Thread: What did you do on your Defender today ? (well, this week anyway)

Originally Posted by Xtreme

Anyone who has worked extensively on Series drum brakes which have similar springs will have learnt that there is always an easy way of doing these things.
In this case you attach the spring/s to the shoes first then, using a large screwdriver or suitable bar, you lever the shoes into position.

On the transmission brake Roger, the pin that holds one of the shoes on is in such a spot that access to rear of it, to stop it falling out when you are trying to refit the retaining cup, is near impossible to reach. It is tucked up between the transfer case and the backing plate. I did it with a really long screwdriver and was able to hold it in position firmly enough to get the cup back on, but it took a couple of hours.
I have drum brakes on the rear of the YOOT and can do them in no time be the method you described, but the transmission brake is a different beast.

Fortunately, I have rarely had to do anything with transmission brakes, but I seem to vaguely remember that it was easier to take the baking plate off and assemble it on the bench.

Brought her home from the Mechanics, minus $$$$. It's worth a thread I reckon.

Originally Posted by Patrick110td5

Been under the car all night giving the handbrake a new cable and brake shoes, spent at least 2 hours trying to get these circular spring clamp things in alone, no doubt designed by satan himself!Attachment 168148

I wrote a HowTo on this handbrake cable job a couple of years ago. Here is a quote from it!

Refit the spring loaded cup washer which retains the shoe in position. This is the most difficult part of the operation. It requires the back of the pin to be held from behind the backplate while the cup washer is centred on the spring & guided onto the pin end & then turned through 90 degrees to secure it. This is not easy to do with the brake unit still in place on the back of the transfer box. It is much easier to do on a flat surface. A 45 degree offset pair of pliers is useful to hold the pin from the front to stop it retracting while the cup washer is being installed. (It is even more difficult to deal with the RH shoe, as the pin cannot be reached from behind – hence the preference to remove the brake assembly from the vehicle to carry out this work.)It is worth it to invest in a Toledo 310256 - Brake Spring Compressor for about $20. Without this, believe me, the swear jar will have at least this amount in it!

As the quote says, it is worth a bit more effort to remove the 4 bolts & remove the brake assembly from the T/F box. This does make the job easier.

Apart from the above, it is a pretty straightforward job.

Cheers,

Lionel

600mm x 300mm x 76mm Dual Pass intercooler.
Replaced the ac condenser with a shorter unit, only as wide as the radiator now.
Removed the 2 bonnet catch support bars, made a custom bracket that now supports the bonnet catch and slam panel along with ac condenser and fmic.
Cut off and blanked the 76mm inlet/out, installed new in/out in the correct direction.
Fabricated a custom fan shroud that covers the radiator only, retaining the viscous fan.
Created an extended grill surround to complete.
Prior, inlet temps to manifold averaged 72 degrees, max observed was 89 degrees.
Now with FMIC, temp is 34 average, stays below 38 degrees.
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Fitted roof bars and internal frame to the canopy. Bugger of a job. Got a cheap 270 awning.

Shiny new Superpro rear radius arm bushes.

IMGP0972.1.jpg

The old one had become loose on the passenger side, not sure if the nut worked loose or whether it had just started to wear. Drivers side was still OK. Not too bad a job, took about 45 minutes to do both.

Worn one on the right

IMGP0973.1.jpg

Originally Posted by Tote

Shiny new Superpro rear radius arm bushes.

IMGP0972.1.jpg

The old one had become loose on the passenger side, not sure if the nut worked loose or whether it had just started to wear. Drivers side was still OK. Not too bad a job, took about 45 minutes to do both.

Worn one on the right

IMGP0973.1.jpg

Enjoy!
Mine were like that after 75,000km, the Super Pro bushes stopped the rear steer that was becoming noticeable with the OE ones. (Or at least until the A frame to chassis crush tubes and bolts started to flog out later )