Rear brake adjustment...conundrum!

[mattinhertford]

Hi all,

I've re-read a few topics and can't see that this has been covered, but apologies if I've missed it.

On the rear of my '67 2-door 1098cc Saloon I have....

- new drums
- new brake shoes
- decent adjusting screws (i.e. not overly worn or broken)
- OK brake springs i.e. they're no broken

....BUT, the conundrum is that when I put it all together, on both sides, I have to adjust the adjuster screws to the maximum push-out before the shoes touch the drums, and even then they don't grip hard enough to hold the drum solid i.e. for the desired braking effect!

I know normally one would adjust out a bit until the drums are unmovable, then you'd adjust back one 'click'. Thereby the shoes are pretty darn close, but not touching, so when you apply the brake pedal...the car stops!

I cannot figure out what is going wrong, especially as new shoes and new drums. They are decent Mintex shoes, and they looked identical to what came out apart from having more depth, so I cannot see why they don't touch the drums quicker.

The cylinders did not get replaced, but visibly work when I leave the drum off and apply the brakes. The only thing I would say about them is that they don't exactly slide up and down that slot very easily, if fact, despite some white grease that is already there, you could say they are quite stiff. But I can't see why that would affect the distance between the drum and shoe. I also did some pumping of the brakes (with the drums on) to align the shoes with the drums a bit.

It's keeping me awake at night (not because I'm driving it, cos I'm not, or because of worry....more from a "what the heck could it be?" point of view )

Anyone experienced this?

Thanks

Matt

[bmcecosse]

How do the new drums compare to the old drums? Could be oversize drums. You should get the cylinders sliding nicely - and you should loosen the handbrake cables before adjusting the rear brakes, but neither of these will affect this problem. However - how many clicks are you getting before you hit the 'max' ? Check with the drum off - how many clicks do you get then? Sometimes the adjuster fouls up on the edge of the brake shoe...you may need to relieve the shoe slightly.

[beero]

Try the new shoes with the old drum. If they adjust up the the new drum is oversize. If not then try the old shoes with the new drum, then old shoes and old drums. You should be able to work out which parts are at fault.

[kennatt]

I think there has been a few on here who have found that some shoes are very slightly undersize,even with good makes,If you have a mig a stroke on the shoe,on the end opp the cylinder,increases the size,or I believe someone made up a spacer,but can't remember how it was done. Sign of the times,copies of copies etc.

[MarkyB]

Are the adjusters going all the way to the maximum then the next click takes them back to minimum?

[mattinhertford]

Try the new shoes with the old drum. If they adjust up the the new drum is oversize. If not then try the old shoes with the new drum, then old shoes and old drums. You should be able to work out which parts are at fault.

Good idea Beero, and thanks to everyone else too for their input. I will try this swapping around of the old/new drums to see if it is oversize drums. Fortunately I kept the old drums (handy weights for holding tarps etc down!) so still have them to check.

MarkyB, ref your question, the adjusters are going all the way out to get them to the maximum, but one click back just goes one click back, if that's what you mean? e.g. the 'clicks' are still nicely defined so they're working, not slipping back to the minimum.

How do I get the cylinders sliding nicely? Grease? (keeping it clear of the shoes etc)

I'll let you know how I get on with the drums.

Matt

[bmcecosse]

Have you yet compared the number of clicks with drum off - to number of clicks with drum on. It WILL be the adjuster catching on the shoe..... It won't be the shoes if Mintex, and I doubt the new drums can be that far out - but do check.

[MarkyB]

As above really.
The click after maximum will take the adjuster back to minimum.

[kennatt]

if the shoes are the right size and the drum is not oversize it will take some force to turn the adjuster past max to drop back onto minimum. Are the brakes standard,ie has it standard 7" rears,hasent been modded and 8" put on, because the adjusters for 8" are larger than 7s,and will give a similar problem if 7" adjusters are used with 8" drums.

[pkdj@sky.com]

Just had same problem. Fitted new rear shoes but could not get enough adjustment.

After much head scratching I compared old shoes with new shoes and found that new shoes were smaller than old shoes by a few mm.

Contacted the supplier (ESM) and they confirmed that they had identified a bad batch and will send me replacements from a new batch.

Just thought this was worth sharing.

[NETTIE]

Sorry to tell you but this thread is nearly 8 years old.
Best start a new one.

[eng622]

Having similar problems and looking as the handbrake is very poor and maybe the rear footbrake as well,
The adjusters go all the way to the maximum then the next click takes them back to minimum and at max there is no resistance on the drum at all.
The handbrake on the NS starts to come after 4 clicks and locks the wheels on 5 but that does not seem good enough to me.
The OS does not do anything and likewise if the cable is tightened.
I have no spare parts to compare, the linings are not new but look serviceable, the cylinders, hand brake cables are newish done by PO who spent a lot of money on the brakes etc, work done professionally..