Handbrake bad design?

[rustymotor]

Thanks for that Harry, I would have thought that the thumb wheel adjuster at the top would unscrew in use to take up slack if the shoes were fitted and not fully adjusted to start with, most of them I've ever seen work like that. The guy I use for MOT's spins the back wheels by hand.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by rustymotor

Thanks for that Harry, I would have thought that the thumb wheel adjuster at the top would unscrew in use to take up slack if the shoes were fitted and not fully adjusted to start with, most of them I've ever seen work like that. The guy I use for MOT's spins the back wheels by hand.

The 'thumb wheel' is what I call the 'star wheel'. Rather awkwardly - You have to adjust that with a flat bladed screwdriver, poked through a hole with the drum in place. The shoe return spring, passes between the star points, so the set adjustment stays put.

There is no mechanism to automatically turn the adjuster and none is needed.

It is difficult to find the star through the hole, even when you know what you are looking for, then there is a 50/50 chance as to which way to turn it to actually take up the slack. Due to the spring, it will twang as you turn the star. That rather explains why many garages asked to adjust an handbrake, ignore that adjuster and wrongly just tighten the nut at the front.

There will always be some drag when spinning the wheel by hand, just from the pads. There should be no excessive binding at any wheel, no real struggle to turn them by hand.