Handbrake adjustment on Vitesse

[Colin Lindsay]

14 hours ago, NonMember said:

I'm not quite sure how you're figuring that, Colin.

Me neither, Rob. I know I'm getting it back to front in my head, so need some serious thought... the practical side is a lot easier than the theory... 😕

Edit: went outside and worked it out in practice... as the brake shoes move forward the lever moves back thereby taking up the slack in the cable. That'll do for now.

[Nigel Clark]

I'm reviving this week-old thread as I've just finished a rear brake overhaul on my Spitfire Mk3, with new wheel cylinders, new shoes, new rear handbrake cable and return springs. This morning I've just had a legitimate opportunity to go for a test drive, shopping for essentials.

After reassembling the rear brakes, based on what's been said here, I used the following procedure:

1. Tighten brake adjusters fully.

2. Bleed brakes.

3. Adjust brakes so the drums turn without binding.

4. Lower the back of the car onto axle stands placed under the vertical links, to load the rear suspension.

5. Fit and adjust handbrake cable.

It's all worked a treat. There's no trace of binding from the rear brakes, the brake pedal is firm and stops the car as well as it should, while the handbrake lever comes up 4-5 clicks, easily holding the car on a hill. I did notice after finishing the assembly and adjustment, with the suspension at full droop, the handbrake cable is starting to tighten slightly and there's a trace of binding when turning the drums by hand.

I would definitely recommend adjusting the rear brake shoes first, then connect and adjust the handbrake with the suspension under load.

Nigel

[Colin Lindsay]

2 hours ago, Nigel Clark said:

I would definitely recommend adjusting the rear brake shoes first, then connect and adjust the handbrake with the suspension under load.

Nigel

That's the way I did the GT6 rear brakes, and the pedal is more solid than before; the handbrake seems fine too but I'll only know when I get it to MOT and they confirm that it's fine too.

[NonMember]

All three of mine have no trouble passing the MOT handbrake test. None of them will reliably hold against the slope of our drive.

[Pete Lewis]

dont forget to check the hb lever has not worn a nice resistive groove in the back plate where it pivots as this will give poor shoe adjustment 

as it stops the cylinder from sliding freely

Pete

[poppyman]

3 hours ago, Nigel Clark said:

I'm reviving this week-old thread as I've just finished a rear brake overhaul on my Spitfire Mk3, with new wheel cylinders, new shoes, new rear handbrake cable and return springs. This morning I've just had a legitimate opportunity to go for a test drive, shopping for essentials.

After reassembling the rear brakes, based on what's been said here, I used the following procedure:

1. Tighten brake adjusters fully.

2. Bleed brakes.

3. Adjust brakes so the drums turn without binding.

4. Lower the back of the car onto axle stands placed under the vertical links, to load the rear suspension.

5. Fit and adjust handbrake cable.

It's all worked a treat. There's no trace of binding from the rear brakes, the brake pedal is firm and stops the car as well as it should, while the handbrake lever comes up 4-5 clicks, easily holding the car on a hill. I did notice after finishing the assembly and adjustment, with the suspension at full droop, the handbrake cable is starting to tighten slightly and there's a trace of binding when turning the drums by hand.

I would definitely recommend adjusting the rear brake shoes first, then connect and adjust the handbrake with the suspension under load.

Nigel

All brakes should be done that way Nigel, you should even manually adjust self adjusters. I should be very rare to ever need to adjust a cable once set up. You will find this as well Nigel.  

Tony.  

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, NonMember said:

All three of mine have no trouble passing the MOT handbrake test. None of them will reliably hold against the slope of our drive.

Problem is that I won't get prosecuted for having no drive...

[Nigel Clark]

1 hour ago, poppyman said:

All brakes should be done that way Nigel, you should even manually adjust self adjusters. I should be very rare to ever need to adjust a cable once set up. You will find this as well Nigel.  

Tony.  

That's what I meant, it's the correct way to set up the rear brakes, though how many of us actually disconnect the handbrake to adjust the shoes...

The other point I was trying to make is that swing axle Triumphs, suspension movement does affect the handbrake cable, so the cable must be adjusted with the rear suspension loaded. And the only reason I was adjusting the handbrake cable was that some PO had got it wrong, then it seized, so I had to replace the cable and start again from scratch.

Nigel