406oc.co.uk

I changed the rear discs,calipers,pads and handbrake shoes a few weeks back and decided today to readjust the handbrake after the shoes had bedded in,all went well untill i gave the handbrake a good tug to check if it held and "bang" no handbrake! The cable from front to back has snapped,not so bad i thought untill i checked the two cables from the hubs and found the adjuster to the centre pull rusted solid! So i now need to fit 3 new cables and another rear brake strip out,don't you just love 406 handbrakes

Sorry to hear that - what a pain in the ****!

However, after all the work you may just end up with a beautifully adjusted handbrake that works like a dream!

Jonty

drjonts wrote:Sorry to hear that - what a pain in the ****!

However, after all the work you may just end up with a beautifully adjusted handbrake that works like a dream!

for a few weeks.

The springs in the handbrake are vicious bastards but I have seen on the Toyota forums there is a tool for dealing with them. Not that I can find anything like it on ebay Looks like a metal rod with a hook on one end and a handle on the other. I'm still driving about with the old shoes of my 406 to see about getting softer linings put on them, I think the problem with the replacements I have is the material is fairly generic and meant to hydraulic brakes and handbrake mechanisms that have a decent amount of leverage to them

Would a tent peg puller do the job of spring removal?

D9406 wrote:Would a tent peg puller do the job of spring removal?

Can't see why not and their cheap as chips.

*a quick google later...* That looks just like what they guy's using on the Toyota forum

steve_earwig wrote: *a quick google later...* That looks just like what they guy's using on the Toyota forum

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RUBBER-MALLET ... 5ae8ffdbe9
Look how cheap that is... And if it don't work it comes with a mallet to beat the sh*t out of it

Seriously though I'd go for one of these.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-2-TWO-CAM ... 35bf4f0252

I use a large pair of side cuts to grip the spring and lever it into position or sometimes a small pair of long nose mole grips clamped onto the spring.

Mine failed the mot today on the handbrake.Not enough hold & right hand cable not functioning properly.That is after fitting new discs,pads,shoes & springs the other week & adjusting it again at the weekend.No have the task of fitting 2 new cables this week in the dark after work
I have NEVER had a car with such a crap handbrake Every mot it just scrapes through on the handbrake,dispite adjusting it in readyness for the mot.

On the other note about a tool for the springs.I use a flat blade screwdriver which i have used my bench grinder to put a notch in the side of the blade which helps to pull the spring down while a use another screwdriver to push the spring in to locate it.

In order to get a decent handbrake, remove the expander mechanism( the bit that is connected to the cable inside the drum ) and clean it with emery and copperslip it before reassembling.

What a pig! Well i've done it.The front cable i bought was the wrong one,it was about 4" to long but it fitted in the end with a bit of rerouting,the L/H rear cable was siezed into the backplate so that needed drifting out and the hand brake shoes and springs went in all directions when i tried to connect the cable to the pivot plate so much cursing and swearing was expressed at those sodding springs.All adjusted up and still got a crap handbrake but hey ho whats new!!

I've got not so fond memories of replacing the handbrake cables as well, on the plus side the handbrake worked pretty well until I had to get rid of the car!
The biggest pain was routing the cable into the cabin without slicing your arm/hand on the heat shield!