Hand Brake adjustment

[fcat]

same problem mate 700 quid later to the local main dealer (truro) gave me a new handbrake assembly and a 'sorry mate we can only get it to 16% efficiency' (just enough to pass MOT) 'might be the cable but thats a big job they dont make one of the cables now' didnt seem to have a clue or how to fix it properly, i had suggested the cable in the first place but ' we have to take things in order' or what they mean is computer said no. what happened to real engineers and mechanics not people that learnt at college and follow the manual. sorry rant over but i reckon im gonna have the same problem at the next mot so if anyone knows a solution or someone in the south west who knows what they are doing with these trucks please drop me a line

Might be worth you snapping this up!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-Explorer...85845952?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM

 

[alan13henderson]

what on earth did they do that added up to £700?
Guess I could get a complete new pair of rear disks, pads, handbrake shoes and hadbrake parts fitting kit for not much over £100 on ebay.
All very easy to fit, guess at max 1 hours labour per side to remove old and fit new in a proper garage.
Handbrake is real old school Ford mechanism, no real complications for average mechanics.

 

[regorsmith]

Just replaced the rear shoes, disks and pads on my northface for just under £100.

The local Kwik Fit wanted £128 for pads, shoes they couldn't get and even asked if it's actually got them, and they wanted £88 for each of the rear disks!

Some times flea-bay just rocks!!

 

[janolsson]

Some times flea-bay just rocks!!

Yeah, imagine owning one of these before the tinterweb!
uuugggh I just had a shiver

 

[turbotimbo]

Has anybody found an effective way to make these rubbish handbrakes work?

I love the Explorer, I had my first MK2 for 6 years and my current North Face for 18 months. Buying parts from eBay and running on LPG instead of petrol, means they aren't too expensive to run, but the handbrake is terrible.

Nearly every year both failed the MOT on the handbrake, so this year I have replaced the disks and the shoes and even replaced the small parts so I'm prepared for MOT day (13 days to the big day).

Guess what.... it's as rubbish as ever!! With the adjusters tight (not backed off at all) and the handbrake lever pulled all the way up, the car still rolls forward under it's own weight on a slight incline. It's better in reverse, but not much.

What really annoys me is that I never use the handbrake normally (maybe that's part of the problem), I only need a handbrake for the MOT, so I spend lots of time and money on the handbrake just for the test. When it does pass it barely scrapes the required 16%.

So, if anybody knows how to make the handbrake on a MK2 work, please share your secret.

 

[kevin p]

Try bedding the new shoes in by applying the handbrake as you drive along. Then readjust to 2 or 3 clicks out at the drums.

 

[turbotimbo]

Try bedding the new shoes in by applying the handbrake as you drive along. Then readjust to 2 or 3 clicks out at the drums.

I'll give that a try, thanks.

 

[regorsmith]

Hi there,
I just wound my adjusters untill i could only just move the wheel with one hand and then ran it from there.
Mine seems to be fine and pulls up after about 5 or 6 clicks of the lever.
Maybe your adjusters just aren't wound in far enough?

 

[turbotimbo]

@ regorsmith, thanks for that. I'll try tightening the adjusters again after I've driven the car for a couple of days.

 

[BIGHVM]

Handbrakes are all rubish, and have the same problem every year also at MOT, have this weekend replaced the shoes and pads at rear, and front pads also, adjusted each rear wheel in turn so it could not be turned by hand then backed off a fraction.
I wonder if there is a conversion possible to use the pads on the rears? This shoe arrangement sucks as a handbrake!

 

[PHaTGRoB]

My handbrake was useless when I bought the car. I've recently had a look at it and the shoes and drums are in pretty good nick. I then adjusted them as per the Haynes manual and it was still rubbish. I then decided to tighten them back up till the wheels wouldn't turn and then just backed the adjuster off enough for the wheel to turn freely again (as also described by BIGHVM). The handbrake then held the car when in Drive and on a slope but it still needs a good 8 or 9 clicks of the lever to achieve this. Can't do more than that, me thinks. Hopefully when it come to MOT time (Jan), this is adequate. GRoB.

 

[chrisquelch]

the reason there no good is its designed to be applied by a foot pedal in u.s. not hand lever as u.k. a lot of the trouble starts with play in the linkage in the drum to much movement before shoes move.cheers Chris

 

[turbotimbo]

the reason there no good is its designed to be applied by a foot pedal in u.s. not hand lever as u.k. a lot of the trouble starts with play in the linkage in the drum to much movement before shoes move.cheers Chris

Hi Chris, That makes sense and explains a lot. Is there anything us UK Explorer owners can do about it though?

cheers,
Tim

 

[PHaTGRoB]

In the old days of standard rear drum foot/hand brake and more recently of handbrakes that use the disc pads, the footbrake applied the necessary pressure and then applying the handbrake just locked it on. Because of the seperate disc/drum setup on the Ex, we can't even do that. If only we could retrofit the footbrake to a RHD Ex? GRoB.

 

[chrisquelch]

Hi Chris, That makes sense and explains a lot. Is there anything us UK Explorer owners can do about it though?

cheers,
Tim

well if you assume the excessive movement wasn't there when new you could try ordering new mechanism . or remove old mech build up with weld then file back to shape . or just wind up the adjusters for the mot . cheers Chris

 

[zecolleman]

No adjust hole

I had to replace the rear rotors, but handbrake shoes hold it tight and I couln´t find adjuster hole, so I just force it of and the shoes were naked aftir this. So when I was finish geting the rotors off I saw adjuster and where the hole supposed to be but ther was no hole only mark for it, as they have forgotten to drill it..

 

[janolsson]

I had to replace the rear rotors, but handbrake shoes hold it tight and I couln´t find adjuster hole, so I just force it of and the shoes were naked aftir this. So when I was finish geting the rotors off I saw adjuster and where the hole supposed to be but ther was no hole only mark for it, as they have forgotten to drill it..

Interesting.
Did you drill a hole for future use?

 

[zecolleman]

Interesting.
Did you drill a hole for future use?

I am going to to it.I am puting the shoes in to day I had to get them from dealer...

 

[janolsson]

I am going to to it.I am puting the shoes in to day I had to get them from dealer...

ouch bet they cost! good luck.

 

[turbotimbo]

@ zecolleman

Let us know how you get on with the news parts.