Handbrake wont lock wheels

[froggy]

Having finally (?) bled the brakes and got everything close to normal i still cant get the handbrake to lock the rear wheels.
Tried adjusting the brakes until the wheels are locked then back off 2 teeth but still cant lock wheels with the handbrake. Tried setting the handbrake to 9 notches (teeth) on the lever then adjusting up the cables but again it still wont lock the wheels.
All the above adjustments where carried oput with the wheels in the air.
Is there a set way to adjust the handbrakes?

 

[Guest]

Having finally (?) bled the brakes and got everything close to normal i still cant get the handbrake to lock the rear wheels.
Tried adjusting the brakes until the wheels are locked then back off 2 teeth but still cant lock wheels with the handbrake. Tried setting the handbrake to 9 notches (teeth) on the lever then adjusting up the cables but again it still wont lock the wheels.
All the above adjustments where carried oput with the wheels in the air.
Is there a set way to adjust the handbrakes?

the cable could be stretched and got some elasticity in it and might probably be better to replace it?. I normally only have to adjust at the drum to tighten it.

 

[easy]

Having finally (?) bled the brakes and got everything close to normal i still cant get the handbrake to lock the rear wheels.
Tried adjusting the brakes until the wheels are locked then back off 2 teeth but still cant lock wheels with the handbrake. Tried setting the handbrake to 9 notches (teeth) on the lever then adjusting up the cables but again it still wont lock the wheels.
All the above adjustments where carried oput with the wheels in the air.
Is there a set way to adjust the handbrakes?

the cable could be stretched and got some elasticity in it and might probably be better to replace it?. I normally only have to adjust at the drum to tighten it.

agreed with Johnny ^^^ :mrgreen:

 

[froggy]

I take it its best practice to replace both cables at the same time. Wheres the best place to buy the cables and how do i go about changing them?

 

[Clarkson46]

The correct procedure for adjusting your rear brakes is, adjust the shoes as you describe having backed off the hand brake adjusters. Then with the handbrake pulled on 6 clicks tighten the adjusters on the handbrake so that each wheel is binding and requires equal force to turn it by hand. Then pull the handbrake on some more and the wheels should lock. We had similar problems with a '68 Westy until we discovered that Hank the Yank had been adjusting the rear brakes using the hand brake adjusters instead of the star adjusters

 

[speedwell68]

Make sure the handbrake cable tubes through the body are clear and are running true. I had one 'collapse' through rust where it passes through the chassis and outriggers, thus rendering the hand brake on that wheel inoperable.

 

[froggy]

Attempted to adjust handbrake today and the passenger side adjusts perfectly but cant get the drivers side to lock up, re-adjusted the brakes using the stars and then re-tried to adjust handbrake but still the same, think its gonna need a new cable as the passenger side cable is only a few threads down the adjuster but the drivers is fully adjusted and still nothing.

 

[froggy]

Make sure the handbrake cable tubes through the body are clear and are running true. I had one 'collapse' through rust where it passes through the chassis and outriggers, thus rendering the hand brake on that wheel inoperable.

How did you check that this was the case? Is it a case of remove the wheels / hubs and then get someone to apply the handbrake to see if anything is happeneing?
Think this might be the case with mine, as thinking about it, it seems strange that even fully tensioned the handbrake still doesn;t work even though the opposite cable is only slighty tensioned but locks up the wheel easily.
How did you cure the fault?

 

[67 BAY]

It could be possible a previous owner has replaced handbrake cable with the wrong one,different lengths on different years.

Steve

 

[speedwell68]

Make sure the handbrake cable tubes through the body are clear and are running true. I had one 'collapse' through rust where it passes through the chassis and outriggers, thus rendering the hand brake on that wheel inoperable.

How did you check that this was the case? Is it a case of remove the wheels / hubs and then get someone to apply the handbrake to see if anything is happeneing?
Think this might be the case with mine, as thinking about it, it seems strange that even fully tensioned the handbrake still doesn;t work even though the opposite cable is only slighty tensioned but locks up the wheel easily.
How did you cure the fault?

OK, the handbrake cable runs through a tube from front to back, it comes through the centre section at the front, under the floor and into the chassis, then out through the rear outriggers. Mine rusted through and bent round at an angle, so the cable wouldn't move. Check it's entire length for damage and make sure the cable can move freely in the tube when released. Mine was rotten beyond repair, so I got a new length from schofields which had to be cut to length and bent into the correct angle to pass through the chassis. It is then welded into place in 3 three places, basically where the original passes through the chassis and out riggers. It only took about half an hour IIRC.

 

[Clarkson46]

Also with the handbrake cable conduit if it is loose in the body it will slide back and forth preventing the handbrake from working.

 

[froggy]

Finally managed to get to the bottom of the problem.
Whoever fitted the last lot of brake shoes had fitted the spreader bar(?) backwards so the handbrake cable wasn't actually connected to anything
Took me ages to notice something didn't look right and it wasn't until i removed the other side that i noticed :shock: but hey ho its all done now and adjusted.
The life of VW ownership :twisted: :roll: :twisted:

 

[speedwell68]

Finally managed to get to the bottom of the problem.
Whoever fitted the last lot of brake shoes had fitted the spreader bar(?) backwards so the handbrake cable wasn't actually connected to anything
Took me ages to notice something didn't look right and it wasn't until i removed the other side that i noticed :shock: but hey ho its all done now and adjusted.
The life of VW ownership :twisted: :roll: :twisted:

It is always the simple things. Glad you have it sorted.

Adjusted my back brakes and handbrake today. Very happy with the results, got some serious braking power now.