Rear brake shoes

[fsk658]

Can anyone recommend a make or supplier of good rear brake shoes, the shoes fitted at the moment are from ESM. The main problem being they soon clog up with brake dust which affects the braking. The drums are new and in good condition

[philthehill]

Dust usually occurs when the brake shoes bed in - it is a normal practice.
Just clean the dust off the shoes and use.
You nay have to do the dust removal task several times until the shoes/drums have bedded in.

[svenedin]

The modern brake lining compounds (which do not contain asbestos) seem to produce more dust than the old fashioned ones did. This is my unscientific anecdotal report based on my personal experience. When I adjust the brakes I take the drum off and clean it out with brake cleaner. With the later road wheels, the wheel has to be taken off to adjust the brakes anyway so it is not much extra work to take the drum off and clean out the dust. Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel.

I rate Mintex or Frodo brake pads very highly but sadly they are no longer made. You may be able to find some new old stock (I did) but be aware that they probably do contain asbestos so be careful with brake dust.

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

[geoberni]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

Yes, they were the MM/SII wheels so not going to be many of those around these days....
My SII has 1000 wheels.

[svenedin]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

True but you can still buy the bungs!

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

Yes, they were the MM/SII wheels so not going to be many of those around these days....
My SII has 1000 wheels.

Not sure about that - wheels are pretty robust things and rarely need replacing. I've got all my SII wheels on my car....

[myoldjalopy]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

True but you can still buy the bungs!

Stephen

Yes, but I have never bothered to get any for my car because of the theory I mentioned, the lack of them has certainly never caused any problems.....

[geoberni]

"Earlier road wheels have a hole with a rubber bung so that the brakes can be adjusted without removing the wheel."
Yes, although by now the bungs have usually gone missing - which, according to one school of thought is good news, as the dust can then escape out the hole!

Yes, they were the MM/SII wheels so not going to be many of those around these days....
My SII has 1000 wheels.

Not sure about that - wheels are pretty robust things and rarely need replacing. I've got all my SII wheels on my car....

I was thinking 'bigger picture' of number of cars made.

Wheels were different from MM/early SII (1948/53), Late SII (1953/56), and 1000 (1956/71).

Crunch all those number and there were comparatively few wheels with inspection holes actually fitted, in a relatively short period.

I think my car probably acquired his latter wheels from the same car that donated the 8" front brakes.

[svenedin]

Since we are on the subject of the brake adjusting hole in the road wheel, does anybody know why this was removed? I have long been under the belief that it was removed to make the wheel stronger as surely the cost of making a hole must have been extremely low. It seems a regressive step to require the wheel to be removed to adjust the brakes so there must surely have been good reason. Was the brake adjusting hole too near the 4x stud holes and a risk of propagating cracks?

Stephen

[fsk658]

This is the first time I have used shoes without asbestos and didn't know the modern type of material would dust up so quickly. I will let them bed in as suggested and hope the issue goes away in time. Thanks fsk658

[svenedin]

This is the first time I have used shoes without asbestos and didn't know the modern type of material would dust up so quickly. I will let them bed in as suggested and hope the issue goes away in time. Thanks fsk658

See how you get on but why not keep an eye out for NOS Mintex/Ferodo shoes? They are available but you probably won't find them quickly.

How often you need to clean out the dust is dependent on many factors. The brake lining compound, driving style, how many miles you drive. For example, many miles of motorways (unusual for our cars) and the brakes may hardly get used at all but bendy country roads is a different matter entirely. Personally, I find myself removing the drums and adjusting twice a year. I probably do a shade under 5,000 miles a year but this year I did 1,000 miles in one trip.

There is another option too. That is to get old shoes re-lined by one of the specialists. Such specialists offer lots of different compounds for different requirements. Owners of vintage cars with no availability of new shoes have to do this as routine.

Stephen

[myoldjalopy]

Since we are on the subject of the brake adjusting hole in the road wheel, does anybody know why this was removed? I have long been under the belief that it was removed to make the wheel stronger as surely the cost of making a hole must have been extremely low. It seems a regressive step to require the wheel to be removed to adjust the brakes so there must surely have been good reason. Was the brake adjusting hole too near the 4x stud holes and a risk of propagating cracks?

Stephen

Well, its a theory. The earlier wheels were, apparently, prone to cracking, though more around the stud holes rather than the adjuster hole (according to Ray Newell's Original Morris Minor book). Later SII wheels were strengthened and have moulded pressings to locate the hub cap, rather than the earlier three-pin arrangement. None of my SII wheels have cracks though. And looking at them, any cracking would appear more likely between the stud holes and the central hub locating hole, rather than between the stud holes an adjuster hole.
Painting the screw-slot in the adjuster white, and use of a torch, does help when adjusting the brakes on these through the actual wheel

[mike1864]

The hole in my late SII front wheels doesn't quite align with the hole in the drums.
So I have to angle the screwdriver in, and fish around.
I've just realised that this must be because I fitted 8" drums (many years ago).
I like the tip about painting the adjuster white.