Those 406 rear brakes

[Carpman]

So I have been getting a rumbling sound from one of the rear wheels when I turn left, and checking it out looks like the brakes are the problem. I took them apart and decided to change the whole lot except the calipers, (rear disc brakes with handbrake shoes) they just need cleaning and new slide pins etc.

Nice and easy then lol.

After fiddling with fitting the new handbrake shoes and getting the adjuster to minimum i'm finding that the new discs are not spinning freely over the new shoes like they should, and after a few turns by hand then they can bind quite tight. I noticed on the old shoes that near the caliper end they are very worn, or had some type of profile to them, where as the new lockheed ones are the same thickness the whole way across.

Has anyone else had something similer who could pass on some golden nuggets of info to help me out?

Carpman

[mjb]

IIRC there's the handbrake cable adjuster and adjusters on the brakes themselves... Have you taken both back?

[steve_earwig]

Is that they go tight after a few turns (revolutions) or they go tight in one spot?

Is your handbrake cable siezed? The end near the calliper is the bit where the cable does its stuff, try backing off the cable adjuster.

[Carpman]

Thanks for the answers guys.

I have got new handbrake cable's, and they are not connected to the main handbrake cable just get, so no tension applied right now. I have backed off the adjuster completely, on one side I have it so the disc does spin round with just a bit of drag now but I am thinking it should spin freely.

For some reason the other side is proving really hard to get on, gonna go and adjust things again see if it just needs to be centred better.

Carpman

[steve_earwig]

As the handbrakes aren't meant to be used when the car is moving I have a feeling thay're not machined particularly round, I know mine aren't... You might have to back the adjuster a fair way off to get the disk on, then wind it back 'til the shoes start finding the high spots again, turning the disk every now and then to encourage things to line up.

[DaiRees]

Connect the cables up then turn the drums and "work" the handbrake each time between adjustments, this will make sure that the shoes are centred. I recently adjusted my andbrake (for the MOT ) and found that you can set it up much more accurately if you make the adjustments a little at a time and apply and release the handbrake a few times bedween each adjustment.

The other thing is that you may need to give it a little drive just to start the bedding in process and knock any rough edges off the shoes. I'd go gently for a few miles then jack the back up and see how well the wheels spin, if they're still binding then it'll need a bit more attention.

[Carpman]

To be honest I think that is the way to go, just to get them on I had to keep turning the disc round and round over the shoes until as you say, it rounds them off a bit, at one point I thought about putting the old shoes back on as they are quite worn on the edges in the same place the new ones a catching, but then thought no, they should fit.

I got the new disc's, pads and shoes on now. Ran out of light so will have to wait till tomorrow before I tackle removing the old handbrake cables and connecting up the new ones, I took off the heat shield and had a look, all looks nice and crusty so I gave it a good soaking of WD40 so hopefully it will budge.

Turning out to be a lot more hassle than I thought it would be but I think i am getting there slowly, everything just seems to be a super tight fit.

Thanks for you help and ideas guys.

Carpman

[steve_earwig]

Just a thought: are you having the same trouble both sides? It's nof the back plates been made wrong is it?

[Carpman]

I'm thinking that maybe it's just because they are not original disc's/shoes even the pads are a really tight, so much so that I have had to leave off one of the anti squeel shims on each side because they won't go in without locking the disc solid.

I think I will drive around a bit until they bed in then remove the pads and fit the other shim, in fact I will get some new ones perhaps there is still a mm over crud on each shim making the problem worse, well at least it only rained most of the day lol

Carpman

[mbell666]

I'm thinking that maybe it's just because they are not original disc's/shoes even the pads are a really tight, so much so that I have had to leave off one of the anti squeel shims on each side because they won't go in without locking the disc solid.

Had exactly the same problem when i did the rear brake on mine. left them out for a few k then got a set of new shims from the stealers where only a few quid.

[Carpman]

Had exactly the same problem when i did the rear brake on mine. left them out for a few k then got a set of new shims from the stealers where only a few quid.

Thanks m8, makes me feel a bit better knowing it's not just me.

Carpman

[Carpman]

Finally got around to getting it all done. I changed over the two handbrake cables while I was there, but after a couple of hours faffing around under the car trying to connect up the near side cable which is restricted by the exhaust, I came to the conclusion that the part I got from my motor factors was in fact the wrong size, the bolt that connects to the middle cable was just a tad to big, so it would connect in but felt like it was crossed threaded and then got really tight.

Anyway I got on the phone and gave them a bit of a mouthful, what with the brake shoes not fitting quite right this was the final straw I was really mad. I took with me the nut from the original part down to the motor factor ( didn't want to remove the f'ing caliper and disc again!) and this time they produced a cable that this nut threaded onto perfectly, when I got the cable home and compared it to the one they had given me first time around there was a clear difference, in fact it was a different colour, what's annoying is they treat you with contempt saying are you sure you didn't cross thread it, never believing that they are the problem.

I will be returning this cable next week and letting them and everyone who is in their shop at the time, know how much of a pain in the ar*e their mistake caused me im still mad about it now and it's 6 hours later, how bad is that

On reflection this job should have taken me around half a day had everything fitted perfectly first time around, but it's taken me days to get it sorted, any one think the disc/pads/shoes would have been a better fit if I had got them from Peugeot? the pads/shoes were from lockhead, I wonder if they are getting some of their production done in China now.

I think the disc's were ok, just the pads and shoes were slightly too thick. At least they are on now and I have a handbrake that will hold the car at last, thanks to all who helped.

Carpman

PS I am starting the service tomorrow, weather permitting, I hope they gave me the right aux belt.

[steve_earwig]

I got new disks & pads from Pug (few options here...) and they fitted ok. Lockheed probably assume that 99% of the time it doesn't matter if they're a bit over-size.

[teamster1975]

I used mintex discs, pads & shoes on my rears brakes, all fitted perfectly & the brake response is good. Just a thought!

[mjb]

I bought my lucas branded pads, shoes and discs from a local factor for a fraction of the price of the dealers. Fitted perfectly. Probably the same parts in a different box tbh