Quote:
Originally Posted by John C
1) Always start at the rear hubs first: check the condition of the shoes, and make sure the hub face that they press against isn't badly worn or scored.
2) Make sure you follow the procedure for setting the shoe adjusters. First slacken off the nut at the handbrake, then turn the shoe adjusters until the hub is locked up, then back off 5 clicks. This is a pain, as you can barely see the things. I used a flat headed screwdriver and a torch to see inside the hub, but it's well worth the effort.
3) Then adjust the nut at the handbrake, leaving no more than 25mm of thread showing.
Hope this is some use. I've found the forum very helpful on a number of jobs and I wanted to contribute something for a change.
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John, please do not take this the wrong way, but you fell into the trap of believing the cables had stretched and they never do. Good details on the problems of changing the cables though.
The issue you had was entirely due to the handbrake compensator, which you took a photo of. The last one with the red arrow on it, clearly shows that your compensator has stretched. A number of people replaced the cables at great expense, assuming cable stretch to be the cause, but several month ago it was discovered to be all due to the issue with the compensator stretching. If you look at the gap between the two brackets of the compensator, that should be about 1 to 2mm with the item under tension.
Replacing it with new is only a temporary fix, because it will certainly stretch again in use and may even get to the point of parting. The fix is to either get your old one modified by me, or Arctic so it cannot stretch again. You can search the forum to compare the two methods and maybe do the necessary yourself.
You also fell into the trap of doing the adjustment at the drum by the book, which unfortunately doesn't basically work. The book says adjust at the hub until tight, then back off by five clicks, which leaves you with a rather large gap between shoe and drum to be taken up somewhere.
The correct procedure, is slacken the nut off completely, then turn the star wheel until it locks the drum, then back off until the drum is just free to turn and no more - at each side. Only then adjust the nut under the lever.
With a properly modified replacement compensator fitted, the hub adjustment done correctly and the adjuster nut under the handbrake tightened down to show around 25mm of thread - your handbrake should start working on the first click. On the second click it should hold the car on most slopes, the third click should be able to leave rubber on the road if applied on the move.
There is an absolute mass of information on the handbrake issue and the solution, in the forum.
I'm offering a FOC repair for the compensator, which involves reforming it to the correct shape and welding it to reinforce it. Arctic uses a different method using a tiny shackle to repair it.
The good news I suppose, is that you now have very easy access to the compensator, whilst the rest of us have to do battle with that unwieldy carpet :-)