Morris Minor Owners Club

minors dont fail due to worn brake shoes because they cant be visually inspected, unlike disc's pads that get inspected for thickness of lining

the mot tester told winger 300 that they would need replacing soon.

Yes, but they did a lot of work on his brakes..

he said that they would need replacing soon, does replacing wheel bearing, pipes instantly qualify for new shoes. may be those shoes may have some life left in them. may be a few months or 1000miles whatever i picked up on the point about the need to remove the wheel for shoe inspection, and how the mot man can estimate the wear on the drum shoe

ps you can change the wheel bearing without removing the shoes

There should be no difference in pedal travel between new or part worn shoes if the brakes are correctly adjusted. In fact the part worn shoes will have a better braking effect because they will be "bedded in" to the drums. Sometimes new shoes give the pedal a springy feel because of this.

this is true, my piont is about what the mot tester can work out from the gauges, without seeing the shoes. i think that most cars go to the mot and then get serviced. not all though. ther are some well kept minor around

Correct, but in wingers case excessive pedal travel doesn't necessarily mean the shoes need replacing, possibly only adjusting. The MOT tester could also have made this clear, the need for replacement would only have been evident on inspection of the shoes or if the adjustment was at maximum. The gauges don't and can't analyse shoe lining thickness, only braking efficiency and balance, the results of which could highlight any deficiencies in the system.

the brake test gauges. used by mot testers

Thanks for that Brixton I did wonder what guages you meant.

in wingers case excessive pedal travel doesn't necessarily mean the shoes need replacing

I think the fact they were nearly on the rivets led to the MOT testers comment..

If you have half a clue about cars, you can observe the shoe thickness without removing the drum - just rotate the drum adjuster hole to the middle of the shoe and look how much is left. If they are the riveted type replace them if they are down to half thickness to be on the safe side - if they are the glued type you can go past half without worrying.

In theory you should be able to tell from how far the adjuster screw is turned but as brake shoes vary so much this is almost meaningless (with some new shoes you can barely get the drum on, and others need 50% of the adjuster to take the slack out of the shoes )

with some new shoes you can barely get the drum on, and others need 50% of the adjuster to take the slack out of the shoes

I have had both of those types the best being the tight ones

sure one more thing those adjusters a not the most reliable. i find many of them worn out and have problems staying in their set position..