Hand Brake adjustment

[zecolleman]

hand brake in order

Ok brake shoes are in right place.. and the hole have been drilled but need to find some tap in it.. here are some pictures of this action..

 

[chrisquelch]

park brake

hi i see from your profile that you have a 2004 explorer and looking at your photos it seems your explorer has independent rear suspension over in UK explorers only go up to 2001 and have solid rear axle so may not be the same .but sure the principals the same. is your parking brake operated buy foot or hand lever.cheers Chris

 

[zecolleman]

hi i see from your profile that you have a 2004 explorer and looking at your photos it seems your explorer has independent rear suspension over in UK explorers only go up to 2001 and have solid rear axle so may not be the same .but sure the principals the same. is your parking brake operated buy foot or hand lever.cheers Chris

Hi
it´s operated by foot..

 

[turbotimbo]

I wish mine was operated by foot, the design for the UK is terrible. Today was the big day - MOT time and it failed again: park brake efficiency 11% :-(

New disks, new shoes and I've been trying to bed them in by applying the handbrake whilst driving. This morning I tightened the adjusters until the brakes were binding, before taking it to the test station and it was still only 11%

Apart from trying to bribe the MOT tester, I don't know how I'm going to improve it.

Any ideas please??

 

[chrisquelch]

brake test

you could trya different mot station . how are they testing the brakes as they are 4 wheel drive most test stations have to use a tapplie meter and drive it on the road/car park to test brakes this will give the tester more leaway to read results. if they have brake tester (roller type) in the station that can handle 4 wheel drive then the results are printed out so no leaway for tester.cheers chris

 

[turbotimbo]

Hi Chris, Thanks for the quick reply. I did consider taking it to another station, but they are all linked to a central computer these days, so it is now a matter of record that it failed today. Besides, this station doesn't have the rolling road and does a road test with a portable meter.

Every year I take it to this guy and every year he fails the Ex on the parking brake. Then he passes it on the retest - you'd think he'd be used to this crap with the Ex by now, but probably the only one he ever tests is mine. He is pretty strict too and 11% isn't 16%.

Perhaps I should have kept the old disks; the corrosion on the inside of the drum part might have given the new shoes more purchase.

 

[janolsson]

Hi Chris, Thanks for the quick reply. I did consider taking it to another station, but they are all linked to a central computer these days, so it is now a matter of record that it failed today. Besides, this station doesn't have the rolling road and does a road test with a portable meter.

Every year I take it to this guy and every year he fails the Ex on the parking brake. Then he passes it on the retest - you'd think he'd be used to this crap with the Ex by now, but probably the only one he ever tests is mine. He is pretty strict too and 11% isn't 16%.

Perhaps I should have kept the old disks; the corrosion on the inside of the drum part might have given the new shoes more purchase.

I assume you thoroughly cleaned the inside surface of the disc prior to installation as they come covered in protective oil. Other than that pull the hand brake up 3 clicks then wind the adjuster til you can't turn the wheel by hand with some force.

 

[turbotimbo]

Hi Janolsson, Thanks for the input, I did give the metal surface a wipe over, but perhaps I didn't degrease as thoroughly as I should have. I think I will take them off this afternoon and do it properly.

Why do you say to lift the lever 3 clicks before adjusting? I adjust them with the lever fully down, is that wrong? 3 clicks wouldn't make much difference anyway as it takes about 4 clicks before it takes up the slack in the cable.

 

[chrisquelch]

it wont hurt to ruff up the inside of the drum a little bit with sand paper and the shoes if you didn't get all the protective coating off first time. and good luck with retest. cheers chris

 

[turbotimbo]

thanks Chris, I'll try that as well.

 

[turbotimbo]

well I've had it all apart again and this time I found a problem that I should have spotted last time. I don't know the proper name for it, but one of the levers that pushes the shoes apart was partly seized. This meant that the shoes got pushed out, but the springs couldn't pull the shoes back in, which in turn meant they couldn't be adjusted properly.

after taking that side all apart and freeing up the levers I have been able to take some of the play out of the cable, so the handbrake lever takes less clicks to come full on now, so that's a step in the right direction.

The parking brake now seems to hold slightly better, but I can still drive off with it on. I've no idea what the efficiency is because I don't have a Tapley meter, so I'll have to wait for the MOT retest to find out.

 

[janolsson]

Not sure what the efficiency of mine is but it will hold the truck both forward and revervse at a grand and passed the MOT

 

[jcasey007]

I just checked my MOT paperwork from 9 months ago and the handbrake efficiency was 28%, I've since replaced rear bearings and shoes/pads and discs.....well see next month

 

[turbotimbo]

28% is very good!

If my Ex managed over 20% I'd be very happy.

I'll settle for 16% next Saturday though.

 

[turbotimbo]

I just took it for the retest and it scraped through. It managed 17% on the testers Tapley meter. I'll see if I can manage 20% next year, maybe it will be better once those new drums get a bit of rust on them

 

[janolsson]

Congrats dude, enjoy

 

[Daveyboy999]

Hi
I bought a 1998 EX in july this year and was due a mot at the back end of november, so I had it mot'ed on the 1st of sept and it passed. The hand break still needs pulling along way up as I live on a hill so not to put to much on the transmission locking. My question is, why do the hand break shoes wear out when you only apply when stationary. I'm not a mechanic but only bought my EX that has LPG conversion to pull a twin axle caravan and it's the best bar non ! I've had Discos, Fontera's and Shoguns. For Comfort, space and pulling power nothing beats it. Do I need to have a strip down of the rear brakes or leave it to the next mot.

Thanks Dave

 

[turbotimbo]

Hi Dave,

Yes, the Mk2 Explorers are a great tow car. I had my first one for 6 years and my current one for nearly 2 years. The only problem I have (apart from the handbrake) is finding an LPG pump with space to get the EX and a twin axle caravan in.

Keeping on subject, the problem I have found with getting the handbrake to work is to adjust them quite tight, but that means the shoes are binding and wear out as you drive along. If you slacken them off, so the wheels turn freely, this will greatly reduce the wear on the shoes, but then they don't work too well. The trick is to find just the right adjustment were the handbrake works reasonably well without wearing the shoes too much. I would suggest tightening each adjuster so that you can't turn the wheel by hand and then slacken off just enough for the wheel turn freely. Don't forget to chock the front wheels as you need to put the gearbox in neutral.

If your handbrake is working well enough for where you park you might as well leave alone until next MOT time. In my opinion, checking and adjusting the handbrake once a year, just before the MOT, is quite enough, but then I don't use the handbrake the rest of the year.

Tim

 

[janolsson]

Hi Dave,
Don't forget to chock the front wheels as you need to put the gearbox in neutral.

If your handbrake is working well enough for where you park you might as well leave alone until next MOT time. In my opinion, checking and adjusting the handbrake once a year, just before the MOT, is quite enough, but then I don't use the handbrake the rest of the year.

Tim

Wise words

 

[Daveyboy999]

Thanks Tim
I will take your dvice and do it before the next MOT