Disc brakes on the 57

D.Derkson · Post by **D.Derkson** » Thu Apr 19, 2001 3:06 pm

What about converting the car to 65 or newer drums on the rear and discs yr? on the front???

mikeb · Post by **mikeb** » Thu Apr 19, 2001 3:37 pm

There are no "stock" wide 5 disc brakes out there so don't look for a year of car to swap them off of.

If you want to convert to "factory" disc brakes you will run into problems getting the ball joint parts to fit your king pin spindles and you'll have the 4x130 lug pattern.

You only have a few choices for the wide 5 front discs.

Neal, CNC, other off road disc brake kits run about $500 for the set but are not meant for "highway" use.

The wide 5 kit from So Cal, CSP, or others run about $1000 and are meant for the street.

Cpt Zoomy · Post by **Cpt Zoomy** » Thu Apr 19, 2001 5:15 pm

My wide 5 disc setup is from csp...easy install looks and great and huge performance increase!

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1/4 in 11's .... no problem.
http://www.strictlygerman.atfreeweb.com

Aircooled_vw · Post by **Aircooled_vw** » Fri Apr 20, 2001 8:37 am

Porsche 356C disks will 'bolt in'. The fronts can directly swap spindles from the king-pins out.

I'm not positive on the rears but if it's not a direct swap then the hubs would be the trouble point. Rear hubs may need to be turned down to fit the Beetle rear axle. Like I say, not sure about the rears.

The big problem (for some folks) is that you get stuck with the Porsche 5x130mm bolt circle and can no longer run your stock 5x205mm rims. Well, that and the fact that dead 356C don't exactly growing on trees.

Rick

Tristessa · Post by **Tristessa** » Sun Apr 22, 2001 4:08 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mikeb:
<B>If you want to convert to "factory" disc brakes you will run into problems getting the ball joint parts to fit your king pin spindles and you'll have the 4x130 lug pattern.
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

So does anybody know exactly *what* the difference is between the BJ and KP spindles? By this I mean the part that the bearings go onto. Different diameter for the inner/outer bearing(s)? Spacing between the races? I don't have a BJ Bug handy to measure things.

I've done some initial research on finding disc brakes that can be adapted to the kingpin frontend, but haven't had the time or money to go anywhere with it yet.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Mon Apr 23, 2001 9:53 am

The German made wide-5 discs for link pin that used to sell for $1000 are now available from vwparts.com for about $475. They have versions for different suspension combinations. Add about 1/2" track per side to stock suspensions.

Paul Illick · Post by **Paul Illick** » Tue Apr 24, 2001 7:20 am

I couldn't find any aircooled parts at vwparts.com. What is it I'm not doing right?

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Wed Apr 25, 2001 12:09 am

Sorry - had a Senior Moment. Go to www.partsvw.com and click on the HotVW AD and go to page 3. They have both 4 and 5 lug discs, and the 5 lug for almost all years and styles. They do require changing to a dual master cylinder (67 up style), but that's a good idea anyway. This site is for VWCalImports.

No1uknw · Post by **No1uknw** » Wed Apr 25, 2001 3:07 am

Im assuming the 67 up master cylinder just bolts on right? Im thinking of doing this also to the 58 Im getting

No1uknw

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Thu Apr 26, 2001 8:37 pm

The 67^ master does bolt on, but needs a dual circuit reservoir and the lines fasten a bit differently. The 67 reservoir was up front like the older bugs, but the later model mounted upon the left quarter panel, and hoses went down beside the fuel tank... But just try to find a 67 version.