Rear Brake Adjuster

[jimed]

The MOT is due next week (well early Jan but it'll get done next Tues am in case) and whilst it should be OK (famous last words - oh dear...) I did have a minor problem last year with one rear brake performance being a bit down on the other side for no apparent reason. The car passed though but I had have a good look after and it is possible that it needed a small amount of adjustment that hopefully has stayed OK since - BUT - maybe I will need to replace the adjuster as I understand the little ratchet bits wear. I suspect the back plate etc is Ford Sierra but has anyone any info on the Ford model/part no etc for the adjuster in case I need to replace one?? They should be OK to get still I assume??
Jim

Edited by jimed on Thursday 29th November 17:38

[tvrgit]

Don't know the part numbers but the whole rear brake assembly, shoes, cylinder, adjuster, springs etc are all standard Sierra.

[Jed-S]

Just a thought - are both cylinders the same or correct type? They do 20mm and 21.86mm bores IIRC bit both look the same from the outside. I found a mismatched pair on my car. I am assuming you're not talking about the handbrake performance.

[Le TVR]

Used to have this problem where they would always find some rear break unbalance (handbreak too).
Now I strip the brakes just before the visit and clean them out.
Never had a problem since.

[jimed]

The problem I had was on the rollers when they werre checking the individual brake performance of each wheel. The front brakes were almost identical readings but the rear n/s was down a bit on the o/s reading.This had not been the case in previous years. The handbrake adjustment is Ok and the car stops in a straight line/doesn't pull at all (but the front was OK anyway so would expect that). We did manage to adjust the brakes afterwards which did lift the pedal a little bit but it has probably reverted since which suggests I may have the same thing this year. As everything else seems OK the only thing I can think of is the adjustment so maybe I have a tinker before the MOT and see if it tightens up a bit - but anyone know how to do it or is it obvious when I get the drum off??
Has anyone replaced an ajuster and if so was it an easy job?
Jim

[Gentleman Geoff]

As it happens, we did rear brakes in my car maintenance class this week!

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

There's a Sierra in the workshop where the class is held, so I made sure to practise on that car rather than one of the others. I realise that this won't be any help or consolation, but I didn't find stripping these and especially putting them back together again to be much fun...

The guys who teach the course were also of the opinion that Ford brakes are the most awkward to adjust.

Hope it passes Jim.

[tvrgit]

Full details of dismantling / reassembling rear brakes are on my website under the "how to" links on the left, or direct link here:

http://www.tvrgit.com/brakepage.html 

They are supposed to be self-adjusting but the wee pawls and teeth on the snail cam gunge up with... em... gunge I suppose. Give them a good clean and free them up, then re-grease the pivots etc.

Trying to adjust them manually with the brake drum off is virtually impossible - if you adjust them up, you won't be able to get the shoes on past the inevitable lip on the edge of the drum - if you get the shoes past the lip they aren't close enough in operation to the "wearing" surface of the rest of the drum, and won't work properly.

What you can do, is drill a hole in the face of the drum, clear of the hub mating surface, that you can line up and poke a srewdriver through to push the snail cam round by hand. I would only do that in desperation, mind - you're better getting the self-adjusters freed up and working properly.

[jimed]

I've had a look at your page and it is v useful. I have done this sort of thing before but not for some time so it shouldn't be a real issue. I will put it on the list to do with the service early next year and see how it gets on - it passed OK last year with the same bloke so hopefully ...
Jim

[Barkychoc]

Probably a bit of a project but if the drums etc are starting to be a pain maybe convert to discs as a winter project. I know a few have done it, and there's load of rear disc brake parts on ebay (much more than front).
I'm just not sure how involved it is, and having the V8 I can be totally smug

Chris

[tvrgit]

Barkychoc said:

Probably a bit of a project but if the drums etc are starting to be a pain maybe convert to discs as a winter project. I know a few have done it, and there's load of rear disc brake parts on ebay (much more than front).
I'm just not sure how involved it is, and having the V8 I can be totally smug

Chris

Not a job for the faint-hearted! (or all that necessary, the drum setup works fine unless you are horsing it about or doing strenuous track days - disc brakes (especially the handbrake mechanisms) are just as prone te seizing up through accumulation of gunge, and are harder to get working properly again IME)

Edited by tvrgit on Friday 30th November 20:46

[z_chromozone]

tvrgit said:

Barkychoc said:

Probably a bit of a project but if the drums etc are starting to be a pain maybe convert to discs as a winter project. I know a few have done it, and there's load of rear disc brake parts on ebay (much more than front).
I'm just not sure how involved it is, and having the V8 I can be totally smug

Chris

Not a job for the faint-hearted! (or all that necessary, the drum setup works fine unless you are horsing it about or doing strenuous track days - disc brakes (especially the handbrake mechanisms) are just as prone te seizing up through accumulation of gunge, and are harder to get working properly again IME)

Edited by tvrgit on Friday 30th November 20:46

I would not recommend changing to disks if you want to prevent sticking problems either. Drum hand-brakes always appear to work better than disks in my experience.

Z

[jimed]

Well after the concern that I may have a problem with the MoT with brake balance it was all OK with the rear brakes almost identical so it has passed
- this means it is now MoT'd until 2.1.2009 which does sound a long way away. (It is also one in the eye for the Tiv detractors as I've now had the car for 11 years and it has always passed OK ; so maybe one day it won't but then it can't be good all the time ...)
Re the rear brake adjuster; maybe it isn't working all that well but OK enough. I will talk to the Ford parts man who told me on the phone yesterday that there are different adjusters on some Sierras and he needs to know which it is. My friendly mechanic where I had the MoT done tells me you replace the whole adjuster plate and not just the cog things and it is apparently about £12 or so - so based on thoughts from Tvrgit that some Sierra parts are getting a bit hard to get I may put one on the shelf in case. If I do I'll post the p/n in case anyone else wants one.
Jim

[ketvrin]

Congratulations on the MOT pass Jim, great feeling isnt it ?
and admiration on length of ownership - 11 years - Wow !