Handbrake

[boater]

Today I took off my nearside rear brake disc to check over the handbrake shoes and operation. I did this because I occasionally hear a "catching" sound from this wheel when underway - but not all the time.

Anyway the brake shoes were fine and fitted correctly so I did a quick clean up ready to refit. I then checked the disc itself and found that half the wearing surface was quite badly rusted while the other half was ok. The discs are fairly new with no lip on the pad wearing surface.

I used some rubbing paper to clean off the rust and refitted everything.

All seems to be well now but I wonder why half the surface was rusty and am thinking now that it would be a good idea to apply the handbrake occasionally while the car is moving fairly slowly to keep the surface clean and free from rust etc.

What do you think?

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by boater

Today I took off my nearside rear brake disc to check over the handbrake shoes and operation. I did this because I occasionally hear a "catching" sound from this wheel when underway - but not all the time.

Anyway the brake shoes were fine and fitted correctly so I did a quick clean up ready to refit. I then checked the disc itself and found that half the wearing surface was quite badly rusted while the other half was ok. The discs are fairly new with no lip on the pad wearing surface.

I used some rubbing paper to clean off the rust and refitted everything.

All seems to be well now but I wonder why half the surface was rusty and am thinking now that it would be a good idea to apply the handbrake occasionally while the car is moving fairly slowly to keep the surface clean and free from rust etc.

What do you think?

That reads a bit confused....

The disk and the pads are only used for the foot brake and it seems to be normal for the rear pads not to make full contact with the disk. Putting the handbrake on whilst moving will not help that particular problem. Someone else reported a similar issue not long ago with the rear disks.

Pulling the handbrake on whilst moving, will though help to keep the drum free of rust if not over done.

[3disco]

Originally Posted by boater

Today I took off my nearside rear brake disc to check over the handbrake shoes and operation. I did this because I occasionally hear a "catching" sound from this wheel when underway - but not all the time.

Anyway the brake shoes were fine and fitted correctly so I did a quick clean up ready to refit. I then checked the disc itself and found that half the wearing surface was quite badly rusted while the other half was ok. The discs are fairly new with no lip on the pad wearing surface.

I used some rubbing paper to clean off the rust and refitted everything.

All seems to be well now but I wonder why half the surface was rusty and am thinking now that it would be a good idea to apply the handbrake occasionally while the car is moving fairly slowly to keep the surface clean and free from rust etc.

What do you think?

Not a bad idea as under normal use never gets a chance to clean off any build up of rust.

[boater]

Perhaps my description was not as clear as it could be. I know the handbrake will not affect the wearing surface on the disc itself only on the inner surface where the handbrake operates.

The "drum" for the handbrake is part of the disc and it is this surface that was half rusty and would be cleaned by applying the handbrake with the car moving - but is it good practice?

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by boater

Perhaps my description was not as clear as it could be. I know the handbrake will not affect the wearing surface on the disc itself only on the inner surface where the handbrake operates.

The "drum" for the handbrake is part of the disc and it is this surface that was half rusty and would be cleaned by applying the handbrake with the car moving - but is it good practice?

Right, with you now...

Yes! Rover's own workshop practise fix for a rsty handbrake drum, was to drive the car around the workshop car park with the handbrake partially on.

Rather than that, I suggest using the handbrake, but applying it just as the car is coming to a stop. Basically exercise it a little, but often rather than having to use the more drastic Rover method.