Driver's side rear drum binding only

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Danzka
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Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Danzka »

Hi everyone,

Your help on this would be very much appreciated as this one has me stumped. The driver's side rear drum brake binds, but the left side does not. I discovered this when I replaced both rear drums and when I reset the show auto-wear adjustor on both, no matter how I fiddled with it, I end up with the situation whereby if the right one can spin freely, the handbrake goes to high, if I wind in the handbrake nut by the yoke, the right rubs enough to not spin and but the left spins freely with a slight scrap.

The yoke is at an angle,
Yoke
Yoke
With the right side clearly pulling up more than the left. Despite slacking the nut off, setting the auto-wear adjustor back to the thinnest part of the wedge and then pressing the brake pedal, the yoke stays at the angle in the pic. I don't know if this is a normal angle, if the cable is stretched, or if it is the cause of the right side binding first (seems to me, the last is more likely]. I tried holding the left side wedge up with a screwdriver while letting the right side auto adjust first, but that didn't work. It did correct itself once, but could not get it to that again...

Anyone got any ideas as to what it could be, and what the fix is - many thanks for your help in advance.
RUM4MO
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by RUM4MO »

Yes when the equaliser yoke ends up like that things are not right!

Did you remove the entire brake shoe assemblies and clean them up checking for seizure at the levers etc, or just fit new drums?

Why did you need to replace the drums in the first place?
Danzka
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Danzka »

The MOT station snagged the rear brakes as binding and when they took the drums off, they had about a 2mm lip on them. I said I'd do it as they were going to charge £150 + fitting to change pair. He offered to angle grind the lip off but said he would offer no guarantees it would help.

The piston was badly corroded on that side so replaced both of them on both sides, but didn't do a complete strip and assemble as they seemed to work together ok. Might give it a try and see if it makes a difference...
RUM4MO
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by RUM4MO »

That is a nuisance as the lip, well at least the outer lip is normally 80% build up of corrosion that can be chipped off, wire brushed off, or if you want taken off using an angle grinder - I'd always start with chipping or powered wire brush, and that lip usually only causes issues when taking the drums off.

Oh well as you replaced the cylinders that removes an area that I forgot to mention!

Some people with an older Fabia/Polo/Ibiza, have bought in a complete brake shoe + springs assembly, new wedge and spring, hold down springs, glide pads, hub nuts and hub cover - for not much money, but that only work when planning ahead, after an MOT failure you are limited a bit more.

Personally I hate drum brakes and tend to scatter a bit more cash to make sure that I escape ending up with one, last one I poked around on was a late 2009 SEAT Ibiza at 60K miles, luckily it just needed the drums cleaning up and washing out the shoe/spring areas and relub'ng everything.
spartacus68
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by spartacus68 »

Drum brakes are the devil's work!

Just been through this with my last daily runner which was a Skoda Fabia. My daighter's Fiat 500 failed its MOT last week on rear brakes despite a complete breakdown and rebuild.

Replacing the pistons is a good call. They are inexpensive, and you'll see tell tale signs of brake fluid loss on dust sleeves.

Strip the whole lot out. The shoes themselves are inexpensive, and often the integral lever that the handbrake cable attaches to seizes. There's also little nylon anti-friction pads on the inside of the hub that the shoe sits against that break. Use a little copper grease on these pads when refitting the shoes. Lucas, Febi or Bigg Red supply spring kits, again replace as a matter of course.

With everything out (do one side at a time) as there are numerous springs and it's a fiddly operation, so at least you have a reference point if it all goes horribly wrong!

On the drums themselves, you can use a rotary mop attachment on a drill. Gives a nice finish. I've seen cars, like my old Fabia at 100k miles where I should have replaced the actual drums. They loose their inner surface through braking and corrosion, so in extreme cases it's worth replacing.

Lastly check the adjusters and the wedge. Wire brush and check their operation before fitting.

Tools required: Needle nose pliers, a decent heavy duty screwdriver, white lithium grease, methylated spirit, usual socket set.
Danzka
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Danzka »

RUM4MO wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2020 10:26 pm That is a nuisance as the lip, well at least the outer lip is normally 80% build up of corrosion that can be chipped off, wire brushed off, or if you want taken off using an angle grinder - I'd always start with chipping or powered wire brush, and that lip usually only causes issues when taking the drums off.

Oh well as you replaced the cylinders that removes an area that I forgot to mention!

Some people with an older Fabia/Polo/Ibiza, have bought in a complete brake shoe + springs assembly, new wedge and spring, hold down springs, glide pads, hub nuts and hub cover - for not much money, but that only work when planning ahead, after an MOT failure you are limited a bit more.

Personally I hate drum brakes and tend to scatter a bit more cash to make sure that I escape ending up with one, last one I poked around on was a late 2009 SEAT Ibiza at 60K miles, luckily it just needed the drums cleaning up and washing out the shoe/spring areas and relub'ng everything.
Ah that's a shame that the angle grinding would have worked. I considered it, but chose to replace - could have saved myself £60!! Thanks your help though...
Danzka
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Danzka »

spartacus68 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 8:08 am Drum brakes are the devil's work!

Just been through this with my last daily runner which was a Skoda Fabia. My daighter's Fiat 500 failed its MOT last week on rear brakes despite a complete breakdown and rebuild.

Replacing the pistons is a good call. They are inexpensive, and you'll see tell tale signs of brake fluid loss on dust sleeves.

Strip the whole lot out. The shoes themselves are inexpensive, and often the integral lever that the handbrake cable attaches to seizes. There's also little nylon anti-friction pads on the inside of the hub that the shoe sits against that break. Use a little copper grease on these pads when refitting the shoes. Lucas, Febi or Bigg Red supply spring kits, again replace as a matter of course.

With everything out (do one side at a time) as there are numerous springs and it's a fiddly operation, so at least you have a reference point if it all goes horribly wrong!

On the drums themselves, you can use a rotary mop attachment on a drill. Gives a nice finish. I've seen cars, like my old Fabia at 100k miles where I should have replaced the actual drums. They loose their inner surface through braking and corrosion, so in extreme cases it's worth replacing.

Lastly check the adjusters and the wedge. Wire brush and check their operation before fitting.

Tools required: Needle nose pliers, a decent heavy duty screwdriver, white lithium grease, methylated spirit, usual socket set.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I saw 2 of those little nylon pads on the ground while I was replacing the drums but thought they just got kicked there from somewhere. That could explain why the back shoe on that side doesn't seem to move as well as the front one. I'll have to strip it down, find where they're meant to go and replace.

Thanks for your response - appreciate your time.
Danzka
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Danzka »

Actually one thing, to lube or not to lube inside of drum brakes - seen conflicting information on this one... thoughts?
Clayton673
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Re: Driver's side rear drum binding only

Post by Clayton673 »

Hi

I also recently changed both handbrake cables and both rear shoes and drums only one side ( drivers side) gets really hot to the point it smokes this has been a pain as i have tried everything to free the wheel and eventually when i strip the driver side down and get the wheel spinning free it will then lock again

Could this be a issue with the handbrake cable 👍Image
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