Handbrake

[Adam1970bay]

Hi I have a 1970 bay, with 72 onwards brakes and hubs, Handbrake cable is original 1970 one, how ever fully adjusted and still the hand brake is not stopping the wheels from turning,
Has anyone else got the later brakes and hubs and had this issue or know how to solve it? I as thinking of some spacer plates on the front so that the cables are not bottoming out.

 

[Moseley]

Are you adjusting the rear shoes before adjusting the handbrake cable? Assuming the procedure is similar for all rear drum brakes, the shoes need adjusting until they just start to drag (noting that you may have to pump the brake pedal throughout the procedure to keep the shoes centred) and then back the adjusters off by 3 clicks. After this the handbrake cable can be adjusted.

If you’re running out of adjustment at this point, it would suggest the cables are worn (stretched) or are the wrong length.

 

[Mechanoid]

There is another reason it could be, although you probably won't like it!

I had a similar problem but only on one side of the bus. The hand brake cables on mine work without any compensation so one side would not lock the wheel no matter how much I tried to adjust the cable. I eventually ran out of adjustment and had to look further afield! Turned out that the steel tube that cable runs in had corroded INSIDE the chassis rail and was collapsing when the hand brake was applied. I had to cut the rear of the tube out and replace it so the flexible outer had something to pull up against.

 

[Graham L]

Hi I have a 1970 bay, with 72 onwards brakes and hubs, Handbrake cable is original 1970 one, how ever fully adjusted and still the hand brake is not stopping the wheels from turning,
Has anyone else got the later brakes and hubs and had this issue or know how to solve it? I as thinking of some spacer plates on the front so that the cables are not bottoming out.

We have come across this before and yes you can put a spacer tube onto the cables in the cabin, short piece of steel tube with a 6mm bore is what you need. its down to the different design of drums and handbrake cables.