Hand brake adjustment

savagethegoat

Did you ever hear this before? My CVRT centre say that my handbrake is adjusted too much and could come on as I drive along. It clicks twice on the ratchet.....maybe three if you pulled it up hard. This is surely nonsense

porsche boy

Nope, they have a valid point.

TrailerBob

Sounds like the handbrake is adjusted so that it's just beyond the biting point when it's at rest. What vehicle is it?

biko

Yes, heard it before. Have you had jobs done on car lately?

savagethegoat

My Garage adjusted the rear brakes for me....how would a handbrake come on by itself?

The van passed on the handbrake section

Keith186

Normal amount is 4-5 clicks when newly adjusted. If its any tighter it might be catching slightly. Drop the handbrake and try push the van/car on a flat and if it moves easy it's not biting, or jack up a back wheel and see if it turns freely. If it's catching at all it should be a fail.

savagethegoat

it passed on handbrake as I said. There is nothing wrong with it. I can't think how to say that clearer.

How can a handbrake "come one " when you are driving along...that us the question

keithclancy

savagethegoat wrote: »

it passed on handbrake as I said. There is nothing wrong with it. I can't think how to say that clearer.

How can a handbrake "come one " when you are driving along...that us the question

Your shirt sleeve gets stuck on it and engages the handbrake ?

visual

The brake shoes will be too close to the drum when hand brake if off. Can result in brake shoes rubbing. This will cause heat build up and premature ware of shoes and drum.

It should be a very easy fix to back off the rear brake shoes a little.

savagethegoat

That's not what was said. They told me the handbrake could come on by itself whilst driving. Short of my shirt cuff getting caught :-) I can't see how that could happen

orm0nd

savagethegoat wrote: »

That's not what was said. They told me the handbrake could come on by itself whilst driving. Short of my shirt cuff getting caught :-) I can't see how that could happen

visual wrote: »

The brake shoes will be too close to the drum when hand brake if off. Can result in brake shoes rubbing. This will cause heat build up and premature ware of shoes and drum.

It should be a very easy fix to back off the rear brake shoes a little.

different I know but seen it happen with a tractor that the brakes were adjusted too tight
when the hub, drum, shoes, etc warm up from normal use metal expands very little this could cause the shoes to start rubbing generating more heat thus alleviating the problem

get it out of your head that the handbrake will have to pulled for the brakes to come on

b318isp

If there is a slight drag on the brakes, heat will build up causing the shoes/pads to expand and drag more...causing more heat...causing more expansion...until the brakes effectively are locked on until they cool down again. Happened to me a few years ago.

savagethegoat

I'm not convinced but there are now 4 clicks on the handbrake....

PADRAIC.M

Actually most manufactures recommend 7-14 clicks...
What make vehicle is it?

Interslice

PADRAIC.M wrote: »

Actually most manufactures recommend 7-14 clicks...
What make vehicle is it?

14 clicks would hit the back seat!!

savagethegoat

b318isp wrote: »

If there is a slight drag on the brakes, heat will build up causing the shoes/pads to expand and drag more...causing more heat...causing more expansion...until the brakes effectively are locked on until they cool down again. Happened to me a few years ago.

I can't help think you are mistaken here. If you were putting a steel tyre on a wagon wheel or steam loco wheel you would heat up the tyre which would expand enough to allow the wheel centre to be inserted in it and then contract on cooling to grip the centre. I can't help think that if the brake was slightly applied, the drum (equivalent to the steel tyre) would heat up and expand, not contract, thus having the effect of releasing the dragging brake.

cletus

Could be wrong, but I think that the drum, being larger, will heat up slower than the shoes, thus the shoes expand quicker, causing binding

savagethegoat

without a formal training I can only use logic. The brake pads are designed to create heat in the brake drums, (transferring the motion energy into heat energy) which is dispersed by the brake drums to atmosphere. It seems to me it is the drum that gets hot, not the shoes. It's academic really, but it's interesting

b318isp

savagethegoat wrote: »

I can't help think you are mistaken here. If you were putting a steel tyre on a wagon wheel or steam loco wheel you would heat up the tyre which would expand enough to allow the wheel centre to be inserted in it and then contract on cooling to grip the centre. I can't help think that if the brake was slightly applied, the drum (equivalent to the steel tyre) would heat up and expand, not contract, thus having the effect of releasing the dragging brake.

The drum has a greater surface area and is exposed to air so can cool. The shoes are not.

The proof, at the time, was to back off the shoe adjusters which solved the problem.

b318isp

savagethegoat wrote: »

without a formal training I can only use logic. The brake pads are designed to create heat in the brake drums, (transferring the motion energy into heat energy) which is dispersed by the brake drums to atmosphere. It seems to me it is the drum that gets hot, not the shoes. It's academic really, but it's interesting

Look at this logically - the friction between the shoes and the drums is transferring the car's energy to heat, so both have to get hot. If you like, the kinetic to heat energy conversion takes place at the shoe/drum interface.

orm0nd

savagethegoat wrote: »

I'm not convinced but there are now 4 clicks on the handbrake....

leave it . it's grand you obviously won't want to listen to any one

if a few more days you will have 6 clicks

savagethegoat

orm0nd wrote: »

leave it . it's grand you obviously won't want to listen to any one

if a few more days you will have 6 clicks

Typical Boards reply:rolleyes:....I'm only interested in learning...

Pjwal

Yes. If the hand brake is adjusted too tight, and the brake shoes are rubbing slightly, then this will cause the brake shoes and the brake drum to expand from the heat and the more they expand, the tighter the brake will get, it is a common enough issue, not at all unusual