Handbrake is useless

R

RichielightweightGT

Member +
as above guys my hanbrake is fairly cat, its stronger on the drivers side than the passenger side, both both sides are still crap the cable is ok because you can adust it until you cant even pull the lever up, is there a guide with pics even that shows you how to get the handbrake back to a decent effort as i have my nct (mot) soon and i really want to get it done any help greatly appriciated :)
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
remove the cable, soak the rear mechanism in wd40 and work it with some grips of some sort. might free it up a bit. failing that you will have to rebuild them. cables can help alot, even though you can adjust them up tight they can still make a big difference if you change them
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
a pic cant show much mate. you will see it all when you get the wheel off and see where the cable attaches to the caliper. you cant do too much without getting the caliper off and rebuilding it tbh but its worth trying to manually free it up first as it may work.
 
dac69er

dac69er

Super Moderator
RichielightweightGT said:
sorry pic of a rebuild, i thought you could take off the dust gaurd and there some sort of adjuster like in the winder in drum brakes?
Click to expand...

well, yes kinda. its a rachet spiral type mechanism that just winds the piston out. is a similar idea to drum brake i suppose. i dont have a pic myself, and tbh i have never seen one on this site. someone must have one though.
 
dark_knight

dark_knight

Member +
slow death?

did the handbrake just start acting faulty one day or it had slowly been dying..? would be good to know to start looking out for signs..
 
R

RichielightweightGT

Member +
it used to be better but the car has been sitting up about 6 months in dry storage when i took it out the the handbrake was totally stuck wouldnt even attempt to hold but i gave it a gud tug and it stated to work a bit its only about half what it used to be i might try find the mechanism thing and spray sme grease on it to free it up again could just b gone rusty or something a pic would be handy just to know where and what exactly to be looking for but i have a fair idea now thanks all :)
 
R

rwdrev

Member +
mine was awful, was adjusted to hell and it still didnt work, so i put on all 3 new cables and now its awsome, slides across concrete in the dry ;)
 
R

RichielightweightGT

Member +
i wish mine was that good :( im going to try unsieze it first but if no better ill get 3 new cables and pads also if no better after that twud b tym to get angry ha ha
 
dark_knight

dark_knight

Member +
vehicle hibernation

well, as mentioned already, the rear calipers are usually the first to blame for sticking parking brake issues. a good clean and lube should un-seize them.

my 2 cents for anyone looking at storing a car (any car) away for a long time is to get axle stands and put the car on those, with the parking brake OFF. this will save your tires, dampers & parking brake mechanism :D
lots of other things to do with the battery and vehicle fluids but those are for another string.. :p
 
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