Brake Pedal Travel 1885 County

[Carslil Jim]

Hi,
Just got rejected for my pink slip and I think rightly so! My brake pedal travels 53mm before it gets firm.

Rear drums shoes are well worn (about 1- 2mm above the rivetts), but I have adjusted all 4 adjustors until they stop the wheel from turning, and then backed off a bit. I thought that should lift the pedal but it does not.

Front brakes are discs.

The pedal is not spongy like when air in the lines.

Any ideas on what I should do?

Regards

Jim.

[isuzutoo-eh]

Mine's the same. I've adjusted the drums up till they are tight to see if that is where the problem lies, there is still travel before the pedal gets hard. My rear shoes are only 15,000km old and matched the drum ID quite well.
I had a commercial brake outfit replace the genuine MC with generic and bleed the system, still a problem.
I replaced the generic master cylinder with a new genuine one because the generic leaked after 13 months. No change.
Replaced front shoes, replaced seals in pistons. No change.
I have replaced the front hoses with braided, no change.
I will replace the rear hose this long weekend hopefully , but I don't think that'll make much difference.
No leaks anywhere, never have to top it up.
I'm going to try vacuum bleeding some time but like you say it doesn't feel like there is air in the lines.

I'm looking forward to you solving this problem :angel:

[JDNSW]

I am guessing that it is either incorrect adjustment on the pedal pushrod (unlikely), or, more likely, a problem with the rear drum brakes. If the shoes and/or drums are badly worn, it is quite likely that the adjuster is bringing one spot on the shoe against the drum, enough to lock the wheel, but the hydraulic pressure will cause further movement (and hence lost motion). Same if there are grooves in the drums/lining or the shoes are not sitting straight. The adjuster does not push at the same point on the shoe, so will not have the same centring effect, sliding the shoe up and down. This may be exacerbated by incorrectly installed or damaged return springs.

Also, I seem to remember a recent post pointing out that the leading and trailing shoes do not have the post the adjuster works on in exactly the same place, and so are not interchangeable.

A further possibility is an adjuster that is not staying in place, probably because the notches on the snail have worn off.

Hope this helps.

John

[centy]

i would also say push rod adjustment. cheack a manual for how musch the pedal is meant to travel, my old manual had it but not my current one. Pressure blled the brake system. check all 3 brake hoses for expansion when pedal applied.

[Graeme]

Is the pedal coming up too far due to a worn/squashed rubber stop and a worn pin hole in the push-rod?

[Carslil Jim]

The brake pedal sits slightly higher than the clutch pedal...about 5mm...I will check suggestions on that front.

I like Swaggie's comment re the adjusters. They will be scrutinised tomorrow. They don't nicely click as they are turned.

Stay posted I will report after a bit more work.

Thanks for the input. Greatly appreciated.

Regards

Jim

[JDNSW]

Just checked - my brake pedal is slightly lower than the clutch pedal. But there is not necessarily any tie-up between the two. The important thing is that the pedal both allows the master cylinder to fully return, and has minimal movement before the master cylinder starts to move. As well as the free play on the pushrod, slop can exist on the trunnion carrying the pushrod and on the pedal pivot.

John

[Carslil Jim]

I am attaching a picture of the LH brake shoes. Front of the vehicle is the RH side of pic with the handle of my ratchet poking out.

Are these shoes mounted correctly, that is, is the shoe on the right the leading shoe?

[Carslil Jim]

Woops....It is the RH Brake shoe

[JDNSW]

Can't tell from the picture - is the peg that sits on the adjuster sitting squarely on it? Probably need a mirror to tell.

John

[steveG]

I had similar issues with mine. Couldn't adjust it to reduce pedal travel. Ended up converting the rear to discs which fixed it for good.
Maybe try clamping off the rear brake hose to confirm that the issue is with the rears and not some master Cyl/differential valve problem.

Steve

[yt110]

I am attaching a picture of the LH brake shoes. Front of the vehicle is the RH side of pic with the handle of my ratchet poking out.

Are these shoes mounted correctly, that is, is the shoe on the right the leading shoe?

Yes looks correct(shoe with the short lining is the front shoe)
If you pump the pedal does it improve ? If so rear adjustment is most likely the problem,
If the pedal does improve when pumped try getting someone to hold pressure on the pedal while you tighten the adjuster,then release the pedal pressure and them back off the adjusters till you can turn the wheel,this may help centre the shoes in the drum.
Jim.

[Carslil Jim]

I pulled the shoes off on the LH side and saw that all the serrations on the adjuster cam were worn off...totally smooth on one and all but smooth on the other. I am guessing that the adjustment disappears as soon as pressure is applied, and then of course with little adjustment on the rear the brake pedal travels quite a way down.

Replacing the little cams looks like a big job...I am starting to reach for the cheque book and pay my favourite garage more money.

[isuzutoo-eh]

I pulled the shoes off on the LH side and saw that all the serrations on the adjuster cam were worn off...totally smooth on one and all but smooth on the other. I am guessing that the adjustment disappears as soon as pressure is applied, and then of course with little adjustment on the rear the brake pedal travels quite a way down.

Replacing the little cams looks like a big job...I am starting to reach for the cheque book and pay my favourite garage more money.

I replaced my rear brake hose with a longer braided hose today, and after a lot of bleeding (thanks Shonky) and adjusting got a reasonable pedal. Much happier. The old hose, now that it is out and easy to look at, has some damage from being clamped previously.
One of my adjusters is dodgy, it turns wonkily in its hole, I remember thinking the same last time I had the drums off...looks like a pain of a job to replace the adjusters!

[Benny_IIA]

gee its and old county:D












1885:angel:

[87County]

gee its and old county:D

1885:angel:

they sure last very well if you look after them ;)

[Carslil Jim]

So I called my LR repairer and said how much to replace the rear shoes and he said "well, you need to get them "radius ground" or you can't get the pedal up".

I suspect he knows what he is talking about and that may be the answer to several of us with pedal probs.

Now to get it done and back to the pink slip man within 14 days from last Thursday.

Thanks for all the input.

Jim