Hand brake balance problem

Hi Just took the Herald over to check things out before the safety inspection and we found a problem with the hand brake.

On the tester, one side has almost twice the braking force as the other side (required to be less than 10% difference). the regular rear brakes were properly matched.

The rear shoes are new, but they worked with the regular brakes. Since there is only one cable going to both brakes it obviously isn't that either. Pretty much the only thing that isn't used by both sides is the brakes themselves. When I put is all back together I didn't notice any unusual wear which might explain this but I didn't really look either.

Open to any and all suggestions.

So long as the cables (and the wheel cylinders) are free to slide where they need to slid and the pivot points free to pivot (and both sides' rear brake shoes are adjusted properly), I can't see why it shouldn't balance itself out.

Double-check all pivot and slide points for lubrication, and make sure the wheel cylinders do move back and forth. They don't move very far, but they need to do so.

That's all I can think of at the moment, other than to check for obvious damage. (I once had an axle shaft u-joint let go. the flailing end of the axle bashed the handbrake cable guide enough to trap the handbrake cable within; took me awhile to figure out why I couldn't push the car around in my driveway once the tow truck had dropped it!)

Take a look at the brake shoes. There is a primary and a secondary shoe on each side {On most cars One Lining is slightly longer than the other}
Make sure they are in thier proper orientation.
It is easy to position them correctly on one side and reversed on the other without noticing. The reversed side will bind much tighter than the normal side will.
Don`t ask me how I know~................

Is it possible that the linings on the "loose" side need to be set a little closer to the drum ?

You write that you have put new brake shoes in. If so, you need to drive the car and use the brakes for- I don't know - some miles so the linings wear a bit on the high spots and then they will take the shape of the drum. Then you re-adjust them onto the drums and they should be the same on each side. Then you go back and have him re-inspect it.

Lightly pull the handbrake and then go under the car and look at the cables. Most likely you will find one side is tight, and the other is slack. The cable doesn't slide well across the compensator yoke. If it's not centered, you'll get uneven braking.

Ok, I feel dumb now. Just took the brake apart, and discovered I put it together incorrectly,
I put the handbrake pivot on top of the hydraulic cylinder instead of under it. OOPS! seems to work properly now. Now I just need to find time during the day to bring it back to the shop to check it out and then bring it over for inspection.

Aweman, at least on these brakes, the shoes are identical.

70herald said:

Ok, I feel dumb now. Just took the brake apart, and discovered I put it together incorrectly,
I put the handbrake pivot on top of the hydraulic cylinder instead of under it.

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Glad it was that simple!

70herald said:

Aweman, at least on these brakes, the shoes are identical.

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Right, and they'll fit either way (at least the trailing shoe will; the leading shoe only fits one way because of the handbrake lever). If you look at several different diagrams of these brakes, you'll see the shoes oriented both ways! I suspect it really doesn't matter on these.

I knew my 56 tr was that way {identical shoes} But didn`t know about your car. As I stated some cars have a short and a long lining shoe, IF this is the case they must be orientated properly.
Just a shot in the dark, but in any case i`m glad you figured it out with minimal diffaculty.

Andrew Mace said:

Right, and they'll fit either way (at least the trailing shoe will; the leading shoe only fits one way because of the handbrake lever). If you look at several different diagrams of these brakes, you'll see the shoes oriented both ways! I suspect it really doesn't matter on these.

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Andy, you have lost me here, the shoes are identical, the only difference being whether the installer put them in front or back on the brake. Are you talking about "up-side-down"? I am not sure that they will fit in more than one way.

70herald said:

Andy, you have lost me here, the shoes are identical, the only difference being whether the installer put them in front or back on the brake. Are you talking about "up-side-down"? I am not sure that they will fit in more than one way.

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Sorry, yes, I should have said upside-down, and yes, they will fit both ways -- right-side up or upside-down -- on the trailing shoe.