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Drove a few hundred yards this evening when there was a really loud bang-cum-springy twang.
Thought it might've been a front spring, but the ride height's normal all round and nothing visibly amiss.
Moved off slowly with the window open & there's a rythmic tapping noise, sounds like each turn of the roadwheels. Stopped again & inspected tyres in case I'd picked something up in one but all looked OK.
Handbrake still works, no odd noises when pulling it on at walking speed....
No noise from the service brakes, but still that tapping noise.
Decided to turn round & go back home. When I reversed there was a serious metal-to-metal grinding noise, but all OK going forward.
Got it up to about 25 & braked quite hard - everything normal and no noises.

My best guess is I've got a detached lining on one of the handbrake shoes. (Any other suggestions gratefully received).

Looks like a fun* weekend ahead. Thankfully I have a loan of my daughter's 307 to get to work tomorrow, but Monday's another thing.

Could be. Jack each corner up and spin the wheels each way?

Reminds me, when I had yoyoiI serviced the other week I had to walk down to the car spares shop to buy a couple of numberplate bulbs. On the way back I saw a Mk2 Ashray estate coming out of Lidl's carpark stop, the guy got out and looked around the car, then got back in. I was walking across behind him and as he pulled forward a bit I saw the broken end of a road spring lying on the crossing, so I picked it up, tapped on his window and asked "were you looking for this?" He took it, said thankyou, handed it to his wife and drove off. I'm still wondering if it was off his car or he'd flipped it up somehow driving over it and it had banged off the bottom of his car.

If you had lost a lining I would have thought that would have been accompanied by a loud scraping noise.

Peter

Sounds like the handbrake bits within the drum, you were lucky* as very often the wheel locks on some cars.

I guess if you couldn't source the parts this weekend for some reason or the back plates need attention then you could remove the handbrake stuff temporarily as the footbrake will still function?

Say's the man who's been living without a handbrake for a week

Never have noticed.

The motor factors half a mile from home tell me they have a set of shoes in stock for £20 & they're open tomorrow, so I will attempt to 'reach an understanding with it' then.

Can you send some dry weather, please? (Forecast is 5-7 degrees and fog, so fingers crossed).

You can has my virtual moral support from here, not easy messing about with rear drumage type discs, I understand they can put up a fight and rather like to stay where they were thank you very much obvs yours will be a walk in the park

Doggy wrote:The motor factors half a mile from home tell me they have a set of shoes in stock for £20 & they're open tomorrow, so I will attempt to 'reach an understanding with it' then.

I suspect you may need the shoe fitting kit if your spring fittings have been rolling around in the rear drum at Audi speeds.....

Do you get a grinding noise on corners, it may just be the bayonet has popped out and the shoe is leaning onto the disc - when you apply the handbrake the shoe is pushed flat against its mating surface normally so will still function* properly*

Well. it's sorted at least for now.
One detached lining as expected, but the bad news is the backplate is corroded enough for the bottom shoe spring gubbins to have pulled through the enlarged hole.
I'm going to have to revisit this when the weather's better - the calipers need freeing off and it really wants a set of rear discs, but my favourite armchair is useable again.

Welly wrote:Sounds like the handbrake bits within the drum, you were lucky* as very often the wheel locks on some cars.

This happened to me during a left turn in a busy intersection, not my idea of a relaxed drive.

I was told by the mechanic to drag the handbrake hard-ish for 5-10 seconds once a month or so, to put some heat through the drum and linings, and to scrub off corrosion. It's especially important in damp weather.

Doggy wrote:the backplate is corroded enough for the bottom shoe spring gubbins to have pulled through the enlarged hole.

Bumholes Can it be saved?

Possibly. I would need to patch the immediate area where the shoe retaining clip goes, but other than that the backplate looks fairly sound.

I've heard of someone using a small bolt and a nyloc nut or equivalent with a washer at the head to stop pulling through the backplate and another at the spring end,seem to recall it worked well.

That's what I was thinking; de-rust and an anti-rust coating then large washers either side of hole etc.