V70 Brakes: Handbrake Woes!

[VICV70AWD]

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...=1#post1339933

[volvo2]

Just had my brake shoes fall apart (2002 V70), luckily with no damage. Johnsons Volvo of Gloucester charged £251 to replace the shoes which seemed a little high to me. They left the handbrake badly adjusted (had to pull the handle to about 70 degs from the horizontal to hold the car on a steep hill). I had to apply quit a lot of adjustment at the handle nut to get it back to normal (holding on about 4 clicks now). Tested the car by rotating the rear wheels to make sure the brakes went off correctly.

I am now wondering if there is any adjustment possible at the brake shoe end?

Volvo2

[Brendan W]

Lucky you The new shoes are not a perfect match for the drum so will need a bit of bedding in before it develops full holding effort. The disc/drum is cast iron and rusts easily as I am sure you will have noticed on the discs after a spot of rain.
Some owners, me included, apply the handbrake for a hundred meters or so at low speed every so often to assist the bedding in process and sweep the drum of corrosion. I can hold on a moderate hill with five clicks.Applying more pressure is probably self defeating in that it may accelerate a delamination process especially if the shoe is not mating fully with the drum.

[SteveOC]

Originally Posted by volvo2

Just had my brake shoes fall apart (2002 V70), luckily with no damage. Johnsons Volvo of Gloucester charged £251 to replace the shoes which seemed a little high to me. They left the handbrake badly adjusted (had to pull the handle to about 70 degs from the horizontal to hold the car on a steep hill). I had to apply quit a lot of adjustment at the handle nut to get it back to normal (holding on about 4 clicks now). Tested the car by rotating the rear wheels to make sure the brakes went off correctly.

I am now wondering if there is any adjustment possible at the brake shoe end?

Volvo2

There is a mod to add adjustment to take up the slack but it will cost some for parts.
I replaced my own shoes (the old ones were fine) - cost £28 for the shoes and another £20 for the retaining springs (£5 x 4) - genuine Volvo parts.

Steve O.

[mechakev]

Thank you volvo forums, got some good advice off here when doing mine.

Changed the shoes, discs and pads for £85 delivered (mintex shoes and discs, apec pads). A bit of a faffy job, the worst bit was removal/ refitting of the springs! May I suggest that anyone doing this slackens off their handbrake as much as possible, it makes taking the disc off and refitting it about a billion times easier. Also, have a G -Clamp or something similar for winding pistons back. Perhaps obvious advice...but incase anyone missed it.

Oh and just to add, my old handbrake shoes were ruined, they flopped off the shoes pathetically. So glad I changed them now!

[Aitchjay]

V70 07 D5 at 120000 plus miles, purchased in April this year my first Volvo which at my age (80) is a mystery to me too! Mot due mid June so decided to have full service done also. Liontech my local experts discovered a disintegrated N/S hand brake assembly and replaced both sides inc. Disc/Drums, Shoes and fitting kits for £330.00. The hand brake now feels like it should and taking into account the MOT and service it is not difficult to understand my great respect for Liontech.
Hope y'all find this interesting.

[harrydjembe]

well after reading some of the horror stories about handbrakes i decided to take my 2003 S60 D5 to the garage this morning as the handbrake was pointing vertically and doing f@*k all to hold the car. On initial test the passenger side was working but the drivers side was doing very little. on inspection the linings were fine with no sign of delamination, the drums had a bit of a rim to them which cleaned up no problems. the real shocker was that on the passenger side (working side???) the spring for the bottom shoe was caught in the spring for the top shoe which left the whole assembly loose. the mechanic said he was surprised that the whole thing was even working on that side. So new shoes and fitting kit ordered, discs and pads all fine, just waiting to find out about the handbrake cables for the fault on the drivers side. All I can say is i will be checking this and taking the advice to replace the shoes when the discs and pads need doing. thank the lord for this forum.

[harrydjembe]

*update* picked her up this morning, 3 clicks locked in tight, still got the usual slight dropback but then my drive is at 30 degree slope, ish. so he completely serviced the whole rear brakes inc calipers etc greased handbrake cables, fitted new shoes and fitting kit, £125 all in, very pleased and cheap for the peace of mind its giving me. Now to investigate blanking that EGR thingy.

[nickbw898]

Blanking the EGR is illegal. The particulates thrown out from oil burning engines are a primary cause of heart attacs and lung disease. Don't make things any worse while you are saving CO2 emissions.

[DieselDoNicely]

Originally Posted by hunty

Afternoon all,

When driving back from a shopping trip today there was a sudden clunk from the rear of the car, i knew it was something to do with the rear brakes straight away. Got home and took the rear wheel off and there were bits of metal at the bottom of the disc guard. Started to lose light at that point, so though I'd go and re-attach the top of my Knuckle!!! Anyway, are the '05 plate V70's on shoes or could this be a pad that has decided to disintergrate?

Help would be much appreciated

Neil

Yes happened to me, the handbrake shoes delaminated. I got a new hub assembly from a scrap yard. At the time they were hard to get as it was a common fault. The handbrake shoes didnt appear to be a service item so stayed in place until this happened. If I remember a new hub could be £1000 and that was ten years ago. Use Volvo shoes as they fit. The cable is another failure point and cause the shoes to bind.