[red_bumblebee]

Hi all, after many hours of painstaking diagnosis, I've realised the rear drums on my 75 TA are what is making it clunk around corners.

The symptoms are:
-clunks/grabs around corners after a period of driving (doesn't seem to do it from dead cold)
-clunks from a stop when pulling up at a stop/traffic light
-clunks when pulling to a stop after being on a highway for 30-40 miles without applying the brakes once

After clunking/grabbing a couple of times the noise goes away or it goes away after I pick up a bit of speed. The drums were very recently skimmed, and the drum mechanisms and shoes have 1-2 thousand miles on them tops.

I backed off the e-brake cable a few turns the other day and it seemed to take much longer for the noises to happen, but it still happened after maybe 15 miles driving.

My thoughts are:
-e-brake cable adjusted too tight
-e-brake cables worn out/rusty/need lubricant and not allowing shoes to return

Is there anything else anyone can suggest?
Thanks in advance.

[1969GiPper]

Brake shoes on correctly? Primary shoe towards the front of the vehicle and secondary towards the rear?

[red_bumblebee]

It's been a long time since I did them but from memory the shoes are interchangeable/neither is labelled primary/secondary etc. All the other parts of the mechanism fit and work correctly and have done so for however long they've been together.

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[Sirrotica]

Short shoe goes to the front always, they are not interchangeable.

I have seen some people cut drums at high feed on the final cut instead of taking a slow final cut. This in effect makes a thread on the drum surface. When the brakes are applied the shoes move away from the backing plate because of the threaded finish and then the hold down springs snap the shoes back onto the backing plate. It may or may not be the problem, just something I have seen working at a dealership on a brand new car that had a snap when the brakes were applied.

Brake self adjusters on the wrong sides which will adjust the brakes when moving forward instead of only when backing up, or two adjusters with the same side designation, 2 rights or 2 lefts. The adjusters need to be on the correct sides, they are not interchangeable. One has right hand threads and the other has a left hand thread. They are marked with a L or an R stamped on the adjuster.

Frozen/stuck emergency brake cables, quite common on rust belt cars, backing off the cable adjustment will have no effect if the cables are frozen in the cable housings.

Also inspect the brake drums very closely as they have been occasionally been known to crack and make a snapping noise when they get hot, not very common, but it does happen.

With the wheel off the ground transmission in neutral, it should have little if any drag trying to turn it by hand, if it drags trying to turn it by hand the adjustment is too tight, or the emergency brake cables are stuck.

[red_bumblebee]

Hmm very interesting. Thanks for the tips, I'll pull it apart again and have a look.

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[CraigGT37]

I have also heard noises from the shoes contacting the backing plates. They should have a little bit of grease where the shoes contact them.

[amcmike]

When's the last time you've had the fluid flushed and replaced?

[red_bumblebee]

Hi all, primary and secondary shoes are the correct way around, cables aren't stuck (have re-oiled for temporary fix and have ordered new ones) and the adjusters are round the right way. I haven't driven it again since so I'm hoping it was the handbrake cables as they were a little stiff to move.

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[red_bumblebee]

Also the fluid is probably only 2 years old max, it should be relatively fresh.

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