Rear Brake Drums

[bootie3367]

No idea what happened.....
I had posted up about my rear brake drums not having the adjustment aperture c/w pictures!
That was just before heading off down the mountain for my annual ITV.

Failed! Nearside rear brake, both foot pedal and handbrake.
Has to be down to the (poor) adjustment and not being able to adjust with the drum on.
Keep having to take off, adjust, put back on and check, only problem then is not being able to get the drum back on, so adjust back in to get drum over shoes, too slack, take off, adjust 1 mark on the star wheel, back on, test, and so on and so forth.
I'm going back down first thing in the morning to queue to see if I can get an adhoc run through for just the brakes, might mean staying there all day but I need the van back on the road legally so I can start on another project, getting that ready for ITV next month!

Anybody got any tips for me that might help in getting this one side sorted?
I have to add, I have just been back out, jacked up and wheel spinning freely, wheel and drum off, adjust out ad infinitum until (I think) it's good.

Apart from that, everything else was tip top!

Jon

PS here's the pics of the drums

[CovKid]

Adjustment aperture is on the back (reverse) not the face.

[Oldiebut goodie]

No need to remove wheel and drum - remove bung in backplate - just visible in your pic behind the adjuster.

[bootie3367]

Excellent, every day is a school day!
Thanks for that, hopefully will get them adjusted correctly the morn.

Jon

[CovKid]

The challenge (and even after 30 years I still have to think about it) is which way to turn the starwheels.

[boatbuilder]

Am I missing something? Thought all T25s had self adjusters...
Just gotta make sure the adjuster rotates freely, measure inside diameter of drum, manually adjust shoes to a couple mm smaller, refit drum, hit the brake pedal a few times to make the auto adjusters work. Job done?

[Oldiebut goodie]

They never work as well as they are supposed to - if they work at all. No matter how much you clean them up/ grease them / degrease them they have a mind of their own!

[CovKid]

Agree. They don't work as intended, at least not for long. The brake dust soon clogs them up. In 30 years I've found manual adjustment is the only reliable way to set the shoes up.

[bootie3367]

So the end result was all good. Brake efficiency test passed this lunchtime and I now sport a lovely little sticker proclaiming to the (spanish) world that my van is indeed good for the road for another year!
I must say I much prefer my Opel Omega A & B rear shoe adjustment, through a hole, in the front of the drum part. PITA taking it off though, combined drum and disc setup.

Once again thanks for the invaluable advice from members.

Jon

[Mr Bean]

Having been bothered over the years with drums fitting / removal due to the rusty( or not) unworn rim around the edge I used to Freehand grind the unworn area level with a hand held grinder and latterly an electric finger file (slim belt sander) My lathe hasn't the clearance but I can mount a big Chuck on my Tom Senior Milling machine if I want to be fussy. Although now, apart from My T25, I run a more modern class of what more discerning people call Bangers where the drums don't seem to develop This problem. Self adjusting brakes just don't seem to for me.
CS

[Oldiebut goodie]

With normal rear wheel drive vehicles I used to turn the drums round and run the engine in gear and then hold a ratstail file against the lip and take it down that way. A Colchester Student had the clearance to do discs and drums.