handbrake jamming on

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Tue 13 Feb 2007 12:08
handbrake jamming on - horatio
What's the usual cause & cure for a sticking handbrake please?

Maybe using a lathe to clean the braking face inside the drum?

New shoes & New drum - obvious solution

easy and cheap solutions wanted
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 12:31
handbrake jamming on - The Gingerous One
how about the cable is sticking, rather than anything at the wheel ?

You don't mention what car this relates to, but my P10 Primera had disks at the back and the handbrake would stick on one side of the car. this was nothing to do with the caliper or pads but that the cable does almost a 90 degree turn just before the caliper & had split at the corner, allowing water etc in rust rust until one day it became very unhappy at being released after I'd applied the handbrake. had smoke pouring off the caliper when I pulled over another 2 miles down the A66.

so jack the back end (assuming the handbrake operates on the rear wheels) of the car up. find out which wheel(s) are sticking when the handbrake is off and then try disconnecting the cable from that hub. If the wheel then rotates fine, then it is a problem with either the handbrake mechanism or the cable. If disconnecting the cable from the hub fails to free it off, then it's time to analyse what's going on with the brakes on that hub/wheel.

that would be how I would do it.

Hope that helps ?

cheers,
Stu

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Tue 13 Feb 2007 12:38
handbrake jamming on - Victorbox
When it happened to me it was water & excessive quantities of brake dust forming a sticky goo enough to stick the brake shoe to the drum overnight. New shoes &/or a good clean up fixed it.
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 12:48
handbrake jamming on - Dynamic Dave
What's the usual cause & cure for a sticking handbrake please?


Depends on the car, which is?
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 15:15
handbrake jamming on - Peter D
My crystal ball is all misty so I can see the type of car, surely not the one with the disconnected ABS. Regards Peter
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 16:39
handbrake jamming on - horatio
It's a general question for drum brakes - I would have thought that was obvious. Victor managed to come up with the probable cause - thanks Victor.

I didn't mention it's not the cable, that's already ruled out.

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Tue 13 Feb 2007 17:26
handbrake jamming on - Peter D
If you pull a drum off and it is just dusty with no slave cylinder leak then parking the car on a slope with the hand brake on can cause the leading edge of the shoes to bond to the drum, reversing a couple of inches poppes them off but as you are in there file off the leading edge of the shoe at 30 degrees or so will relieve the problem. Regards Peter
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 20:22
handbrake jamming on - horatio
Thank you, I'll file both ends of both shoes as it might help depending which way it is parked - up hill or downhill.
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Tue 13 Feb 2007 18:56
handbrake jamming on - Dynamic Dave
It's a general question for drum brakes - I would have thought that was obvious.


Given that each make of car will use a different braking mechanism, it's not that clear cut. Some will use a lever type mechanism inside the hub, whereas another might use an offset cam system. And then of course there's the system where the handbrake mechanism is self adjusting.
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Wed 14 Feb 2007 08:47
handbrake jamming on - Cliff Pope
Exactly. You need to pull the drum off and watch what happens when you activate the mechanism. Once it is all visible you can see which bit isn't returning properly.
It may be difficult getting the drum over the shoes, if the drum has worn and the shoes don't retract properly. But that immediately gives a clue as to what might be wrong.
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Wed 14 Feb 2007 10:16
handbrake jamming on - sierraman
I f this is the case it is often possible to get a screwdriver in thru an aperture on the backplate to release the auto adjust,thus allowing easier removal of the drum.Tap it all around with a copper-hide mallet(never a steel hammer) whilst pulling on it if it is still being recalcitrant.
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Wed 14 Feb 2007 18:24
handbrake jamming on - kithmo
Exactly. You need to pull the drum off and watch what
happens when you activate the mechanism. Once it is all visible
you can see which bit isn't returning properly.
It may be difficult getting the drum over the shoes, if
the drum has worn and the shoes don't retract properly. But
that immediately gives a clue as to what might be wrong.

I would not recommend pulling the handbrake on with the drum off, on some sytems you could jack the shoes out too much and pop the pistons out of the cylinders = air in system, dirt in cylinders and brake fluid all over the brake shoes.

I reckon it's contamination of the shoes by either brake fluid, grease or as said above water and brake dust porridge that causes them to stick.. Sharp leading edges alone on the shoes tend to cause squeal or judder rather than sticking.
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