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Rear Brake Adjusted for the 4th time?????

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TR4

TR4

Jedi Knight
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Here is my riddle,
I changed the rear brake hose, bled the lines 3 times and have now adjusted the rear brakes 4 times. Each time I take the car out for a test drive, the brakes immediately feel as they should but soon the pedal travel becomes way too much. After each test drive, I can adjust the rear brakes 1 to 2 clicks on the adjusters. This last drive, I was able to adjust them 3 clicks clockwise. Would this indicate the adjusters are bad and not holding their setting? Why both at the same time? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Phil
 
Well, I have a MC and wheel cylinders ready for the winter project. Might as well go ahead with that effort now.

Thanks,
Phil
 
Phil, it's important that you adjust the parking brake on both rear wheels before adjusting the shoes with the adjusters.
 
I must respectfully disagree. The great majority of the time, it's the other way 'round: adjusting the shoes first will pretty much take care of handbrake adjustment. The only real exception is, after many years, if cables begin to stretch excessively and/or various pivot points become worn, in which case the affected parts probably should be replaced.

I wonder if all is working as it should with your rear brakes. Given the design of the adjuster, it's unlikely it wouldn't "hold" position. I'm wondering if your wheel cylinders aren't sliding back and forth as freely as they should, and you're getting false readings when you adjust.

It is a good idea to recenter the shoes once or twice during the adjustment procedure, and that can be done either by stomping the brake pedal or by working the handbrake lever once or twice. I don't think I've ever had to go back and readjust so quickly as you describe on properly functioning brakes.

All that said, maybe you do still have a bit of air in the line(s)? Doesn't sound like it to me, but....
 
I agree with Andy; with one caveat : make sure the adjusters click into place rather than leaving them between clicks.
 
I have DOT 3 fluid in there since that was what the previous owner used. Should I change that out completely? The adjusters are set on the click and not between. I have turned them about 2 complete turns since the first setting of them. I assume there is something just not right with the rear brake system. I will bleed them one more time to see if that helps.
 
Bleeding and choice of fluid should have no effect on adjustment; unless the pistons are binding in the bores. I agree there is something not right, and you should probably pull them apart to find out what it is.
 
Thoughts on fluid were that with the new syn. styles sometimes it takes a couple of bleedings to rid the system of air.
 
My thoughts on adjusting the parking brake cables first was so that all the slack would be taken up evenly, leaving the shoes equidistant from the drums when you start to make final adjustments with the adjuster.
Just the way I've done it; though it may be 6 of one, half dozen of another.
 
I disagree. The shoes should be adjusted with the slave cylinders and parking brake mechanism fully retracted. That way the hydraulic brakes will still work properly even if a cable stretches or breaks. Of course that is correct adjustment for the handbrake lever/cables (leaving the brake mechanism fully retracted), but it's hard to tell if that is the case unless the shoes are properly adjusted first.
 
Maybe I should be more clear. I pull the hand brake lever 3 or 4 clicks; adjust the hand brake cables so the shoes brake the drum equally. Then I release the hand brake and procede to adjust the shoe travel with the adjusters.
Is that accomplishing the same thing ?
 
I dunno...I don't see the logic in adjusting something that seldom needs adjustment, i.e., the cables. If they're properly adjusted to begin with, and they're also properly lubricated, they simply aren't going to "go out of adjustment" all that often (if ever). I've dealt with original cables and linkages on 40-50-year-old Triumphs for years and have yet to have to do anything with the cables after adjusting the rear brakes.

YMMV.... :wink:
 
I guess you're right. And in reality, if the parking brake holds within 3 or 4 clicks of the lever, there isn't much use in it.
 
poolboy said:
Is that accomplishing the same thing ?
Click to expand...
If they didn't need much adjustment, then that would work. But if the shoes were really badly out of adjustment, you could wind up adjusting the handbrake tight enough that it held the shoes partly applied even with the handbrake released, which in turn would affect the adjustment of the shoes.

I agree with Andy, the cables almost never need adjustment. But I have seen two cases where they <span style="font-weight: bold">appear </span>to need adjustment. One is when a cable begins to fail, which usually starts with it stretching slightly. The other is when there is something wrong with the rear suspension, allowing the wheels to move fore or aft of where they should be (like the broken main spring leaves on TS39781LO).
 
Plesse let me ask a question, is there a test to see if the wheel cylinders are operating properly? If I take the drum off and then press and realease the brake pedal, what would normally happen? I have limited mechanical ability so please explain like your talking to a 5th grader. My daughter can then explain it to me.
 
If you push the brake pedal with the drum removed, the piston will likely push right out of the wheel cylinder and you'll have fluid everywhere, and be bleeding the brakes. A better way would be to have someone press the brake pedal (with the drum still on) and turn the drum. It should obviously stop when the pedal is pressed. Not very accurate, but it will tell you if the brake is working at all.
 
:iagree:
Not even necessary to remove the wheel, you can make the same test by turning the wheel. Also check that it turns freely after the pedal is released.
 
TR3driver said:
I agree with Andy, the cables almost never need adjustment. But I have seen two cases where they <span style="font-weight: bold">appear </span>to need adjustment. One is when a cable begins to fail, which usually starts with it stretching slightly. The other is when there is something wrong with the rear suspension, allowing the wheels to move fore or aft of where they should be (like the broken main spring leaves on TS39781LO).
Click to expand...
I had a third case, which I'll admit probably applies only to IRS cars, although it parallels Randall's second scenario. I had the RH inner axle stub bearing blow apart in the differential of my Herald. Miraculously, the car remained mobile, and the diff. did not seize up. What did happen, though, was that the stub axle began to be forced significantly outward, pushing the entire axle assembly out. That, in turn, resulted in the handbrake cable tightening and holding the shoes rather tightly to the drum.

Given my relative proximity to home and a lack of a cell phone, cash on hand, etc., I did manage to nurse the car back home. By that time, though, I had completely toasted the brake shoes and the rubber seals in the wheel cylinder...and cooked most of the grease out of the axle hub!

For me, that's about the weirdest breakdown I've ever had where I could still (barely) keep the car going enough to get home. Compared to that, the blown clutch was a walk in the park! :smile:
 
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