Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, I just replaced the rear brake drums and shoes and I've noticed its quite juddery when I brake - I've heard a lot about oval drums recently and I was wondering if there was a decent way of checking for this? Or anything I should adjust before asuming the new drums are at fault.

Thanks!

hi , had the exact same problem but from the front after new shoes and drums , took the car out and gave the brakes a roasting to bed them in .The brakes are now much better with very little shudder

They do need bedding in as Ronnie suggests, but take it easy - light pressure for a longer time.

I took the new drums off I bought and put the old ones back on, solved the judder..I think these newly manufactured drums are a little dodgy

The suspected 'oval' drums were found to be perfectly ok I believe. Did you file off the leading edges of each shoe before fitting?

bmcecosse wrote:The suspected 'oval' drums were found to be perfectly ok I believe. Did you file off the leading edges of each shoe before fitting?

they came with 45 degrees off the edges, so a few mm. Should I take some more off?

How long does it take to bed them in?

That should be fine. Have to say - juddering from the rear brakes is pretty unusual. Could it be that the brakes are now WORKING - and showing up wear in the rear suspension/axle mounts??

Hmm, I'll have a look at the mounts and take some photos. The new brakes don't seem much more powerful than the older ones though! I could have damaged something in some way while replacing them?

I could try putting the old drums on, that would rule out the new drums as a problem at least.

It is probably worth cleaning the active surface of new drums, I've got a feeling they are coated in something to stop them going rusty while they are on the shelf.

I gave them a wipe with some solvent, but I can give them a more vigorous clean.

The spring mounts (if that's what you meant?) all seem to look good to my inexpert eyes:

Axle perches ok? U bolts tight? Drain the dampers and refill with SAE 40.

I have been meaning to replace the damper oil for a while. How much do they take? I'll get enough for the front too.

I'm also going to replace the tyres, I think the car had spent a few years sitting on the current ones so they could be causing it

I'll take a look at the axle perches tonight

Tyres could have 'flats' - blow them up to 40 psi. 1 Litre is plenty oil.

I couldn't get the bolts off the dampers, I assume they are whitworth sizes? None of my spanners fit!

U bolts seem sturdy and tight:



There is definitely oil leaking into the rear drum though, I don't know if this could cause the symptoms of judder. I've put a new pair of wheels on too, I'll see if its improved tonight.

The rear drum (the black on the inside is paint, but the black on the breaking surface to the right of where the pads have been is oil, hence the finger smudge)

Does anyone know the size of the countersunk screw on the hub? Thanks

All the 'body' fixings on a Minor are Whitworth = you NEED a set of Whit sockets/ringkeys and open enders. The nuts you show in the pictures are for the U bolts - not for the dampers...... And oil in the drums is hopeless - the shoes are now ruined.... The screw is LARGE.... The thread is 1/4" UNF.

Thanks. Is there anything I need other than the oil seal, o ring and gasket (and some new shoes)? Will I need to remove the hub with a hub puller to replace the seal?

I've never had any problem just tugging the hub off - perhaps by bolting the wheel back on. Sure the oil is from the hub - and not from the brake cylinder?

Sorry to interupt, but I recently bought tyres from mytyres.co.uk £44 delivered 185 x 14

Hopefully a MOD will redirect this to a new thread........ But to comment on the 185 tyres - these are FAR TOO WIDE for standard Minor rims..... Hopefully you have wider wheels?