handbrake/cable woes

[aland]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

..... and subsequent adjustment requires both rear wheels to be removed whereas handbrake cable adjustment takes 2 minutes.

I adjusted through the bolt-hole after fitting, no further adjustment needed since.

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by aland

How many miles is your car on?
My '04 is on 257k and the cables are original. They must have stretched a bit, but the manual adjusters more than take car of that, and as you have found out, changing the cables is a PITA.
Fitting the adjusters is 10 mins per side...

~262k miles.

I'd change for something younger, but with ULEZ et al coming in the only viable option (ticking all important boxes and few convenient ones) would be £18k XC70 Euro6..

Can't afford that.

So, even if only for next 2-3 years, I'll keep this one alive. Somehow.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by aland

I adjusted through the bolt-hole after fitting, no further adjustment needed since.

Sure but it will need adjusting eventually though.

[aland]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

Sure but it will need adjusting eventually though.

Yes. And I now have the option for adjustment at the handbrake lever to do both at the same time, or when I run out of adjustment there (as happened previously), or have an inbalance, I can adjust at each wheel and reset the lever adjustment to 3 clicks once more.

In my car, the shoes had plenty of meat, the lever adjustment was at the end of it's travel, the lever was on the last click pointing at the roof, and it failed the MOT on handbrake performance.
Fitting the adjusters solved the issue with no other parts needed - and it can now lock up the rear wheels, for the first time in my 11 years with this car!

[ThomasG]

How does one fit the adjusters? If its easier than cables I may think of that..
Mind, I'll be changing shoes, discs and pads anyway.



Edit.

Never mind.
Cables cancelled, adjusters ordered.

I do hope I'm making right decision here..
And I'm sure opinions will be divided

But I do take into account cost of part(s), age of car, time and effort of fitting.
And in my case that central console would be a real pain. Apart from standard console I've got wirings for iPod adapter, and tapped into that self- built audio cross-box enabling me to use either iPod or Bluetooth or aux input. That's quite a few wires..

Many thanks for all the info and idea(s)

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by aland

In my car, the shoes had plenty of meat, the lever adjustment was at the end of it's travel, the lever was on the last click pointing at the roof, and it failed the MOT on handbrake performance.

The shoes will always have plenty of meat because of how and when they are designed to work.
My shoes were also "meaty" when I replaced them but there are enough stories of delaminating shoes to convince me that 14 years was a good enough life and they needed changing.
There are no stories of delamination occurring with new, high quality replacements so ultimately, you choose your fix based on what's important to you.
I'm keeping my car forever too so investment in long term fit and forget fixes makes more sense.

I know how and why adjusters work and I know how cheap and easy they are to replace which makes them attractive but my logic is that end of cable adjustment is a friendly hint to refresh the whole area with new then not worry for another 14 years.

[aland]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

My shoes were also "meaty" when I replaced them but there are enough stories of delaminating shoes to convince me that 14 years was a good enough life and they needed changing.

I changed the shoes a few years ago (another MOT fail) which got me through 2 or 3 years, but this time around it needed more... so adjusters were the answer!

[100K+]

I have just replaced rear discs and pads on my 2004 V70. I noticed a slight reduction in the number of clicks to fully lock the rear wheels ( dropped from 6 to 4)
I could have replaced shoes, but looked OK as replaced them last year (genuine Volvo) so considered them fine.

Cheers
Bob

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by aland

I changed the shoes a few years ago (another MOT fail) which got me through 2 or 3 years, but this time around it needed more... so adjusters were the answer!

Your experience perfectly illustrates my suggestion to do everything in one hit and avoid repeat problems.
It cost £20 in total for both cables and an extra hour to remove the old and fit the new.

[reggit]

This is going to be one of my jobs over the next few weeks as the handbrake lever is at full travel on the ‘new’ v70.

What parts do I need to get to do a proper job? Cables, shoes, what else?
Car has 202,000 on it.
Cheers