Oh no not another handbrake question....

[mamasboy]

Sorry folks, know its been the talk of the forum of late but my car has failed MOT on handbrake. Having wound the little wheel in the drum to its max and nut on handbrake is at its tightest I still failed with no reserve travel. I dont have a spare day to do the proper fix, is there a get me through an MOT fix someone could point me too?

[Ched]

You could take the adjusting nut off and pack it out with some washers and see if that helps

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by mamasboy

Sorry folks, know its been the talk of the forum of late but my car has failed MOT on handbrake. Having wound the little wheel in the drum to its max and nut on handbrake is at its tightest I still failed with no reserve travel. I dont have a spare day to do the proper fix, is there a get me through an MOT fix someone could point me too?

Assuming the shoes are not shot and that you have done the wheel adjusters correctly (forum method) - unless your compensator is by far the most streched we have come across, then your nut under the lever should be able to take up the excess slack with a spacer under it.

The forum method is to slack off the adjuster nut completely, turn the star wheel at the hub, until it locks the hub, then back it off just enough for it to be free - ignore Rovers suggestion to back it off by five clicks. Then back to tighten the nut and if necessary add a temporary spacer.

The end result should be free when lever off, starting to retard the car at the first click and so on.

[mamasboy]

hi Harry,

I did the forum "how to" but turning the adjuster screw wheel never managed to get the wheels to bind. I wound the screw to its max and then tightened the handbrake nut up fully. I got a slightly better result but still not good enough!
Looking at the Compensator "how to" you chaps have compiled I have sent a message to Artic to try get a modded one ASAP...

[mamasboy]

Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT

Assuming the shoes are not shot and that you have done the wheel adjusters correctly (forum method) - unless your compensator is by far the most streched we have come across, then your nut under the lever should be able to take up the excess slack with a spacer under it.

The forum method is to slack off the adjuster nut completely, turn the star wheel at the hub, until it locks the hub, then back it off just enough for it to be free - ignore Rovers suggestion to back it off by five clicks. Then back to tighten the nut and if necessary add a temporary spacer.

The end result should be free when lever off, starting to retard the car at the first click and so on.

Sorry, not tried a spacer yet, off out now - watch this space....

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by mamasboy

hi Harry,

I did the forum "how to" but turning the adjuster screw wheel never managed to get the wheels to bind. I wound the screw to its max and then tightened the handbrake nut up fully. I got a slightly better result but still not good enough!

Soemthing not right there......

The star adjuster should come to a hard stop, once the shoes contact the drum, locking the drum up solidly.

Are you aware that the adjuster can be fitted two ways and that depending upon which way it is fitted, that need to push the star wheel up or down to tighten?

Maybe you were turning it the wrong way?

[mamasboy]

Hi Harry,

Tried both directions, firstly went fully wrong way turning in downwards direction. That give me no brake action at all. Then did it fully in upward direction, which didn't lock the drum but upon application of handbrake I had ok-ish brake action. Now i've just been out and packed the handbrake nut with 5 washers giving me a marked improvement but still dont think it's a MOT pass. Gotten too cold now so I may try a couple more washers tomorrow...

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by mamasboy

Hi Harry,

Tried both directions, firstly went fully wrong way turning in downwards direction. That give me no brake action at all. Then did it fully in upward direction, which didn't lock the drum but upon application of handbrake I had ok-ish brake action. Now i've just been out and packed the handbrake nut with 5 washers giving me a marked improvement but still dont think it's a MOT pass. Gotten too cold now so I may try a couple more washers tomorrow...

It seems to point towards worn (or oil soaked) shoes, but I would expect worn to be obvious by the metal on metal noise - curious!

I think you need to remove the disk/drums to have a closer look.

[RPWC]

I tried adjusting my h/brake a few weeks ago,and one side would just not bite at all,removed disc and drum ,and found one of the shoe retaining clips had come off and was missing.
Have a look for this when you remove the disc Bernie.