MGA dragging rear brake on mga

[bobmga62]

Hi ...replaced the shoes and the left rear wheel cylinder on my mga.


As I do mileage on the car, it seems to get tighter to the point that the brake is dragging. When I stop, the drum is rally hot, whereas on the right side, just slightly warm...I jacked the car up this AM, to check the adjustment, and the wheel spun freely, (a lot of brake dust) still took a notch or two to relax it, but, it just seems to appear that the brake goes on, and does not release enough under driving conditions...(it does not lock up, and in fact do not feel it under normal driving conditions...so it must be dragging just every so slightly..)

Any ideas...

thanks


bobmga61

 

[David_DuBois]

Bob - Did you per chance get one or both of the shoes on backward on that wheel?
Cheers,

 

[MGZT260]

Any chance you have a bad wheel bearing on that side? Since initial brake adjustment is performed with wheels off the ground a bad bearing can affect actual operation.

Another thing to consider is the possibility of the adjuster not being held still and self-adjusting when it's not supposed to.

Or, off teh wall idea, did you install new "brake shoe steady springs" from Moss that have a longer tang that needs filed or cut off? If so shoes may not be held properly against backing plate. (see their tech bulletin in online catalog)

 

[bobmga62]

your second idea sounds right to me.. its like the brakes (left brake) are tightening up as the trip progresses..and the first thing that came to my mind, was that it was the adjuster.. anyway to fix and lock in?

did check, and the brakes appear to be located correctly, although it was tough to figure out, cause in the manual, the photo is a reverse image than whats on the car (must have flipped the negative in the main workshop manual.. and mine comes back from the original 60's)

I did relax the adjustment in the back a slight bit, and took the car out.. and in reality, I think I have no brakes in the back now..

neither drum was warm, when in the past one was warm, the other hot...

Hey, back when I first had an mga in the 60's I drove it with rear wheel cylinders frozen shut for for two years, before I realized I had a problem...