Thread: Brake questions for service

From what I can picture from this is that they may only require re-adjustment..

On the rear of the brake backing plate, you should have 2 nuts (these are the brake shoe adjustment screws, so to speak). You don't mention whether it's a LWB or SWB. If you have the LWB, they should/may have two of these nuts on the rear of the backing plate (depending on whether it's a 4 or 6 cyl. The 4Cyl have one adjustment screw, and the 6 cyl will have two), and the SWB has one on the bottom of the backing plate. You just need to turn these (slowly a bit at a time) until you get even braking.. (Can't remember whether it's clockwise or anti-clockwise to back off the brake shoes.) Someone else should be able to shed light on that..

Wolf

I forgot to mention, you MAY need to replace the brake pads. But as I mentioned above, those will depend on which ones you have..And then have them re-adjusted..

Pulling brakes as you describe almost certainly means that the brakes on one side are contaminated with either brake fluid from a leaking wheel cylinder or oil from a leaking hub seal. Small quantities usually make that brake grab, and large quantities make it fail to grip. In either case the brake shoes most likely need replacing.

There are other possibilities, such as gross maladjustment or a seized wheel cylinder, broken or missing or incorrectly installed spring etc, but this is by far the most common cause of this symptom. Erratic brakes may indicate loose wheel bearings, and similar symptoms may be caused by different tyre pressures, loose U-bolts, worn spring bushes or broken spring leaves.

John

that's a great start, cheers guys.

Fro reference, its a LWB with holden 6. The brakes were working well for ages and then after hauling a big load started locking up. Also, I'm reasonable sure one of the hubs is leaking to.

I might try finding an exploded diagram of the 109 brake system to assist in understanding your comments.

Cheers
Jim

Yeah I had the same problem.
Pulling to the left under brakes.

Turned out the left hand wheel cylinder was leaking brake fluid, the drum and pads were covered in it.

Where in perth are you I could have a gander for you

Adam

Originally Posted by Jimmy

that's a great start, cheers guys.

Fro reference, its a LWB with holden 6. The brakes were working well for ages and then after hauling a big load started locking up. Also, I'm reasonable sure one of the hubs is leaking to.

I might try finding an exploded diagram of the 109 brake system to assist in understanding your comments.

Cheers
Jim

What would be worth getting is the factory workshop manual, preferably together with the relevant parts book - parts books have very useful exploded diagrams!

John

Originally Posted by agrojnr

Where in perth are you I could have a gander for you

Adam

Cheers Adam,

I've got a mate helping me who is reasonably cluey but never worked on a landrover. IF we fail, then you might get a call up.

Cheers
Jim

check the brake lines as well a collapsing line can cause the same issue.

heres my ballparking method for starting a brake job on a series.

assuming the vehicle is up on chassis stands or a hoist (improvise as you need to if its not)

1. pump the brakes up hard and have someone wind the adjusters up to hold the shoes on the drum
2. try to turn each wheel as you back off each adjuster 1 tooth at a time.
3. once all wheels are turning with out resistance (a very slight skim is ok) start the engine and lightly apply the brakes with the engine driving in first gear high range.
4. once youve established which brakes are not grabbing corectly step on the clutch and pump the brakes up as hard as you can then very quickly take your foot off of the brake and dump the clutch (a little choke helps here)

this should identify all the common founts and which wheel they are occouring on.

if you dont feel the "teeth" as you are backing the adjusters off then the snail cams are worn and you are loosing your adjustment.

if a wheel doesnt quickly stop turning then it has glazed or contaminated shoes

if a wheel is slow to resume turning then it has weak springs or a collapsing brake line that is stopping the shoes from clearing the drum.


you can also have sticking pistons which reduce the overall effectiveness of the brakes by retarding or stopping the shoes from moving as designed but thats usually somehting you find when you are rebuilding brakes or get one that just will not adjust correctly

Best of luck with it.