Driving with the handbrake on

[Malcolm]

A hypothetical question.

Supposing someone were daft enough to go for a drive and then discover, much to his (or, hypothetically, her) shock and horror, that he had driven 20 miles with the handbrake on, what damage might he have done to his poor little car?

And, purely hypothetically of course, what would he need to do to remedy the damage done by being such a pillock?

Just curious.

[bmcecosse]

Well - to do this the handbrake must have been knackered to start with ! My car will not move with the handbrake on - the clutch just slips. So obviously it will need a through going over - certainly new shoes, probably new wheel cylinders - and unless you are sure the handbrake cables are free and moving well - new cables too !! The good news is - none of this cost very much at all - and the handbrake will then be perfect.

[newagetraveller]

The brake shoes may be worn down and should be checked however they may not be worn down so much that you need to replace them.

If the brake shoes were worn down to the rivets they may have scored the brake drums however this does not mean that you would have to replace the drums.

The worse thing that could have happened would be that the brake drums got too hot and may have warped.

[rayofleamington]

Best thing to do would be to remove the rear drums and have a look.

Make sure that the brake pistons move freely with the handbrake cable and when pressing the pedal, and they should return fully under the spring load.
If the lining on the shoes looks fairly worn, or looks burnt, or cracked/crazed then replace them. If not, then wire brush the surface and leave it at that.
If the shoes have got hot enough to burn, then the drums may have been overheated too. If so, you will see a blue/purle/yellow hue on the metal. With the brakes refitted and readjusted rotate the wheel by hand with the handbrake slightly on - you need to check to see if it goes stiff/loose when rotated as this would mean the drum has gone out of round.