Technical Getting to the bottom of a useless handbrake..

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Technical Getting to the bottom of a useless handbrake..

If it's the same as the MJ and you've had the cable adjusted to make the brakes work, it's likley the auto adjusters won't work.

the adjuster only clicks round when the shoes go to the fully together rest point, and then move apart more than one click on the adjuster.

if the cable is too tight they will never adjust as the cable is holding the shoes apart, so that little annoying square piece of metal that falls off all too easlly prevents anything from happening.

:yeahthat:

You should never try to fix a weak handbrake by tightening the cable. The cable adjusters are only there to enable the slack in the cable to be set correctly; a degree of slack is needed in order for the self adjusters to work correctly. It's a common mistake that I've even seen garages making.

Adjustment of the cable is not a routine adjustment and should only be needed after replacing the brake shoes, brake cylinder or the cable itself. if you've done none of these things, and you can improve the handbrake performance by tightening the cable, then something is likely wrong with the brake mechanism which needs to be investigated and fixed. Performance can be affected by brake dust building up inside the drums; brushing this out once a year when you remove the drums to inspect the brakes is all that should be needed.

For drum braked Pandas/500's, the correct adjustment for the cable is for the handbrake to be fully on after 5 clicks.

Mine was set to 5 clicks when it left the factory, and now after 6yrs and 77000 miles, it's still at 5 clicks. I've never needed to adjust it.

If the brakes are working correctly, you shouldn't need to pull on the handbrake lever like a gorilla for the car to hold on a hill. If you do, then the cable may stretch, leading you to adjust it, then it stretches some more, until one day it breaks and you return from parking to find the car halfway down the hill embedded in a garden wall.
 
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