Hand brake adjustment

[herald1360]

Hi all
I am having trouble adjusting the handbrake on my 1974 2500.
I have disconnected the cables and stamped on the foot brake, heard the ratchets click. Reconnected the cables and adjusted out the slack, several times!! Still will not hold!!
Also fitted a nos operating lever on the nearside
MOT due soon, Help!!

Paul Barlow
Exeter

[Dave B]

Cant speak for the way others do it, but I remove the drum and manually lever out the shoe with the adjuster on it one click at a time til I can just get the drum back on over the shoes. Works for me!

[TedTaylor]

Yes that is what I have done in the same situation. Fiddly and you have to be easy with doing it but works. May need a couple of goes while you get the feel of it.

MUT

[Alan Chatterton]

Remove the drums and strip and clean the brakes. Make sure the handbrake pivot is free and moving.
When it's reassembled, you need 2 people to adjust properly.
Disconnect the handbrake cable from the arms. Then pull the handbrake arms (one side at a time!) and pull them in, i.e. Fully off. Then holding them in, get someone to stamp on the brakes hard.
Do the same on both sides, then attach the cable and adjust.
Never fails.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Alec]

Hello Paul,

another thing to check is the floor where the handbrake is, as it's not unknown for the floor to crack which will give an ineffective hand brake.

Alec

[Mike Stevens]

Agree with Alan, it's very important that the 2 parts of the handbrake lever that goes though the boot on the brake backplate are free to move relative to each other. If the pivot point seizes then the hand brake becomes pretty ineffective. If they are really seized, the pivot could be drilled out and replaced by a small bolt and nyloc nut but I'd suggest looking at a recent post on here about using a Stag assembly as they are longer (giving more leverage), available and not expensive!

Here's the thread -

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5998

Cheers,
Mike.

[pete lewis]

Think I said in my hb expander exercise the after market bonded shoes were terrible

continually turning the facing into a black residue , putting the old riveted oe spec shoes
transformed the braking
Incidently Rodsport saidnthe TR7 has the same expander as the saloon

But the longer lever helps a lot

with the new stag levers and old shoes its vastly better

Pete

[johnnydog]

If everything is free, and moving as it should, in my opinion, you shouldn't really need extensions to create more leverage for the operation of the handbrake. It's masking a problem in the brake setup.
Double check that both levers in the drums are totally free and spin round with no binding at all, and are not worn where they sit in the slot in the shoe.
Also check the clevis pins in them are free to move allowing the shackle (or whatever it's called) to move easily.
Check the ratchet mechanism on the shoes themselves - were they new with the shoes, or were they transferred from the previous shoes (not all replacement shoes come with the ratchets and have to be taken from the old shoes). Have they been assembled correctly?
If handbrake problems have been an issue on the car previously, it's not uncommon for the handbrake lever mounting points on the transmission tunnel to have come away from the bodywork as a result of heavy handedness in trying to get the handbrake to operate. If the lever has pulled away from the floor, you won't get a decent handbrake, and the floor will need welding to rectify it.
From a personal point of view, I have never had an issue with the operation of the handbrake on a MK2 as long as everything is free and lubricated /greased where necessary, with the adjustment being taken up by the ratchet mechanism on the foot brake before the cables are connected / adjusted.

[David Withers]

If everything is free, and moving as it should, in my opinion, you shouldn't really need extensions to create more leverage for the operation of the handbrake. It's masking a problem in the brake setup.
<snip>
From a personal point of view, I have never had an issue with the operation of the handbrake on a MK2 as long as everything is free and lubricated /greased where necessary, with the adjustment being taken up by the ratchet mechanism on the foot brake before the cables are connected / adjusted.

Agreed! The only problem I've had with automatic adjustment has been caused by contamination in the slave cylinders not allowing free and full return of the pistons upon releasing the footbrake. The pistons need to be in the fully retracted position for the handbrake mechanism to start from the correct point for full leverage. No need for modifications!

I found that timely fluid changes, every two years in a car used daily, help keep the handbrake in good working order. Changing the fluid and renewing the seals if necessary, and cleaning the area of brake dust, makes it less likely for sticky goo to build up and stop the piston returning fully.

[herald1360]

Hi all
thanks for the info, this my job for Saturday morning. I had an excellent hand brake untill I had to change linings and wheel cylinders a couple years ago. i will dismantle and clean everthing first

thanks again!