Discussion
Just spent a fun couple of hours sorting out the hand brake adjustment on my (fairly) recently acquired 3R. The hand brake didn`t really want to hold on steep slopes... Jacking up the car showed it to only be working on one side. What I think has happened is a previous owner has re-newed the discs (which incorporate the handbrake drums) and to do this they fully backed off both wheel end adjusters, fitted the new discs and then only adjusted one wheel adjuster before turning to the cable adjuster at the hand brake lever end. The result was that the balance bar at the lever end was heavily skewed and on one wheel the small lever that applies the shoes to the drum was fully stroked but the shoes weren`t touching the drum surface - when the hand brake was OFF... When the lever in the cabin was pulled up nothing happened at this wheel and only the other side operated to lock the brakes. Hence only one wheel braking - and strange that the car passed an MOT just before I bought it...
It`s an unlikely problem but if your hand brake ain`t too good adjust the wheel ends first before touching the hand brake lever adjustment. To adjust the wheel end adjusters jack up the car , remove a wheel and then replace the wheel nuts on the studs to hold the `floating` discs/drums in place. Then turn the disc so the large hole in the drum area is opposite the small lever where the brake cable attaches. If you look through the hole you will see a knurled disc which acts as a jack to move the linings towards the drum - check for free movement of the disc/drum as you make the adjustment. (If your car is like mine there will be quite a bit of run-out on the drum which may give a slightly tight spot). You can also see the depth of lining left through this hole by turning the disc to view another area. The knurled surface goes from right to left to adjust the linings towards the drum (it`s a normal RH threaded part). You also need to check that the lever entering the drum to which the cable is attached is fully `off` - in other words it still has all it`s stroke left for applying the brakes. When both sides are adjusted like this you can then make any final adjustments at the hand brake lever end - getting access through the small tunnel side removeable panel behind the passenger seat. (A bit of a contortion to do this - the alternative is to remove the passenger seat to give you more space or get access from the removeable panel under the car).
On a totally unrelated subject am I the only owner to have the car 3 weeks before realising it has sun visors......
It`s an unlikely problem but if your hand brake ain`t too good adjust the wheel ends first before touching the hand brake lever adjustment. To adjust the wheel end adjusters jack up the car , remove a wheel and then replace the wheel nuts on the studs to hold the `floating` discs/drums in place. Then turn the disc so the large hole in the drum area is opposite the small lever where the brake cable attaches. If you look through the hole you will see a knurled disc which acts as a jack to move the linings towards the drum - check for free movement of the disc/drum as you make the adjustment. (If your car is like mine there will be quite a bit of run-out on the drum which may give a slightly tight spot). You can also see the depth of lining left through this hole by turning the disc to view another area. The knurled surface goes from right to left to adjust the linings towards the drum (it`s a normal RH threaded part). You also need to check that the lever entering the drum to which the cable is attached is fully `off` - in other words it still has all it`s stroke left for applying the brakes. When both sides are adjusted like this you can then make any final adjustments at the hand brake lever end - getting access through the small tunnel side removeable panel behind the passenger seat. (A bit of a contortion to do this - the alternative is to remove the passenger seat to give you more space or get access from the removeable panel under the car).
On a totally unrelated subject am I the only owner to have the car 3 weeks before realising it has sun visors......
...no, not just you... reckon it was 3 weeks before I discovered mine too! I just thought Noble drivers were supposed to wear shades... Bernhund,
I think they are the same. It`s an unusually design as the `shoes` are basically a steel`U` section pressing thats been bent into a `C` shape with a friction lining bonded onto the top and bottom circumference. The pressing is held by a clamp in the centre (you can see the socket headed cap screw for this clamp through the drum hole) and the two ends are prised apart by a small lever that`s pulled by the cable to apply the brake force. The knurled adjuster sets the start position by spreading the `C` so the friction linings are close to the drum surface.
On other threads it`s been said that you can only get replacement linings from a Noble main dealer. (I doubt that Noble actually developed. tooled and homologated this design - my parts say `US patent pending` on them and my guess is they are from vehicle over the pond).
I think they are the same. It`s an unusually design as the `shoes` are basically a steel`U` section pressing thats been bent into a `C` shape with a friction lining bonded onto the top and bottom circumference. The pressing is held by a clamp in the centre (you can see the socket headed cap screw for this clamp through the drum hole) and the two ends are prised apart by a small lever that`s pulled by the cable to apply the brake force. The knurled adjuster sets the start position by spreading the `C` so the friction linings are close to the drum surface.
On other threads it`s been said that you can only get replacement linings from a Noble main dealer. (I doubt that Noble actually developed. tooled and homologated this design - my parts say `US patent pending` on them and my guess is they are from vehicle over the pond).
There are other reasons why some people have never had problems, while others struggle to get their hand brakes to work. Sometimes, the cables aren't routed correctly, so they stick, which will drag the shoes on the drum, causing them to glaze, crack, or wear out. If the cable is routed a little too close to the front turbo/downpipe, the lining can melt, causing the cable to stick. If the factory/previous owner/previous shop misadjusted the hand brake, the shoes may have been dragging. The clamp that holds the hand brake shoe in place may not have enough clearance, which keeps the shoes from expanding/contracting evenly, causing one side to drag. etc., etc., etc...
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