Handbrake bad design?
 

My discs and pads were all paper thin, so I got the lot replaced. The handbrake had always been ineffective, so I got new shoes fitted too – backplates etc all pronounced good by the mechanic, who is a Rover specialist, and knows these cars inside out. Saint Arctic also fitted one of the better compensators some time ago, so that’s OK too.

The brake lever now has a travel of maybe 3 notches, a LOT less than before – but the handbrake is still {naughty word}. I was thinking about this, then suddenly remembered that my last two cars (E36 M3’s) had exactly the same problem – I’d forgotten, as I’ve had the Rover7-8 years now.

Are my suspicions correct, that the handbrake design is essentially similar on both cars, and also essentially cr*p?

It's not cr*p as you put it.

All the poor handbrake problems were due to the badly designed compensator, with the "U" link that opened up because of being welded on one side only, with hard lever application. I used a very small shackle from RS Components that cured the problem, without the need for welding.

Arctic's solution cured all that straight away after lots of owners had paid a small fortune to the parts people for new cables and shoes which were totally unnecessary. I still have the new cables I purchased about 7 years ago up in their box, in my loft.

With the handbrake correctly adjusted, both on the shoe adjusters and the handbrake cable correctly set, some owners have removed the "slack" to one notch. You can't get it better that.

A perfectly set up handbrake system, using all the recommended parts, will still exhibit the locked wheel slop that's regularly mentioned on the forums. Though raised frequently over the years, no convincing explanation of why it behaves thus has been proposed. Less so, how it could be fixed. IMO, it can't be fixed because of an inherent design flaw that resides within the drum.

TC

I agree - the shoes are basically 'floating' within the 'drum' of the brake disc, with only the retaining pins/springs holding them to the backplate. The adjuster is not fixed to anything, so on hills, there will always be some movement of the handbrake shoes even with the compensator/adjustment all perfect. What the design should have included is an adjuster that is bolted to the backplate (like on my MGB and other older cars), and that would hold the shoes in place, removing the 'slop' you refer to. Mind, other modern cars are little better - I did a rear wheel bearing on a Mercedes a few weeks back, and the handbrake shoe/back plate set-up on that was even cheaper and nastier than on the 75s - it made the 75 set-up look like a bit of solid old Victorian engineering !

Pete

Ah, wheel slop… never heard that one before. But that’s one of the problems, yes. Put handbrake on, release footbrake, car moves a little then (just about) stops.

The other problem is that it doesn't actually hold the car on a hill. I mean, maybe if I wrenched the handle up another couple of notches it might, but other cars I drive (like my parents’ Siesta) hold completely on 1-2 notches, with little pull needed on the handle :mad:

Do you know what make of shoes were fitted ? I think there are variations in the fit and quality of after-market handbrake shoes for these cars. The shoes very rarely wear since all they do is hold the car, so it is usually best just to clean up the old shoes, rough them up with a bit of fine wet and dry paper, and refit/adjust. Were the new discs/drums de-greased before fitting ? - they have a protective coating of grease on them which needs to be removed before fitting, so that the pads/shoes work properly.

Pete

Not sure, but the guy who did them is a member of various owners’ clubs over here, and is very well thought of in the community. He eats and breathes Rovers, and I’m satisfied he would do whatever is best for the car… certainly can’t see him not removing the protective coating :D

The hand brake even when all the mechanical parts are installed correctly and are in good condition can operate poorly.

In normal use the hand brake is only applied when the car is stationary.
It doesn't take long for a film of rust to form on the inside of the drum.
This in conjunction with shoes that have not been bedded into the drum will give poor performance when the brake is applied.

To bring the brake up to optimum performance first the shoes HAVE to be bedded in. This is something that is achieved over, maybe, a week or two.

The idea is to apply the hand brake, gently, over a couple of hundred yards, at a slow speed. Very soon it will become apparent that the brake efficiency is improving.

Doing this on my own car has now made it possible to actually lock the back wheels even when driving at 10 mph or so.

Once this has been achieved it's only necessary to polish up the drums, maybe, once a month or so to keep them in good, effective, condition.

Without this initial bedding in the hand brake will NEVER reach its best performance.----:eek:

Try it. You will be very happy with the results you can achieve .----:D

Yeah I know mate, and that was the first thing the mechanic advised me to do. Think my car has now covered at least a couple of miles (in small slices) with the handbrake on… still not great though :duh:

:D:D:D---Patience is a virtue.----;)

Your brakes will slowly improve and be able to hold your car on a slope though I use belt and braces myself by leaving the car in gear as well.--:D

I think the design, apart from the BENDY bit is OK.

Mine locks solid. Yours will too.-----:party: