General tips for adjusting the brakes?

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Julian B
Posts: 872
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:07 pm
Location: W Sussex, UK

General tips for adjusting the brakes?

Post by Julian B »

One of my Haflingers failed its MOT (Government annual safety check) last week (brakes not balanced left & right), but with a bit of fiddling we got them to be "acceptable" and it passed. I was en-route to the MOT station with another Haflinger today when I had to pull over due to a strong smell; as soon as I got out I could see that the NSF brake was _very_ hot, and so I returned home, removed the _very_ hot brake drum, and have left it to cool down slowly. No damage seems to have occured to any of the components, so I will try to sort things out on Monday prior to taking back down for the MOT.

Which brings me on to my question: does anyone have any Top Tips for how best to adjust the brakes? Things like whether the rear shoe should be set to come on first (within each wheel), or whether the rear brakes should be set to come on first, etc etc etc. The adjusting nuts are SO sensitive that I struggle to get the Haflinger to brake smoothly, & without swerving left or right when pressure is applied. This is especially so on the front brakes, where there is so little weight over the front wheels. (Other than me, that is :oops: ).

Any comments would be most welcome,

TIA
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
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AustHaflinger
Posts: 2465
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:27 am
Location: Canberra Australia

Re: General tips for adjusting the brakes?

Post by AustHaflinger »

Co-incidently I am going for my MOT test first thing Monday morning and adjusted my brakes yesterday. There really is nothing special about doing the brakes and most drum braked vehicles such as my Landrover FC 101 use the same procedure with similar issues.

I tighten up the adjusters just until the wheel locks - no more, no less. It is important you tighten them up the same on all adjusters. Likewise you loosen off to the same point. I loosen to the point where the wheel will just turn freely - I sometimes I try each adjuster a couple of times to get it just right.

The procedure outlined in the book is the best way - just be consistent in tightening and loosening. However - if the drums are out of round, linings contaminated etc then the brakes may grab in real life.

On test driving my adjusted brakes seemed to be OK but my handbrake will still not adjust up correctly on the cable - will hold but not act well as an emergency.

Cheers

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
Landrover Series 1 SWB (57)
Jaguar E-type Roadster V12 (71)
Jaguar XJ12C (76)
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AustHaflinger
Posts: 2465
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:27 am
Location: Canberra Australia

Re: General tips for adjusting the brakes?

Post by AustHaflinger »

On my long 80km drive today when I reached the end of the freeway, off course the traffic lights changed when I didn't want them too so I had to brake from about 70kph reasonably hard and the Haffie pulled up straight and reasonably quickly - certainly as well as my power assisted drum braked big truck (Landrover 101). So the procedure I followed in adjusting the brakes on gthe weekend worked spot on.

I think brake issues are less to do with the adjustment (as long as the procedure is followed) and more to do with drum and shoe condition, particularly if the drum is slightly out of round.

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
Landrover Series 1 SWB (57)
Jaguar E-type Roadster V12 (71)
Jaguar XJ12C (76)
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Julian B
Posts: 872
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:07 pm
Location: W Sussex, UK

Re: General tips for adjusting the brakes?

Post by Julian B »

I think you are most likely right; my Haf was pulling alarmingly to one side, and however much we adjusted it we couldn't improve things. But I had a spare (used) pair of pads and swapping them over seems to have done the trick. I'm just back from a visit to the MOT test station, and have come away with a pass. Great news!
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
User avatar
AustHaflinger
Posts: 2465
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:27 am
Location: Canberra Australia

Re: General tips for adjusting the brakes?

Post by AustHaflinger »

That is great news :D - lots of Haffies being driven on the road legally has got to be a good thing.

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
Landrover Series 1 SWB (57)
Jaguar E-type Roadster V12 (71)
Jaguar XJ12C (76)
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