PhillipM wrote:jasper5 wrote:
When they are set up correctly they work correctly!!
Mine works. It's had everything replaced and set up correctly.
But it doesn't work 'well' by any stretch of the imagination.
Attempting to lock the rear wheels with it requires such force that you can feel things starting to stretch. Parking the thing on a hill requires 3x the force on the handbrake to hold it compared to my old 306. It's just a poor design.
Hence considering having the shoes re-lined with a rally compound. If that's not enough I'll remake the handbrake itself as the pivot there has similar leverage issues to the expanders.
My present 406 Estate works perfectly with normal effort on 4 clicks of the handbrake lever, my previous saloon worked perfectly on 4 clicks, even with my wife using it every day...she did 64,000 miles in the car without replacing the shoes, cables or anything!
I recently replaced my brother's worn out 406 Estate handbrake shoes with my usual Mintex ones...his handbrake works perfectly, even with his caravan connected!
In my how-to I mention setting the shoes with all cable adjusters backed off, tighten the adjuster wheels until the drum is locked solid and you can't adjust any more...then back off one click at a time until the shoes are just binding a little, usually 3 or 4 clicks, then adjusting the rear cable and finally the cable at the handbrake lever...this is for maximum leverage.
As a professional mechanic (46 years experience, 36 years in business) I constantly see issues with handbrakes where they are adjusted incorrectly and therefore losing leverage...cables adjusted without setting the handbrake pads/shoes properly first.
but the last one is the same as the first.
)
run's for cover 
