Help with binding rear drums on an Ibiza...

[Deluded]

Im pretty handy with mechanics but one thing I've never really had to deal with is rear drum brakes. Looking inside them, they look like a mess of springs and black magic and I generally stay away...

My partner has just purchased an MK3 Seat Ibiza which needed a new rear bearing as it was making a fair old racket over 40mph. No problem. Purchased one from ebay which arrived today and I had it on in 20 mins. It was a fair old job getting the drum front off. The front spun freely but it has a very slight lip which doesnt quite fit over the shoes. A fair bit of tugging and wiggling later and it came off.

Refitting was much the same. Didn't quite fit no matter how you tried to get it on so some persuasion with a hammer got it over the shoes and into place. Again, span freely once on fully.

I took the car out for a quick drive to make sure everything was ok but it not has a rubbing noise from the drum I played with. Its not constant.. more a shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh as the wheel rotates. Only happens when turning right (was the right hand drum) and goes away totally when turning left.

Got back and stripped it all down again.. Had a fiddle and noticed that when you put the hand brake on, the cylinder pushes the shoes out but when you take it off, they come back in but off centre, leaving the left hand side out more than the right. I'm assuming this is where it is rubbing on the drum once back together.

I greased up as much of the joints as I could get to and it did seem to free it up somewhat. Took it out for a drive again and put the handbrake on and off a number of times. Seems much better but still there when turning a hard right, although quieter.

Can anyone advice what I should look at or is it just a matter of stripping it down again and greasing more and trying to get it all loose? I don't really know how loose the mech should be etc.

Cheers!

[Eggman]

I wouldn't be putting any grease in there at all - you want to be cleaning and adjusting rather than putting grease near brakes.

Slacken the handbrake adjuster off and try to see why the springs that run between the shoes aren't pulling them in. Chances are something is either seized or you have pulled a shoe out of one of its pivot points.

There is nothing complicated about drums even though they are unpleasant things to work on, so sit and gaze into the works until you have sussed what everything does.

[mattyc69]

Epic thread resurrection I know but I have this exact same problem. Just done the brakes on a Ibiza. the adjuster was all seized so had to remove the drum with a bit of force now getting a rub when going round corners. Can only see that the shoe is binding on the drum but cant work out why and only when going round a bend. Jack the car up and the wheel spins like a dream no binding or noise. Just wondered if you ever got the bottom of your problem.

[Jimmyarm]

You need to grind (pro's will use a die grinder), file or sand the lip on the drum off before you do anything. Trying to get correct adjustment with that lip there is hard work/impossible.

Does the ibiza have the adjuster you can get to through the wheel bolt hole ? Are you sure you didn't bend anything forcing the drum off (the backing plates are easy to bend) ?

Edited by Jimmyarm on Friday 15th August 17:35

[mattyc69]

Yep it has the adjuster like most of the vw's have that you get through a bolt hole but they had both seized up! That's why I had to give the drum a but of force to get it off. My first thought was the backing plate as it is slightly out of shape after the removal but when I took the drum off there is no signs of rubbing as all of the paint is still on it. There is still a lip on the drum so I will take them off again and grind this off, maybe the drum is out of shape and the shoe is now rubbing on the lip. The annoying thing is the drums are fine in a straight line its just cornering!