Drum removal + handbrake slipped

[Tickover]

Hi guys.. booked in for an MOT moved car, pulled handbrake on and something slipped so I'm guessing cable gone attached pic of what looks like broken adjuster?, or something in the drum gone?. Any info on the hand brake cable be welcome

So I've gone to take the drum off and it's not that easy.. I've wacked it with the copper mallet (but it's a bit late to really Welly it) and nothing. Does this nut need to come off to take the drum off? When I apply a little leverage it looks like the center nut and spacer are holding it on?

Thanks.. just want to get it MOTd and drive it

[Peter Bell]

The big nut holds the rear bearing/driveshaft assy, don’t undo that even if you could. The drum should come off but is probably rusted on at the centre where the black paint of the drum ends and the rusty spigot begins. If you haven’t already got one get a Haynes Sierra manual, the brakes are all in there.

[Tickover]

9 hours ago, Peter Bell said:

The big nut holds the rear bearing/driveshaft assy, don’t undo that even if you could. The drum should come off but is probably rusted on at the centre where the black paint of the drum ends and the rusty spigot begins. If you haven’t already got one get a Haynes Sierra manual, the brakes are all in there.

Brill, Thanks @Peter Bell that's what i though and hoping it was. but with it being gone 830pm i was reluctant to give it a good Walloping, i have the haynes manual but it just said take drum off so i was getting frustrated and posted

 

Any one give any light on whether the cable adjuster id broken or not

Edited August 31, 2023 by Tickover

[IanS]

White plastic nut at top of your pic should move the threaded portion of the cable outer to adjust the handbrake. If it does not then there is your problem.

The cable is a shortened sierra cable, cut the excess inner off one end and crimp or weld a new ferral on the end. This could have come off you can check by trying to pull the cable out of the backing plate on both sides.

 

[Sparepart]

Potentially there are three areas that might be preventing the drum from coming off the hub. One is the edge of the drum around the hub, in your photo this is the start of the rusty bit, the hub being black paint. Wire brush the rust off and apply penetrating oil (WD40) to the joint area. The next thing might be the wheel studs, which the drum has to slip over, again wire brush the base of these and apply penetrating oil. The third area is harder to free. The brakes are self adjusting, each time the the handbrake is applied, see the manual. It is possible for the shoes to be tightly sitting in a "trench" formed by wear and rust build up on the inside drum edge, stopping it from coming over the shoe surface. You can tell this is the case, if when you try to lever the drum off, carefully with a broad screwdriver or tyre lever between the drum edge and backplate it seems to be free at the hub and wheel studs but keeps springing back on to the hub when you let the lever go. In this case you should try releasing the shoes as described in the manual. My copy does not just say "remove the drum" there is the following "it is possible to release the automatic adjuster mechanism by inserting a screwdriver through the small hole in the drum and pressing down on the ratchet (see illustrations). .(5.5b)..... but I dont see a small hole in your drum, look for it. Your brake adjuster looks to have the locking mechanism missing, someone has put a lump of something there to stop it unwinding itself. Again look at the manual especially at the "hand brake equalizer" see figure 29.3. The cable has to slide through here easily to even out tension between both sides. And like IanS says the cable will have been shortened by cutting a piece off and fixing a new ferrule. The build video shows how to drill a hole in the center of a piece of bolt thread, put the cut end through and crimp using a cold chisel. Something like this might have popped off and the cable can now just pull out from the backplate on one side.