Driving With Two Brakes

What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that when
my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week, they said
there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing brake fluid
to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear brakes. She declined
to have it repaired because of the cost.

How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one has
to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is appreciated.

Oh, the car is a VW Golf, about 10 years old.

Thanks!

On Apr 4, 6:30 pm, "Neil" > wrote:
> What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that when
> my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week, they said
> there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing brake fluid
> to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear brakes. She declined
> to have it repaired because of the cost.
>
> How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
> brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one has
> to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is appreciated.
>
> Oh, the car is a VW Golf, about 10 years old.
>
> Thanks!


What's more interesting is that when you get brake fluid on the shoes,
a tiny bit of moisture will cause them to grab, and lock-up, with very
little pedal pressure. Could just be a damp day that does it.

And of course if enough fluid leaks out, that half of the master cyl.
will go dry, and if its a diagonally-split system, there will be only
1 front brake working.


The car won't pass inspection, so tell the her to pay up and fix it
before there's an accident.


Dave (former mechanic, former licensed NYS vehicle inspector)

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 17:30:56 -0500, "Neil" > wrote:

>What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that when
>my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week, they said
>there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing brake fluid
>to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear brakes. She declined
>to have it repaired because of the cost.
>
>How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
>brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one has
>to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is appreciated.
>
>Oh, the car is a VW Golf, about 10 years old.


About 60% braking on front and 40% on the rear. As in another post,
fluid on the shoes may grab or may slip depending on how much crud and
water get in there. In the car event the car be involved in an
accident, you may be liable for all costs if the brake's precondition
come to light. Not fixing faulty brakes is just plain foolish.

P

Licenced Automotive Mechanic (red seal)
Licenced Heavy Equipment Mechanic (red seal)
Former automotive instructor

Correction to the below. The rear brakes are drum brakes, not brake shoes.

"Neil" > wrote in message
...
> What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that
> when my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week,
> they said there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing
> brake fluid to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear
> brakes. She declined to have it repaired because of the cost.
>
> How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
> brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one
> has to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is
> appreciated.
>
> Oh, the car is a VW Golf, about 10 years old.
>
> Thanks!
>

In article >, Neil wrote:
>What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that when
>my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week, they said
>there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing brake fluid
>to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear brakes. She declined
>to have it repaired because of the cost.
>
>How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
>brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one has
>to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is appreciated.

IMO it's idiotic. At some point the condition may become bad enough that
the pedal goes to the floor when braking. Sure, as a split system it's
possible to pump and still have front brakes.

If a shop is charging 'too much' just replace it yourself. It's not that
hard to replace a wheel cylinder and shoes. It will require learning how
to bleed brakes (not that hard) and maybe a couple special drum brake
tools to make the job easier. (not that one can't do it with regular
tools, it's just not as easy)

An additional note re. this. The reason this came to light was because my
son's emergency brake wasn't holding the wheels. He brought it in, asking
them to adjust the emergency brake, and they told him that the reason the
emergency brake wasn't working was because of brake fluid that was leaking
out of the rear cyclinders. (They said that one cyclinder was leaking a
little, and another was leaking a lot.)


"Neil" > wrote in message
...
> What are the dangers of driving with two brakes? I just found out that
> when my ex-wife took my teenage son's car in to be repaired last week,
> they said there was a leak in the rear wheel cylindar, which was causing
> brake fluid to go onto the brake shoes, causing there to be no rear
> brakes. She declined to have it repaired because of the cost.
>
> How dangerous is it to drive with front brakes only? Seems to me that the
> brakes could lock up or the car could spin or something like that if one
> has to stop suddenly when driving at freeway speeds. Any input is
> appreciated.
>
> Oh, the car is a VW Golf, about 10 years old.
>
> Thanks!
>

On Apr 4, 3:42 pm, "Neil" > wrote:
> An additional note re. this. The reason this came to light was because my
> son's emergency brake wasn't holding the wheels. He brought it in, asking
> them to adjust the emergency brake, and they told him that the reason the
> emergency brake wasn't working was because of brake fluid that was leaking
> out of the rear cyclinders. (They said that one cyclinder was leaking a
> little, and another was leaking a lot.)

Considering it's a mechanical hand brake mechanism, fluid (or lack
thereof) isn't going to do anything, unless both rears are so
contaminated the brake shoes won't hold in the drums.

Seems unlikely.

Cost to fix? What's a running car worth? How much would it cost to
replace the car with one that has working brakes? And for the love of
all that's holy, don't let him drive the thing on public roads in that
condition - the rest of us would rather get home alive. Him driving
the car is not just a danger to him, but to others. Which puts a
point on this query - what kind of parent lets their kid drive around
in a car where the primary safety system is not operating correctly???

E.P.

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:29:03 -0500, "Neil" > wrote:

>Correction to the below. The rear brakes are drum brakes, not brake shoes.
>
Correction to the above. The rear brakes are brake shoes - with drums
that happen to use the shoes. Or maybe it's the drums that use the
shoes. If you have to make this kind of 'correction', just how
clueless are you? And please post where this car is likely to driven
so that I and other readers can avoid it.

P

> If you have to make this kind of 'correction', just how
> clueless are you? And please post where this car is likely to driven
> so that I and other readers can avoid it.

I'm pretty clueless. That's why I come here for help, and I appreciate the
assistance I get from the nice people here. But, hey, at least I don't feel
the need to tear people apart with sarcasm, right? Peace to you.

> Considering it's a mechanical hand brake mechanism, fluid (or lack
> thereof) isn't going to do anything, unless both rears are so
> contaminated the brake shoes won't hold in the drums.
>
> Seems unlikely.
>

I guess that was the impression that they gave -- that there was fluid on
the shoes, and, therefore, neither the emergency brake nor the rear brakes
(which, apparently, share the same shoes) were functioning because they
couldn't grip the drums.

So, if that's the case, that brake fluid on the rear shoes wouldn't stop the
emergency brake from working; and, therefore, there's a different cause of
the problem with the emergency brake; is it possible that these people are
just yanking our chain, and there's nothing wrong with the rear brakes at
all? I guess I should have someone else look at them.

> Cost to fix? What's a running car worth? How much would it cost to
> replace the car with one that has working brakes? And for the love of
> all that's holy, don't let him drive the thing on public roads in that
> condition - the rest of us would rather get home alive. Him driving
> the car is not just a danger to him, but to others. Which puts a
> point on this query - what kind of parent lets their kid drive around
> in a car where the primary safety system is not operating correctly???

I spoke with his mother after speaking to the mechanic and after posting
here. Apparently, she was unaware that the rear brakes were not working. She
said, one, the place didn't tell her it was an unsafe situation. And, two,
she said she thought the emergency brake had a different brake shoe than the
rear brake. Thus, until I spoke with her, she thought the situation was
restricted to only the emergency brake, and not the rear brake itself.

I was going to post another question, asking if it was OK to allow him to
drive it for a week or two until she could get the money to fix it, since
the front brakes are working, and he hasn't noticed any problem with
stopping. Your above statement seems to answer that question, though.

Thanks,

Neil