Hand brake??

[Arbman Al]

Evening all,

One of the advisories on my mot yesterday was for the handbrake efficiency (or slight lack of!)
The night before I put new shocks on the rear, and took the brake drums off to check all was ok. I put the wheels back on and with the wheels in the air and handbrake on was able to torque up the nearside to 90 ft/lb, but the offside turned. Took the wheel off, dismantled the brakes and the adjuster, put it all back together again, and was able to torque the wheel nuts up to 90 on the handbrake - job done

On the mot the tester commented that the offside was not holding very well

Could the adjuster be worn out and slipping, or something else?

Cheers....Al

[milothedog]

Good stuff Al,

probably just an adjustment issue if the foot brake made good readings, try pulling the drum forward a little and putting a long thin screwdriver down the back of the ratchet and knocking it up a few clicks.

Ian.

[stagmuffin]

i remember some time ago when i had black hair drilling a hole in the face of the drum 13mm dia so that you could poke a small driver thru and adjust and turn the drum giving a little tap with a copper mallet every so to centralise until they were spot on.
steve

[Arbman Al]

Good stuff Al,

probably just an adjustment issue if the foot brake made good readings, try pulling the drum forward a little and putting a long thin screwdriver down the back of the ratchet and knocking it up a few clicks.

Ian.

Hi Ian,

I'll give it ago, but I did have it adjusted pretty good, hence being able to do the wheel nuts up to 90 ft/lb by holding the wheel on the handbrake with the wheel in the air.

Al.

[Arbman Al]

i remember some time ago when i had black hair drilling a hole in the face of the drum 13mm dia so that you could poke a small driver thru and adjust and turn the drum giving a little tap with a copper mallet every so to centralise until they were spot on.
steve

Hi Steve,

I already have two holes in my drums that enable me to do this - is this not normal then?? Looks like they have always been there.
Cheers...Al

[stagmuffin]

Hi Steve,

I already have two holes in my drums that enable me to do this - is this not normal then?? Looks like they have always been there.
Cheers...Al

probably done by the p/o just makes it easy to adjust the h/brake mechanism.used to do it on most of my old drum brake cars of the sixtys and seventies.
steve

[richardthestag]

1. Let handbrake off and jack up back of car, making sure it is chocked blah blah
2. Remove rear road wheels
3. Disconnect one end of the handbrake cable from the brake back plate.
4. Remove the brake drum and wind the auto adjuster right in so that the shoe diameter is at its smallest.
5. Refit the brake drum and stamp on the brake pedal a few times, you will hear the ratchets working to tighten the shoes up correctly. Check that the drum turns without binding with the brake shoes
6. Repeat for the other side.
7. Refit handbrake cable and adjust, you will be surprised at how nice it feels.

While the drums are off you could use the opportunity to check the shoes and hydraulics.
as you were