97 Astra Rear Drum Size

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Fri 4 Jun 2004 10:44
97 Astra Rear Drum Size - Chris TD
97 P Astra LS Estate GM Turbo Diesel

Having returned from 3 weeks away, the Astra Started fine, but my wife had parked it with the handbrake on, so there was a little friction from the sticking handbrake (I normally park in with the brake off following advice from other threads on this forum). This released and the car drove fine all day, but the following morning the left rear wheel was jammed solid - nothing would shift it.

Dismantling it yesterday evening with judicious use of soft faced mallet and sharp edged tongue revealed the brake lining had seperated from the shoe in one piece (possibly in drum extraction process), so new shoes required.

Now the problem: The Haynes manual for the Astra (petrol engine, but bodywork/suspension etc. I thought would be the same) and Halfords parts list (for the diesel) say the drums should be 200 mm in diameter, but the ones on mine are 230mm. Have I got an odd car, or are there others with these larger drums (van versions?)

Any thoughts appreciated.

Chris TD
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Fri 4 Jun 2004 19:44
97 Astra Rear Drum Size - Civic8
Would recommend giving chassis no in a case like that.it is possible your car was on a spec change which as I recall can only be sorted using chassis no.?
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Tue 8 Jun 2004 10:51
97 Astra Rear Drum Size - Chris TD
Yes - turns out it has the later versions rear brake configuration. Must have run out of the old ones.

Cheers

Chris
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