Looking at a friend’s rear drum brakes - it  Recently had new handbrake cables from local garage who dispute it’s come back from them (twice) with a new grinding noise
Brake travel a bit long but improves with a bit of handbrake.

I suspect d the tapered adjuster was either at its limit and/or the teeth on it are worn. 
The shoes have plenty lining and the drum has no wear ridge at its rim. 

However as I tapped the stiff adjuster 

I also found the reason for the intermittent terrible grinding noise as something fell to the floor - if replacing a broken handbrake cable, best to remove the old end fitting  as well as fitting a new one !! 
I expect they’ll deny it. 

Incompetence. Typical garage.

And not investigating fault properly cos customer was an elderly lady.

 

As an aside, does the tapered adjuster sit in front or behind the brake shoe ? Mine are behind. I notice drawing of  replacement ones look like there’s a hole at both ends - mine have a boss at the wide end which engages in a hole in the brake shoe when the adjuster is fully retracted. 

The adjuster wedges go at the back and you have to get the wedges the right way around. One side has a dimple and the other side has a protrusion. The smooth dimple side goes against the shoe. If you get it the wrong way around they will jam and fail to work.

 

 

 

This was mine when I fitted a full pre-assembled brake overhaul kit...

 

Edited 28 January, 20224 yr by TMB

It’s on the wrong way round - which will be why it’s sitting at a slight angle to the shoe. I suspected as much.  

Thanks for the advice and clear pics. 
I guess the boss is so it can’t fall through if the shoes are v worn ie some kind of limit stop 

When I took it apart the drum came off easily and the adjuster boss was sitting in the hole in the shoe which would be why the brakes weren’t self adjusting. I’ll be interested to see what the other side looks like ! 

25 minutes ago, AlansFabia1 said:

It’s on the wrong way round - which will be why it’s sitting at a slight angle to the shoe. I suspected as much.  

Thanks for the advice and clear pics. 
I guess the boss is so it can’t fall through if the shoes are v worn ie some kind of limit stop 

 

No probs. Yes, the boss is just a stop in case the wedge went right down.

 

Quote

When I took it apart the drum came off easily and the adjuster boss was sitting in the hole in the shoe which would be why the brakes weren’t self adjusting. I’ll be interested to see what the other side looks like ! 

 

Yeah, let us know what the other side is like.

And not investigating fault properly cos customer was an elderly lady.

 

As an aside, does the tapered adjuster sit in front or behind the brake shoe ? Mine are behind. I notice drawing of  replacement ones look like there’s a hole at both ends - mine have a boss at the wide end which engages in a hole in the brake shoe when the adjuster is fully retracted. 

The other side is fine and the adjuster sitting vertically as it should.Took percussive maintenance to get the wheel bolts off.

Tried my torque wrench at its max 110 ft lbs and it just clicked. See someone posting tightening torque is 85 ft lbs so will go for that on refit. 

Eventually found a robust  ex Audi toolkit wheel bolt tube spanner  effort and gave it a good belt after jumping up and down on it failed.

Theyve only been on a couple of months so the rattle gun strikes again I reckon. 
The locking bolt creaked noisily but came off to my relief. 
Thanks for help and advice.

Glad that side is OK.

 

They must have gone mad with the windy gun 🙄

I’m sure I saw somewhere a supplier listing all the individual parts with diagrams and items like the T30 screws for the drums but for the life of me I can’t locate it again. Any ideas ? 
You screenshot things you never need and don’t copy or link useful ones. Age ! 
On rattle guns, years ago I was taking a Fiesta away for weekend with my daughter days after came back from a main dealer service. Noticed nasty scraping noise and a front pad was down to the backing plate. Needed car for a 400 mile trip so stuck a new set of pads in Sat morning first thing but worst part of job was getting the blinking wheel bolts undone. 

https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/fabia/fab/2004-225/6/609-609020/

8 hours ago, AlansFabia1 said:

I’m sure I saw somewhere a supplier listing all the individual parts with diagrams and items like the T30 screws for the drums but for the life of me I can’t locate it again. Any ideas ? 
 

An idea for both the screws holding the drums( to hub) and the fixing bolts for the wheel cylinders. The hubs are held in place with screws which either rust in place or prove difficult to remove. I've removed mine and use ( sourced from work) allen screws of longer length .Screw into hub till tight and then lock in place with a locknut. It can protrude from the drum as the wheel can cope with the excess. Wheel cylinders- do likewise. The allen screw need not be tight, as the nut will secure the shaft to the drum.

I can't remember if I saw the next bit on here, or whether my local garage told me, but the adjuster wedges can ( and do get clogged with dirt). I had this problem a few years ago where the wedge failed to drop. I had to ensure the wedge dropped enough to get involved in the self adjustment proceedure.

Another handbrake issue is the clip on the rear arm rusting through the handbrake cable. Something that garages "tend" to miss. But it can stop the internal cable working efficiently.