TheHaflinger.com

help!!!

I have just finished assembling my front brakes which only took minutes and was thinking the rear brakes would prove to be no problem. Wrong!

I have been trying to fit the shoes complete with bottom spring and spacing bar to the wheel before fitting the pesky top springs. The problem is that as I have been trying to do it I cannot pull the shoes apart wide enough to fit the assembly to the wheel cylinder. What am I doing wrong?

What is the best order or process to do this.

I put the bottom section in first as you can put the top parts of the shoes together to open the bottom up enough to get the blades in the slots. Then I have a piece of welding rod with a small (1 ~ 1.5mm) hook bent on it and filed on the side as bit so it goes through the hole in the shoes nicely. Then you put the wire hook though the hold, hook the spring and pull it though whilst pushing the shoe into position. Sound complicated, but once you have managed it on one shoe, the others are easy.

John

thanks John,

I managed to sort it out this morning. I had a eureka moment. I fitted the shoes and all the bars and spring etc together in one go. I just fitted the shoes into the wheel cylinder below the hub and then span the entire assembly around. Simple. The pesky little springs were not an issue as I have had a
Tool for the job which I made some years back for a similar task.it is simply a piece of 2mm steel wire bent into a small crook for catching the spring withe the other end wrapped around a piece of oak dowell to make a handle to pull on.

This tool is actually mentioned in the repair manual if I remember correctly. As you have discovered, once you have managed the "knack" with the springs, they are actually quite easy - just why do you have do them that way in the first place! Other vehicles brakes seemed to be easy to put in place.

John