For the rear brake system to work properly & last, the ratchets (thingy) have to be free. Adjusting by the screw driver method will only delay things for a short period. The lithium white grease dries to a film & doesn't attract to much dust. Maintenance is the key.

Bernievarian said:

@ Avocet, there is a way to adjust the thingy, even with lipped drums: mount it loose (to pass the lip) and you can still rotate the little sproket with a flat screwdriver thru one of the wheel bolt hole. Not really obvious but with little patience it works !

Regards, Bernie

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Ah thanks Berine! I didn't know that! I shall try it next time. Part of the problem is that I can never remember which way to turn the little adjuster wheel on each side of the car unless I can see what it's doing!

@ Jimboy, of course the ratchets need to be maintained, I was just meaning that one can still adjust them AFTER lippy drum assembly ...

@ Avocet, had the same dilema each time, now I take a pictue of it before putting the drum back on ;-)

Regards, Bernie

If you don't have a lathe or access to one use a small grinder to tale off the lip, it's one thing fitting shoes to a drum with lips but a totally different job to get them off if the adjuster is working.

Excellent point Digger, noted in my to-do-next-time-it-happens list !

Regards, Bernie

digger58 said:

If you don't have a lathe or access to one use a small grinder to tale off the lip, it's one thing fitting shoes to a drum with lips but a totally different job to get them off if the adjuster is working.

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I don't know if everyone's aware of this, but the GP drum has a couple of tapped holes in it that don't seem to do anything. They're for getting the drum off. If you screw an M10 bolt into them, the end of the bolt pushes against the axle flange and pushes the drum off the shoes and hub. Works very well!

Good point but if the shoes are tight against the drum it could damage things when it's being forced off. Much better not to have that lip.

That damn lip comes from drum's wear and we cannot control that on all cars ! Doing this twice a year on one's own car is quite easy routine, but on unknown car it's sometimes necessary to use brute force; either the two M10s or the crowbar. Things might get dammaged but hey aren't they already ??

Regards, Bernie

A simple drum puller always works for me if things gets stiff

One last thing which may sound a bit lame.....Only too often I've witnessed drivers yanking on the handbrake with too much force. Do it gently & the cables will/may last longer & not prone to too much stretching. Just my thoughts...

100% agree with Jimboy, the GP (others aswell) should be treaten like a lovely Italian Lady...

Ciao Donne ! , Bernie

digger58 said:

Good point but if the shoes are tight against the drum it could damage things when it's being forced off. Much better not to have that lip.

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In practice, it doesn't seem to. The shoes lean outwards as they are dragged by the lip on the drum against their springs, and then ping back into position once the drum is off. I assume Fiat wouldn't have added that feature if it was going to cause any lasting damage. Obviously, once the drum is off, the lip needs to be dealt with because it's even harder getting them on once the shoes have been disturbed!

I take the earlier point made by someone, about checking the drum's internal diameter for wear, because one thing about taking the lip off each time (either with a grinder or a lathe) is that there will ultimately come a time when the material is just too thin to be safe.

You've obviously never had to use pullers on a drum where the shoe retainer clips get damaged as a result of this action. The point of the drum getting to critical thickness is really a non runner as long before this you reach the point where the internal diameter is too big to allow the shoes to brake efficiently. The shoes are designed for a specific diameter and as that enlarges the efficiency diminishes rapidly, That's why in most cases I would opt for new ones, after all we replace discs, Ok I know they wear faster etc. In most cases they are cheap and especially on a "hobby" car like my Punto, I replaced them while they're still readily available

I totally agree with what's being said here. When I was in the trade I worked with countless cars that suffered from poor servicing but that's really a different story. On the likes of brakes I think all owners should tackle servicing their braking system or at least having look to see what's what. It's possibly one of the easiest tasks on a car. There's only a few things that can stop a system from working properly.

Of course when you master things, think of the cash you can save...

Fully agree too, but it seems that in real world, average Jane and Joe rush to the service station just AFTER the hawfull noise or the light on the dash !
I have even seen myself a disk system with only one pad remaining, the other had gone throug the gap at the caliper (absolutely true !) Don't ask about the piston and disk status...
Regarding the machining of drums, I believe there is only a limited thickness where the thermal treatment (hardening ?) is efficient, once worn out this limit the drum will just be a piece of iron with not too much braking hability, either not at all or too much, which would end up off-road eitherway ;-)


Regards, Bernie.

I wasn't aware of any hardening treatment on iron brake drums? I'm pretty certain they're the same all the way through. Excessive wear will make the material too thin to withstand the thermal stresses it is subject to, so it's likely to go a funny shape when hot.

Mornin' Charlie,

sounds like they are tempered after casting, what I'm not sure is about the treatment depth...
Excerpt from "My first Forty Car", one may find tons of infos about that in Google-Books.
Anyway, best choice is to replace them, cheap as they are, and after all rear brakes replacement would be (maybe) once on a car's life, no ?

Regards, Bernie

I imagine the tempering is to get rid of the residual stresses from when the casting was poured (the outermost / thinnest sections would cool much faster than the innermost and thickest bits). I don't think it's to increase surface hardness.

Apologies for dragging this on again & perhaps I'm a man who simplifies things when there's no need to complicate anything, but I assumed that the OP would at least look over the system to see whats what. Taking off the road wheels & drums is an easy task & having a gander to see how worn the shoes/pads are, if the brake cables are in good condition, if the brake adjusters are working as they should. At least you would have an idea of how things are, even though things need seeing to & feel you can't tackle the job yourself. You may have a better picture of what's needed parts wise, if at all. Just my thoughts..

jimboy said:

Apologies for dragging this on again & perhaps I'm a man who simplifies things when there's no need to complicate anything, but I assumed that the OP would at least look over the system to see whats what. Taking off the road wheels & drums is an easy task & having a gander to see how worn the shoes/pads are, if the brake cables are in good condition, if the brake adjusters are working as they should. At least you would have an idea of how things are, even though things need seeing to & feel you can't tackle the job yourself. You may have a better picture of what's needed parts wise, if at all. Just my thoughts..

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Is there any update from Cherrycrush (the Op) on what actually happened to her car and the various chancers that she seemed to engage with?

cherrycrush said:

Hi Charlie, thanks for your post.

Edit: I just tested my footbrake, it requires more effort to make it stop, so seems like something is really out of balance.

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Hi,
a month on.. how's it been..??