97 tdi 90 bhp will i need to change my hubs to or will they bolt on.i see i have been slow on the brakes for sale but if anyone knoes of front brakes pref g60, 16v will do and also the rear beam and calipers i would be interested in buyin them.pics coming soon mark.

 

[JMS]

Don't buy 16v front brakes because you already have the same setup on your own car (256x20mm). Get G60 ones, you won't have to change the front hubs as G60 carriers will bolt straight onto them, all you need are the carriers and calipers to accomodate the new 280mm discs.

 

[Dieseldave]

A mk2 rear beam is not the same width as a mk3.
It is something like 25mm narrower.

 

[markmcie]

The brakes on this car are non vented. Im not sure of the diameter but they dont look like 256mm 16v brakes.

 

[ronan]

QUOTE (Dieseldave @ Feb 8 2006, 09:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>A mk2 rear beam is not the same width as a mk3.
It is something like 25mm narrower.

is that the 5 stud mk3 thats wider or are they all wider?

 

[Geo]

I thought the mk3 and mk3 rear beams were the same width (apart from GTI of course)

It sounds from Mark's description as though the car has standard 239mm discs so will need hubs and calipers/carriers to change over to 256mm.

 

[JMS]

I thought they would be vented cause I bought a set of hubs, carriers etc from a 90bhp Cordoba a few weeks ago and they had 256x20mm discs. The Golf must be different so eventhough it's 90bhp aswell, the Cordoba was LHD but I wouldn't imagine the LHD ones would be different, maybe I'm wrong...

B3 Passats have the 16v type hubs but only have solid discs which seem to be 256mm, this could be the same type setup as the Golf.

 

[mycroft]

Reckon you dont need to go near the front end at all. Its the drums on the rear that's causing the problem.
I had the same problem with my 97 MK3 GL TDI. Mine had the vented front discs so all I done was fit the standard MKII gti stub axels and calipers on the rear. I fitted the full braided hose set while I was at it but you dont have to do this. The single most important thing you will have to do is change your brake bias valve. The one for a disc brake setup is different to that for drums and no matter how you adjust the drum one it simply wont work and your pedal will feel worse than when you started. You'll also need a set of handbrake cables not sure which ones i used.

 

[JMS]

Probably mk3 Gti ones.

 

[BarryMc]

thanks for all you great advice lads.I got myself a 16v set up for the front thanks to glenn.I am now on the lookout for rear stub axels as mycroft says the rear does seem to be a problom i am also getting a small kind of bounce in the car.Its only noticable at low speed(5-20mph) and also the rear end tends to step out and does not feel confident in cornors.
JMS the car has got vented discs but think the 16v set up will be a nice change.With braided lines and back gti stub axels should sort things out.