Club 80-90 Forums

After replacing rear brake shoes and cylinders and adjusting as per Haynes manual with wheels off the ground and adjusting the rear adjusters. The MOT man said that the handbrake was only 18% efficient although he passed it.,the drums are in good condition. Can anyone suggest what steps I can take to make it more efficient or is this a characteristic one has to live with?

Also the advisory notes mentioned that "suspension joint nearside upper dust cover split/missing" and the same for the offside can anyone suggest exactly where these are.

Thanks in advance

1984 Devon conversion CU engine

The brake cable might be stretched, they are about £12 each at GSF, as for the other things I always ask them to show me, go back and ask if no one on here can help.

Your handbrake should come up 4 clicks it has an adjuster halfway under the van

More than likely the brake shoes haven't bedded in yet.

what bigherb said. let them bed in and take it back i a month to see if its any better, they should do a quick rear brake test for free for you as it only takes a second or 2 " and ofcourse you are a valued customer aren`t you ".

the advisory on the top suspension joint boot split more than likley applies to the ball joint boot which stops any cack getting in to the joint and stops the greases comming out .

you cant buy these from regular outlets they say you have to buy the whole joint, saying that i`ve seen fancy coloured ones sold on e bay if iremember correctly but wether they are the right fitment for our vans i wouldn`t know.

New shoes fitted to worn drums will take several thousand miles to properly bed in and work at their best.
DON'T adjust the handbrake on the cable! make sure the cables are slack first and then adjust at the shoes until they bind. Take off adjustment until the wheels spin freely and then finally take up the slack from the cable until you get the four clicks on the lever.
Many users make the mistake of adjusting the brakes on the cable alone or not slackening off the cable when adjusting the shoes.
Martin

Just replaced both my upper ball joints, one was a tad wobbly and I could hear it knocking so replaced both. £10 each from GSF, bargain and quite easy to do.