Amazon: Rear drum brake stuck on

[Tail]

As the title says I went to take the Volvo out today and the nearside rear brake is sticking on, tried dragging it off both forward and back but its not budging. I did replace the cylinder on the other side for the last MOT so I guess its the turn of this one.

The question is, is there a way to free this off without stripping it down on the roadside, I would rather do it on the driveway. I think I remember in the past seeing people hit them to free them off but this was cars that had been stood a long time.
It is fitted with the manual adjusters so I can slacken them off to see if it helps, I don't really want to just wind the drum off with the puller and wreck the brake shoes as they were new only a couple of years a go.

Any ideas appreciated.

Cheers John

[123GT-AMAZON]

Hi Ya John

ok if you try to back the adjusters off and give the drum a careful as you can bang and tap see if that frees it off , failing that just pop your drum puller on and crank her off worst case you will bur the shoe retaining spring cups and you can tap them back into shape with a small hammer and there good to go again no harm at all will happen to the shoes i promise you at the most a new retainer set would be needed at the cost of a few pounds up to a tenner from simon at brookhouseparts but i have done it lots of times and never damaged any shoes or those retainer cups i have seen some rusted right up before when i have got in there finally lol

kind regards
robert

[Ron Kwas]

John;

If you mean that brake is binding without any good reason, there's likely something wrong with the mechanism which has allowed a shoe to bind with the drum...normally shoes have enough spring force pulling them together to pull wheel cylinders back, but if pistons are bound up, wheel cylinders need rebuilding or replacing...I'd try loosening adjuster certainly...maybe that results in enough play to allow drum to turn, but if caused by stuck pistons, the first time you apply brake, problem will reoccur...let us know how you make out...

Good hunting!

[Volvo_133]

Hi John,
If your car is later type with twin circuit brakes, I would back off the adjuster as mentioned, if dragging persists i would momentarily open the wheel cylinder bleed nipple.
Problem then is a faulty flexi hose. Good luck.

[Tail]

It is the later type twin circuit and the flexi hoses were replaced last year with stainless flexi pipes so hopefully its not those gone already. Thanks for the replies will get back to you soon

[Amma122s]

Had a similar problem but on my 66 122s with single circuit. Turned out it was the brake cylinder so changed both the same time

[Tail]

I had one go last year and that was changed and have just ordered one from simon today so that will be a job on Sunday, after a bit of work on SandG's estate on Saturday hopefully.

[Tail]

And they free'd off in about two minutes once i got the wheel off, screwed the adjuster in and a gentle tap all the way round the drum with a hammer. Still stripping them down for their annual clean up, the little brackets that secure the handbrake cable to the chassis around midway were a total swine to loosen up, must be 20 years since they were done then caked in underseal. Still, all off now just need to decide to bung some new cables on or oil up the old ones, the crimped parts are looking a bit rusty so might spring for new ones.

Thanks again fellas

[Tail]

Decision made, new cables and assorted bracketry ordered from Simon