brake adjusters - replacing and adjusting

[NickDawson]

Hello old friends!
It's been some time since I've been here. I've missed you all!

My III has been garaged for about a year, with a few occasional outings, while I moved and got resettled.

I'm tackling old issues, and trying to get it back on the road. One of the most concerning problems is a sharp pull to the left when I apply the brakes. We've long held that the adjusters needed to be fine tuned, but one of them was stripped out.

So, today, I set out to replace the front adjusters. My Rover is an 88 but has a 109 front end. I've got the Proline adjuster kit and am well into replacing the front right adjusters.

I'm at that familiar point where I need some of your collective expertise.

Adjusters:

• The old adjusters seem to be some kind of factory installed part. Or at least we couldn't determine how to remove them. When the shoes were removed, and the rear nut was turned the main post also turned. In other words, there was nothing to unscrew, it simply spun in place. So we cut them out and knocked out the old nuts. No biggie, right?
• The new adjusters have a hollow nut, washer, shallow sleeve, spring, cam and small nut. Here's how we fit them:
  large hollow nut --> washer --> [wheel] --> sleeve -->spring--> cam --> small nut
  Is that correct?
• With the shoes off, and nothing holding the cylinders in place, does it make sense that pumping the brakes pushes fluid and ultimately the pistons out of the cylinders? Or do I have a failed cylinder?

Shoes:

• ok, whats the trick? Why is this the world's most frustrating process? Every time I've replace wheel cylinders I fight getting the shoes back on. Tonight was no exception. Spring first, then position the small tab into the cylinder and then pry, bang, snap, yell, ugh, and repeat to get the pivot tab into the rear of the other cylinder. Whats the trick?

Adjusting:

• Here's the rub - literally. Now that I have everything back together, there is a slight rub. The wheel and drum spin well, but you can hear some rubbing. It won't make a full 360 rotation, but I'm not sure the working (other) side will either. How's it done?
• I cranked the adjuster down, and then backed off (roughly) two clicks, per the Green Bible. Anything else I should do?

Misc:

• the shallow, 1" slotted pan head screws that hold the drums to the wheel....One of mine stripped out. Nightmare to get it off, but its done. I can fix by hacksawing a slightly deeper slot. But what's the trick? They are so shallow to start with. Does one night tighten them much?
• When I took the drum off, there was a noticeable deposit of grease inside the drum. Not fluid, but grease. What on earth could I have greased a year ago that would bleed into the drum and shoes? If I clean it up, is it a concern?

• 

Whew! That's my list of issues and questions. Any insights?

[SafeAirOne]

With the shoes off, and nothing holding the cylinders in place, does it make sense that pumping the brakes pushes fluid and ultimately the pistons out of the cylinders?

Yes.

Here's the rub - literally. Now that I have everything back together, there is a slight rub. The wheel and drum spin well, but you can hear some rubbing. It won't make a full 360 rotation, but I'm not sure the working (other) side will either. How's it done?[*]I cranked the adjuster down, and then backed off (roughly) two clicks, per the Green Bible. Anything else I should do?

Once you have the drums back on, give the brake pedal several hard pushes to center up the brake shoes in the drum.

the shallow, 1" slotted pan head screws that hold the drums to the wheel....One of mine stripped out. Nightmare to get it off, but its done. I can fix by hacksawing a slightly deeper slot. But what's the trick? They are so shallow to start with. Does one night tighten them much?

Some people omit these. I don't. I just put a liberal coating of anti-seize compound on the threads and under the countersink. I've never had problems removing them after doing so.

When I took the drum off, there was a noticeable deposit of grease inside the drum. Not fluid, but grease.

More likely oil from the axle leaking from the hub and mixing with brake dust.

[NickDawson]

And this is why I love this group!
Thank you very much Mark - huge help!

[darbsclt]

You may have this sorted already... but, if not, here's a useful thread from the S2C forum...

http://www.s2cforum.com/archives/index.php?topic=7165.0

In that thread, a reference is made to TeriAnn's website which has a GREAT tutorial for 109 Brake shoe replacement/adjustment.

http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/landRoverFAQ/FAQ_rearbrakes.htm

Good luck...

[I Leak Oil]

Yes, anti-seize on those flat head screws and I just barely seat them. All they do is hold the drum on when the wheel is off so you don't need them to be too tight. If you don't put them back on it's not the end of the world either.

[NickDawson]

Thanks gang!
Either during the process, or as a pre-existing condition, we determined one of the cylinders was bad. It didn't actuate at all.

The ole beast needs a professional going over anyway, so I drove it down to a local shop which has some Rover and MG history and dropped it off. I think it's probably worth a few hundred bucks to make sure it stops when I step on the brakes

But, I'm proud of my dad and I for replacing the adjusters and getting everything back together again. After a year away from my III, it felt good to get greasy again. I'm looking forward to getting it on the road by summer.