Rear brake drag

[Cozza]

Hi Guys

My left rear wheel is locking up. About a year ago I replaced the wheel cylinders and cleaned the brakes up and applied a bit of antisieze in the automatic adjuster and the usual spots on the backing plate.

Now it seems the automatic adjuster is over adjusting the shoes.

Has anybody had this problem before? Or know a fix?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

Mick

[dat240z]

Are you running the stock rear drums still? If so, they have a habit of locking up hevily underload... Not sure why, but the do

[Cozza]

Yeah they are the standard drums.

Sorry I havent explained myself well here, They are dragging, not locking up when I put my foot on the brake. Its enough drag that it will hold the car on a fairly steep slope.

The manual shows the automatic adjuster should tighten as you pull the handbrake on but it seems to be over tightening.

Any ideas?

Mick

[Linton]

first thing tp check is the handbrake cable is not seized then I would take the drum off and check that the cyl is ok, could be the pistons are popping out due to lack of adjustment I have had this happen. only guessing till you have a look, The other thing we did in the old days was shamfer off the edge of the lining if it is square cut.

[Cozza]

I pulled the drum off, the hand brake cable is free, the wheel cylinder is fine. I'm pretty sure it is just the automatic adjuster is winding out every time I pull on the hand brake but it is just winding too far.

I'm wondering if I accidentally swapped the adjusters left for right when I replaced the wheel cylinders. The adjusters are winding out (tightening the shoes) when I pull on the hand brake.

I hope that makes sense.

 

Mick

[Linton]

its possible what you are describing is how it works, normally with foot on brake then crank the handbrake this turns the adjuster to keep the brake pedal at optimum adjustment, but at some point it stops winding out the roller. swap over the lever and try it,  i think it sits about half way on the roller at rest

goodluck

[Cozza]

Yep, thats how it is meant to work but it is just getting over adjusted. I didn't notice where the lever was when I pulled it apart. I will take a bit more notice and compare to the other side when I put it back together and aim to get it in the centre of the roller.

Thanks

Mick

[Cozza]

OK I've put the brakes back together and the left hand side is still binding.

If I don't use my handbrake the problem goes away but if I pull the handbrake on then the brakes will bind for 20 k's or so until the shoes have worn enough to allow free spinning I think.

I had a good look at the adjusters during assembly but couldn't see any difference left to right. The levers on both sides are directly underneath the adjusters right in the middle of the roller.

Anyone seen this before? All ideas are appreciated.

Cheers

[Cozza]

Well I finally found this issue and I can't believe it took me so long as it was something so silly.

Turns out the wheel cylinder was seized. It was only about 2 years and less than 10 000 k's old.

Should have had a closer look at it any one of the three times I stripped the brakes down to fix the problem, just couldn't believe that it would seize up so quickly.

Just makes me realise that you should never overlook anything even if you don't expect it to be the problem.

 

Mick

 

[PeterAllen]

Mick, you need to get the car out and about a bit more.

 

I'm looking forward to joining you for some Sunday morning drives down through the National Park - 18 months or so.