V70 Brakes: Handbrake Woes!

[Nick44]

You will get a certain amount of roll-back (sit down would be a better description) when parking facing uphill. This is where the suspension settles back, but 2 inches is excessive.
If the handbrake is adjusted properly, and in good order, no.
The handbrake lever in the cabin should bite at 3 clicks.

[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.

[Jonathan_angelo]

Originally Posted by hunty

You did have a productive morning my friend! It went in to my mates garage this morning, not heard anything back so hoping it's not as bad as I thought, he's going to take it out for a drive and test the brakes as they are shockingly bad normally. I put it down to it being a very heavy car so will wait and see what he says, will keep you updated mate

My advice would always be to use GENUINE PADS!!! They will give you less/no squeal and lots of reassuring bite. You can use a cheaper branded disc if you so desire, but the key to having a good sharp brakes is the genuine Volvo pads!

[Paul240480]

My 850 has Bendix discs and handbrake shoes, following this 'famous' failure. Pads I fitted were Bosch, they were supplied with the anti-squeal shims.

More recently my V70 has suffered the same . You'd think I'd learn! On this one the stop has snapped off.

I have stripped that side out, so rolling but no handbrake (tis auto so have park, but 240 and 850 are in use instead).

The hub spins fine, no noises. I have Mintex shoes and a fitting kit (springs) ready to go. For the stop I am going to fit a 'stop repair kit' , which I also have. Not had the weather to have a real good root about. May have to get a handbrake cable & a backplate, not sure yet..... About £120 in so far in parts, recovery to home was 200 euros tho'. Poss another £100 for cables and plate.

If the cable is busted, should they be replaced in pairs?

[RM955I]

I need to check/service my handbrake this weekend. I am well aware of the potential issues so no need to revisit those but please can someone advise.....

The car has passed its MOT today but I have an advisory on the handbrake imbalance with the o/s showing 132kgf versus 241kgf on the n/s. I intend to fit new shoes - normally I would go the GSF/ECP route but are people adamant the genuine are a 'must'.

I read somewhere about a kit that allows separate adjustment for each side - effectively a 'Y' splitter from what I understand. Is this necessary or will a 2005 v70 facelift car have had this as standard. If I need to order it, has anyone got the part number?

Are any other bits required - I have it in my mind that I will need new springs.

I have not yet had a close look (gave it a cursory check a while back to check for de-lamination but can't recall the exact set-up) so am not familiar with it so any advice would be useful although I tend to do most of my own work so am sure it's relatively straight forward.

Thanks