Rear brake shoes - inspection and renewal

Braking system / Rear brake shoes - inspection and renewal

1 Jack up the rear of the car and remove the roadwheels.

2 Fully release the handbrake.

3 Unscrew and remove the drum securing bolts. One of these is a long locating spigot for the roadwheel.

4 Pull off the drum. lf it is tight, clean off the rust at its joint with the hub flange, and apply a little penetrating fluid. Two bolts may be screwed into the drum securing bolt holes if necessary and the drum thus eased off the hub. The securing bolt holes are tapped for this purpose.

5 Brush away all the dust and dirt from the shoes and operating mechanism, taking care not to inhale it.

6 The friction linings fitted as original equipment are of the bonded type and the rivet heads normally used as a guide to wear are not, of course, fitted. However, if the thickness of the friction linings is down to 1.5 mm (0.06 in) or less, the shoes must be renewed. Always purchase new or factory relined brake shoes.

7 Before removing the brake shoes, note the way in which the shoes are positioned, with respect to leading and trailing ends (the end of the shoe not covered by lining material).

Note also into which holes in the shoe web the return springs are connected. Sketch the shoes or mark the holes on the new shoes with quick drying paint if you are doubtful about remembering (photo).

4.7 Rear brake assembly

8 Undo the steady springs by depressing and rotating their caps a quarter turn to disengage the slot from the pin. On later models a U-shaped steady spring is used. Depress and slide it out.

9 Rotate the hub until the cut-outs in its rear flange face are in alignment with the shoe self-adjusters.

10 Pivot the trailing shoe on the self-adjuster post and disengage the ends of the shoe from the slot in the wheel cylinder tappet and from the lower anchor block.

11 Work the shoe up the self-adjuster pivot post until the self-adjuster boss enters the cut-out in the hub flange. The shoe can now be withdrawn (photo).

4.11 Rear hub showing cut-outs on rear face for shoe self-adjuster bosses

12 Once off the self-adjuster post, the pull-off spring tension is eased, as the shoe can move towards the other, so the springs can be unhooked.

13 Remove the leading shoe in a similar way.

14 The new shoes will already be fitted with new self-adjusters.

15 Fit the new shoes to their self-adjuster posts, making sure that the handbrake shoe lever is correctly located. Engage the ends of the shoes.

16 Using a wooden or plastic-faced mallet, tap the shoes inwards against the friction of their self-adjuster coil springs. This will have the effect of reducing the overall diameter of the shoes to facilitate fitting of the shoe return springs and to allow the brake drum to slide over them.

17 Using pliers, reconnect the upper (longer) and lower shoe return springs.

18 Hold the steady pins in position from the rear of the backplate. Fit the small coil springs and the retaining cap, again using pliers to grip the cap and to depress and turn it to engage the pin. On later models fit the U-shaped springs.

19 Before refitting the drum, clean it out and examine it for grooves or scoring (refer to Section 8).

20 Fit the drum and the roadwheel.

21 Apply the brakes two or three times to position the shoes close to the drum.

22 Renew the shoes on the opposite brake in a similar way.

23 The handbrake should be automatically adjusted by the action of the shoe adjuster. If the handbrake control lever has excessive travel, refer to Section 16 for separate adjusting instructions.