Rear Brakes Help

[The Hairy Camper]

The backing plates on my rear brakes were getting pretty rotten, so i ordered some alternative plates from brickwerks, cleaned everything up and installed them over the weekend.
I managed to put everything back together ok, but I can't seem to adjust the brakes properly. Without the wheel on, I can get the hub to spin freely and I have adjusted the adjuster bar so that the handbrake engages well too (pretty sure I have the adjuster bar mounted the right way round as well).
However, as soon as I put the wheel on, it basically locks up and won't spin freely anymore (it will move if you really try to turn it though).
I'm using the original hub with the aftermarket backing plate, and one YT video said these can rub initially, anyone know if that could be my problem?
I've also now slackened the adjuster bar off almost completely, hub spins freely, but I still get the same result when the wheel is bolted on.

Anyone got any advice?

Cheers.

[Burtybassett]

https://youtu.be/0i4cKXA3Bm0?si=OwqEDUk4OXG-L3N4

[Burtybassett]

posting.php?mode=quote&p=8337533

Look on this previous topic too

[The Hairy Camper]

I appreciate your quick response, but neither of the above posts help with my issue.
I have assembled everything and re-installed it, I have also slackened off the adjuster bar completely now to see if that helped, but I still have the same problem when the wheel is installed.

The wheel spins freely and the handbrake works until the wheel is bolted back on.

[davidoft1]

any pictures of your brakes and wheels 

[The Hairy Camper]

I took these on the weekend. Not sure if they will help.

[silverbullet]

Have you also changed the wheel studs recently or as part of the exercise?

PS where are the drum securing bolts?

[The Hairy Camper]

No, the extended wheel studs have been on for years with no issues. My alloys need new tyres so the originals are on for now.

I'll be honest, I only have 1 drum retaining bolt for this side. I will order some new one's, but I've run it with no retaining bolts in the past and had zero issues. Do you think this could cause an issue now?

[ZsZ]

The setup looks fine on the photo.

Did you loosen the handbrake adjuster under the chassis before adjusting the shoes?

[The Hairy Camper]

Cheers. I left the handbrake adjustment alone after reading a post by Simon Baxter. He said he's not had to adjust the hand brake when changing rear brake pads before, unless someone has messed around with the cable adjustment.

[ZsZ]

I had adjustment problems before without loosening the handbrake. It was pre tensioning the shoe adjuster moving the shoes out of place.

But on the second thought your problem might be that the drum presses the shoes against the backing plate from the side when you tighten the wheel. Without the two M7 securing bolts the drum just floats around until you put on the wheel.

[ZsZ]

Here is a pic of a proper setup:

https://www.vanagain.com/article/how-to ... -a-vanagon

Looking closer your pic, the adjusters left side seems to be notch out while it should be notch in. Might be just a worn corner not the notched side.

[The Hairy Camper]

Thanks ZsZ. I ordered some new drum retaining bolts last night, hopefully that will help things.

I do believe that the adjustment bar was initially installed incorrectly. After installing it back on the van (and a lot of googling), I'm pretty sure it's installed correctly now. I.E. chamfered part on the left is facing inward, longer prong on the right is facing inward (for passenger side of van).

I have a feeling I only did the wheel cylinder bolt up hand tight, looking at the Haynes manual this should be 20nm. I'm wondering if this might cause the backing plate to not sit flush? Might be a long shot, but I'll give this a go when I have time.

[The Hairy Camper]

I had another go this weekend and managed to fix the issue.

After tightening the bolt that holds the wheel cylinder on I also noticed that there was a bit of a gap on the wheel hub and backing plate.



So with a hammer and a peace of wood I tried to get it to sit a bit better. In all honesty, I don't think I made much (if any) difference, but when I adjusted the adjustment bar for the handbrake and bolted the wheels on again, they span freely! So I've done something right?

The wheels feel a bit stiffer when turning than before, but I'm able to move the van and brake fine. I can even push it on the drive.
As the hub has the same pads (they are only 18 months old with plenty of meat left on them) I thought it would feel the same. I'm assuming it's rubbing on the backing plate groove?

Any one have any thoughts? Also, how many clicks should the handbrake have? I've got it set to around 3 clicks and not being able to turn the wheels by hand.

Cheers.

[Aidan]

that looks very much like you have the remains of the old corroded-through backing plates still in place, now sandwiched between the bearing housing and the new backing plate, the face of the bearing housing should be machine flat and clean when fitting the new backing plates,
It is common for the backing plates to corrode through all around the bearing housing so they fall off when brakes dissembled