colin weston Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Has the adjusting mechanism for the Boxer 3 handbrake changed? I recently had a situation where the LH rear brake is binding. Having removed the wheel the brake pads appear not to be seized. The wheel rotates easily over most of its rotation and then comes to a tight section. One can feel the intermittent drag whilst driving slowly and a rotational clonk when first pulling away. I have booked the van (2007 Autocruise with ALco chassis) in at a local garage but having looked at a thread decided to try and wind back the adjuster in the drum to try and free things off. The diagram shows access to the toothed pin via a stud hole but either I am going blind or the design has changed as I can locate the toothed wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Hi Colin, It sounds to me like you have some surface corrosion on the inside of the drum which is caused by parking the vehicle with the handbrake on for a length of time after driving in wet conditions. It can probably be cleaned up though. The adjuster is still accessed through one of the wheel bolt holes and needs to be backed off before removing the disc. Sometimes a little soft hammer action is required as well to free it all off. Its a really good idea to leave the handbrake off when parking for extended periods. Just leave it in gear. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin weston Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 Thanks for your reply. I always leave the handbrake off and van in gear when parked up in my drive. The problem occurred after I had some new tyres fitted and I reversed out of the tyre depot and I believe that I pulled on the handbrake whilst still travelling backwards, albeit slowly. I wonder whether this had caused the adjuster to tighten up. Everything had been fine up till then. Whereabouts is the adjuster located, e.g. 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 I had the same issue last Christmas after the van sat in could wet weather for two months with the handbrake on. Reasons existed for not moving the van. I called up Britannia Rescue and the local man came and freed the brakes for me. A local garage then cleaned them up and child the over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 My ALCO chassis is about 2008 based on a Fiat X250 3 litre. The parking brake adjustment is at the 3 o'clock position on the offside (as confirmed by photo I took). On the nearside, it may well be at the 9 o'clock position. As you are probably aware, the brake shoes are not self-adjusting but need to be adjusted manually using the star adjuster. Perhaps the brake shoes need centralising. Just give a few sharp pulls on the handbrake. Worth a try !!! I wouldn't worry too much unless the brake drum is getting hot after a 10mile drive. A word of warning. I had the parking brake adjusted by a reputable garage just before leaving for France. I noticed an acrid burning smell on the way to Dover. I pulled into a layby and the rear drums were red hot to the touch. I had to crawl under the van and slacken off the central cable adjusting nut which seemed to cure things, temporarily. So, if you have any adjustment done at a garage, make sure you give it a good test drive afterwards and check if the rear drums are getting hot. They shouldn't get hot at all as the main braking is done by the disc brakes, although there will be a small amount of heat transfer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 The almost universal adoption of self adjusting brakes means manual adjustment borders on being a lost art. Why bother with removing a wheel bolt on each side when its quicker to take few turns on the cable. Best practice was always start at the wheels and work back to the drivers controls. Just rear wheels brakes were a bit before my time on the tools but there were a fair number of pre-war all mechanical systems a round in the early 60s. Times they are a changing but that nothing new either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted December 18, 2015 Share Posted December 18, 2015 Memory fade is new though, forgot I had already hit the submit button Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted December 19, 2015 Share Posted December 19, 2015 The fact that you applied the handbrake whilst still moving rings a few alarm bells. this happened with my AT Cheyenne (Fiat Ducato).One of the small spring clips that secures the shoes to the back plate may have been dislodged and is carching inside. In my case I didn't realise what it was until it had jammed against the shoe whilst driving and caused mahem in the drum. Best advice I can give is take the disc off and have a look, otherwise it may become quite costly. In my case I had to replace the shoes and all the springs, cost for parts from Fiat Commercial Garage (North East Vans & Trucks) was just over £300 (parts only). Got them from Eurocarparts for £57. Best of luck. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin weston Posted January 1, 2016 Author Share Posted January 1, 2016 Just an update for information. I took the van to a local garage and yes, a spring had come adrift. They cleaned out the drums and supposedly adjusted everything. I went on a test drive and the nearside drum was getting hot and the shoe was still rubbing. Also the travel on the handbrake lever was more than before. Went back and they backed off the adjuster on the nearside. I queried the amount of travel on the handbrake lever before one gets any effect, six clicks, and I was assured that this is the recommended setting. Having searched on the internet I found a procedure which confirmed the six click setting. Any comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I have not seen the 2006 set up but typically the adjustment is taken up by a ratchet and pawl set up inside the drum. There needs to be some degree of slack to allow the lightly spring loaded pawl to fall back to engage with the next tooth on the ratchet. Six clicks on is about the norm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Mike P - 2015-12-19 4:44 PM The fact that you applied the handbrake whilst still moving rings a few alarm bells. this happened with my AT Cheyenne (Fiat Ducato) Mike P Did yours also break whilst going backwards? Applying the handbrake whilst the wheels are rotating forward is part of MOT, on my last MOT only just passed, speculation was rust in the drums, and possibly needing to 'clean' them up for next one by lightly applying a few times on way to garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Colin, I was rolling backwards off the levelling ramps on my drive and stopped it rather firmly with the handbrake (lesson learned!). I can't imagine a "tickle" with the handbrake whilst moving slowly would cause any problem, just don't pull it on fully. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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