Handbrake Mech Question

[scam75]

Afternoon All

I have also posted this on TIPEC, no need to reply on both forums!!

I had the rear discs off yesterday to clean up/adjust the handbrake shoes as there was quite a lot of travel on the lever. This is now fixed and lever travel is minimal. However I still have an issue where occasionally, although the handbrake is on tight, the brake seems to have low effort. Other times it is rock solid. I did notice that on the N/S, the lever that attaches the the handbrake cable, at the bottom of the shoes, seems to flap about when handbrake off. With brake applied it is rock solid. Never noticed the O/S one as did that side first, but seem to recall it moved around a little with brake off, just not as much as the O/S one. Once in I also lubricated all the handbrake gubbings which all seemed very non lubricated shall we say!

Question is, should that thing flap about or is something maybe broken? Or if that is normal maybe it will settle down now all is moving freely?

Cheers

Stuart

 

[Paul190H]

I believe the correct process is to slacken the internal adjuster right off (behind drivers seat under carpet). Then adjust the mechanism at the wheels before taking the slack back up on the internal adjustment.

 

[scam75]

Seems fair enough although I never touched the internal adjuster I should have achieved the same result albeit the internal adjuster could be at a random position! I only have about 4/5 clicks now till full on so seems ok. Just curious about that bit of the mech I described and whether it should move around a bit when un-tensioned.

Stuart

 

[bmnelsc]

About the lever (WSM describes it as the operating lever which works in conjunction with the thrust bar) I think it should have some "play" in it e.g. wobble up and down a little with the brake off as it does not firmly attach to anything - runs on a pivot pin and the link pin (both of which call for a little grease) which holds the cable to it. The return spring that runs across between the bottom of the brake shoes should keep things engaged. It is possible your pivot pins are excessively worn allowing it to flop around more than it should. I don't see a spec for that so unless the pins have a deep groove or the corresponding holes have a lot of extra space I wouldn't worry about it too much.

You say sometimes the brakes lock up correctly and sometimes have little effort. You don't say it that is based on checking both wheels, just one wheel or one wheel vs the other wheel. There could be a couple of reasons:

Firstly as Paul mentions - the internal adjusters must be set correctly as what happens when you pull on the handbrake only affects the bottom arc of the shoes (meaning it only pushes the bottom of the shoes out toward the drum). The top of the shoes pivot from the internal adjuster. So if the internal adjuster is wound in too much (with too much clearance) then the amount of travel when you pull on the handbrake will only engage the bottom part of the shoes - the top arc will be too far away from the drum to get a good bite. Note this is regardless of how you have adjusted your cables to pull on the operating lever/ thrust bar.

Second - if you have not adjusted the internal adjusters - then each wheel may be different as to how close the top arc of the shoes are to the drums so when you engage the handbrake one side might well be engaging more of the shoe than the other side - so if you are checking one side then the other, you may well find one side locked up and one side still loose.

There could be other reasons also - shiny spot on the drums which sometimes line up with the (reduced) contact area of the shoes so you get little effect compared to when the shiny spot is farther around. A rub down with abrasive paper might help if you see any glazing. Also remember that the parking brake tends to work very well when you try to go forward and much less when you are reversing (unless you really tug on that handle).

Finally - I think you might find that once you have adjusted the internal adjusters correctly that you may need to back off your cable adjustments a little.

Sorry - just checked the WSM for the procedure - roughly as to avoid copyright issues:
1. Jack up - onto jack stands - press rear pads out so brake disc turns freely
2. slacken adjusting nut on turnbuckle until cable is slack
3. For each side - using screwdriver turn the internal adjuster up until the disc is locked. Turn adjuster back until disc turns freely and then back two more notches
4. pull up handbrake 2 clicks and adjust cable until wheels can just be turned by hand. when on 4 clicks the wheels must be locked
5. release handbrake and ensure wheels turn freely
6. adjust locking nut (on the turnbuckle)



Good luck....

 

[scam75]

Thanks Bruce. I have good adjustment on the turn buckles inside the drum and on the cable adjuster. Probably just a case of letting the lubrication do its work on the mech now I think. The shoe and drum surfaces are good.

Stuart