strange

[road dude]

hello, my jeep has a strange problemo. the left side rear drum brake does not activate all that well. it comes on but in a very slight touch. as you try and tighten the nut to make the brake closer, it will either lock the wheel totally or make the brakes come on slightly. there seems to be this boundry that stops the brakes activating well. im going to change cylinders to a new one to see if the problem is solved. any of you guys had the same problem? any suggestions tecsec? cheers

[techsec]

Hi

I am guessing your brakes are Mk1 Escort as you seem to have the manual adjusters on the drums.
These adjusters are wedge shaped square pegs on a threaded stub. As you screw them in as well as increasing the spread of the shoes so hopefully putting them closer to the drum there will be a "tight" spot when the corner comes into play. This is followed by a "slack" spot as one of the flats comes in place. Depending on the wear of the shoes (and in some cases the drum) it may take several turns to get the clearance correct. Where possible ensure that the settings match as close as possible between the two sides so preventing the vehicle pulling one way when braking.

The Mk1 Escort system used a single acting slave cylinder whereas the Mk2 used a dual acting cylinder.
The Mk1 system relied on the cylinder sliding on the backing plate to activate the brakes as there is only one piston where as the Mk2 system pushed both shoes with two separate pistons in a shared cylinder (the cylinder being fixed).
If the cylinder is not sliding on the back plate the brakes will be less effective.
So clean the backing plate where the cylinder goes and apply copper slip to the area before fitting the cylinder.

If it is only the handbrake that is playing up then this can be due to the rubber/canvas equalizer bracket on the Mk1 system. This can be perished or nearly ripped through.

I have in the past modified the Mk2 rod to fit the Mk1 system to improve the handbrake efficency.

Hope this helps.

[road dude]

well, i went for a re-mot today, and it failed on the same problem. i had already tried what you have said before, but it makes hardly any difference. what i think it could be is that the brake shoes are so new (which they are) that only one spot as it were hits when the brake is put on. i think i will try and sand or somehow try and make the shoe even. this may then make the shoe hit all the time on the whole surface. althogh, i dont rekon the mk1 system or my strange problem can be solved that easily. the handbrake and the front calipers work realy well and passed the test so i have not much of a clue. thanks tho for the tip. any other thoughts welcome as always. charlie.

[techsec]

Am I correct in my understanding of your last message that the handbrake does work and it is the foot brake that is the problem.

If so then it could be down to the hydraulics.

What type of master cylinder have you got (I dont mean the make but rather how many pipes come out of it)?
It may be a brake hose or pipe feeding that side of the rear axle that is kinked so restricting the flow of fluid.

I look forward to hearing from you so hopefully can provide other possible solutions.

[IanA]

Hi All
There may be scope for wrong assembly here. I decided to change the rear shoes on my 1600 as its MOT is due- once I get those tyres… It turns out that it has a Mk1 axle with the single piston slave cylinder. The shoes are fitted A to B and B to A. On the near side rear brake, the wheel cylinder is at 5 o'clock. The "top" shoe has its handbrake arm slot at the lower end next to the cylinder because that's where the actuating arm is. However the "bottom" shoe is fitted the other way round with its slot (with nothing in it of course) at the top.
If the shoes were fitted A to A and B to B, both of the handbrake slots would be adjacent to the cylinder and the lining on the "lower" shoe would be in the wrong position and could cause problems in getting the adjustment right.
The diagram on page 134 of Haynes Manual 171 shows a shoe support plate and a support plate retaining spring by the (unused) handbrake arm slot in the "lower" shoe. When I disassembled mine; the plate was in the hole in the "top" shoe up against the handbrake actuating arm and no sign of the spring…
I've given it all a good wire brushing and made sure that the wheel cylinder is sliding OK so once my local shop gets the shoes for me, we should be in business.
Cheers
Ian