Serviced my mate's 2007 3.0 Van the other night , I've changed the the handbrake shoes , the cables , and adjusted the front cable and the shoes themselves , and the handbrake is still awful ! The shoes were well bedded in and still you could pull away at tickover with the handbrake pulled .

Any ideas?

RedLexus said:

Serviced my mate's 2007 3.0 Van the other night , I've changed the the handbrake shoes , the cables , and adjusted the front cable and the shoes themselves , and the handbrake is still awful ! The shoes were well bedded in and still you could pull away at tickover with the handbrake pulled .


Any ideas?

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This caught my eye as I have the same problem on a 2003, new cable/new shoes/new drums......hand brake crap!:bang:

make sure youve got the right shoes theres only .5mm differance but it shows i ended up with new drums and the old shoes

Just curious why would you be replacing the handbreak shoes only after 3 years.Checked mine last week and they're as new.

They were worn out on one side! I think the previous garage had over adjusted them .

I have several times driven away without the handbrake lever released all the way down
If it wasn't for the warning light on the dashboard I would probably have ruined the shoes as they are obviously not designed to be used when the vehicle is moving.

Just looked at mine and I think I might have found the answer.

There are 2 adjustment points;
1) At the front cable end
2) On the end of the long rod that goes along the length of the van

It is not just a matter of taking up the slack in the cables. At which point you make the adjustment will make a vast difference to the tension applied, and therefore the braking effort.

The part of the lever that the front cable is attached to should be adjusted so that it is pointing forwards. This maximizes the leverage, and consequently the tension in the rear cables, and consequently the braking effort.

Peter James said:

.....the long rod that goes along the length of the van

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To avoid confusion I should add that the length of the handbrake rod that goes along the length of the van depends on the wheelbase - on short wheelbase versions its only a few inches long

The part of the lever that the front cable is attached to should be adjusted so that it is pointing forwards. This maximizes the leverage, and consequently the tension in the rear cables, and consequently the braking effort.

Mine needs adjusting but I'm finding hard to understand what you mean.
The lever being the handbreak lever?Front cable?What points forward.
There is adustment just behind the old bulkhead position I think it is the start of the rod heading towards the rear.If not here please expain again I might get it the second time.
Sorry.

dfk said:

The part of the lever that the front cable is attached to should be adjusted so that it is pointing forwards. This maximizes the leverage, and consequently the tension in the rear cables, and consequently the braking effort.

Mine needs adjusting but I'm finding hard to understand what you mean.
The lever being the handbreak lever?Front cable?What points forward.
There is adustment just behind the old bulkhead position I think it is the start of the rod heading towards the rear.If not here please expain again I might get it the second time.
Sorry.

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Sorry I should have said - both adjustment points and the 'lever' I refer to are under the van. The small lever the cable is attached to underneath the van. should be pointing forwards at rest, so when you pull the handbrake lever it pulls the central rod sideways and forwards, so increasing the leverage on the cable - eg the handbrake cable travels an inch to pull the central rod only a quarter of an inch.

Thanks

See if I can upload the handbrake adjustment instructions here.
They are in Microsoft Word Format;