Urgent help - brake shoe springs

[Gold 'N' Brown]

I've read the big topic about the common failure caused by the brake shoes delaminating, and the guide on how to do all the work. I've also got a Haynes manual. But I'm struggling to fit my new shoes back on. This is on a Ph2 V70 T5.

To be fair I only had a brief attempt as I got called back in doors half way through. But it seems a real faff trying to get the springs back on, so I'm wondering if there are any tricks or perferred ways to go about this. I've done it in the order that Haynes described. So I'm trying to fit the thicker spring (next to the expander) first. I did briefly try putting the thinner spring on the other side on first, but still seems tricky. Is it really a case of using brute force with pliers to stretch the spring between the shoes (which is bloody difficult without a 3rd hand)? Or am I doing something wrong?

I did wonder if it's worth putting the retaining springs in first so at least the shoes will stay in place while I tackle the other springs. Sounds logical, but I just didn't try it at the time as I was following the Haynes instructions.

[graemewelch]

i think the way i did it was to put one shoe on. then put big spring on other shoe whilst its off. then fit to the hub. hope that makes sense. im sure ive got pics of the brake set up. ill have a look and see if it refreshes my memory

[M-R-P]

Will be watching this - my rears are due soon.

[graemewelch]

Will be watching this - my rears are due soon.

im sure if you ask graham nicley hell sort your rear end for you

[M-R-P]

im sure if you ask graham nicley hell sort your rear end for you

Dude - seriously?


eeewwwwww.....

He was busy trying to lure the lesbian next door with PFV sweeties on Friday lol.

[partsforvolvos.com]

quote stiffler - 'good luck with that forcefield'

remember what happened next - they werent lesbians! maybe graham knows something u don't.
or are they proper butch ?

[M-R-P]

quote stiffler - 'good luck with that forcefield'

remember what happened next - they werent lesbians! maybe graham knows something u don't.
or are they proper butch ?

I wouldn't do 'em with Graham's lol.

Not what I'd call "butch" - they don't wear dungarees or have grade 4, mulitcoloured haircuts or even the kind of face piercings that look like they've gone arse-up in someone's tackle box, just not desirable to anybody with meat 'n two veg ;)

[partsforvolvos.com]

or even the kind of face piercings that look like they've gone arse-up in someone's tackle box, just not desirable to anybody with meat 'n two veg ;)

:bud:

now THAT was funny. quote of the day easily ........... :B_thumb:

[Gold 'N' Brown]

For feck's sake lads! On topic please. I know it's a bit much to ask for on VPC :haha: I got all excited thinking there was lots of helpful replies and instead it's all stuff about bumming and lezzers! Except for Graeme's reply....


i think the way i did it was to put one shoe on. then put big spring on other shoe whilst its off. then fit to the hub. hope that makes sense. im sure ive got pics of the brake set up. ill have a look and see if it refreshes my memory

Yeah, I did think this might be the way and also gave it a really quick try. Didn't seem like it was going to work for me as I couldn;t work the spring between the expander thingy and the hub. Seems like you need to get the spring between them first, mount up to one shoe and then stretch it to the other shoe, which is no easy feat.

[graemewelch]

i had a look for a pic but couldnt find one, can you post a pic and ill see if it refreshes me. must be a easy way cause seem to remember i had them dont with in a hour

[M-R-P]

i had a look for a pic but couldnt find one, can you post a pic and ill see if it refreshes me. must be a easy way cause seem to remember i had them dont with in a hour

What, the lesbians? :yikes:

[partsforvolvos.com]

[QUOTE=Gold 'N' Brown;642685]For feck's sake lads! On topic please. I know it's a bit much to ask for on VPC :haha: I got all excited thinking there was lots of helpful replies and instead it's all stuff about bumming and lezzers! Except for Graeme's reply....



sorry :redface:

[M-R-P]

We just got told off by a newbie lmao!

[partsforvolvos.com]

he's got a point to be fair, and he did it nicely .

[M-R-P]

he's got a point to be fair, and he did it nicely .

Indeed he did :)

And if I hadn't put my back out yesterday, I'd go out and strip the hub down on my car and devise a way of doing the shoes, by means of making it up to him :D

[stephenevans99]

Same here Mr P - watching with interest - not just for the lesbians, but I'll be doing mine later on in the year too.


I'll be fitting the new adjusters at the same time. I've read over on VOC that if you're changing the handbrake shoes, you may as well fit a replacement adjuster. Most have the H bar fitted as circled in red:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/stephenevans99/th_handbrake3.jpg (http://s24.photobucket.com/user/stephenevans99/media/handbrake3.jpg.html)

which can be replaced by the 'claw' type adjuster:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/stephenevans99/1029054-1.jpg (http://s24.photobucket.com/user/stephenevans99/media/1029054-1.jpg.html)

The benefit for fitting the new adjuster is that the handbrake shoes can now be adjusted through a wheel stud hole for convenience.

Volvo Part numbers are 30793438 for the 'claw' and 30793437 for the 'adjusting link'. I've read that they cost approx £23.

I should imagine that this will be applicable to most if not all P2's - maybe worth looking into to....

[M-R-P]

Nice one Steve :)

[stribo]

How did a thread manage to go off topic without me and Frankie (verbally)abusing each other.

[T5RatherAmusin]

done mine earlier in the year. wouldve done a how2 but thort noone would need it tbh as its a simple enough job....
loosen from handrake adjuster. get disks off..
grab srings with a needle plier, push in and slide back and out. remember which way it slides back into lock in place.
clean all up including arm.
think i locked the top one in first withspring. then work the side with the arm making sure the bar plate is correctly in place
and get springs back on. sometimes the springs are a lil fiddly and like having them already on helps...
but thats bout it

[stephenevans99]

done mine earlier in the year. wouldve done a how2 but thort noone would need it tbh as its a simple enough job....


We like 'how2s'....even for the simple jobs - with lots of pics 'cos we're speshul ;)

[Gold 'N' Brown]

Indeed he did :)

And if I hadn't put my back out yesterday, I'd go out and strip the hub down on my car and devise a way of doing the shoes, by means of making it up to him :D

And so you bloody well should have! Without blowing smoke up your arse, you are the most helpful member of VPCUK, so to say I was disappointed by your seedy responses is an understatement. Now go and wash your mouth out, and clean under your fingernails too if you are planning on typing, and come back with some sensible technical replies. Naughty boy.

[M-R-P]

:cry::cussing::sorry::pants::nutkick::wallbash::as hamed::dunce:

[Gold 'N' Brown]

Right, brakes are done, and I learned a couple of things that might be useful to others.

EDIT: Apologies in advance, but my pics are quite large, so please be patient whilst they load if you click to enlarge.....

Number 1 - The reason I was struggling with the big spring is that the new spring I was trying to fit is actually shorter than the old one. I'd actually seen this mentioned in another thread somewhere on the interweb, so it was on my mind to check it. So, if you are re-using your old spring, it shouldn't be too hard (that's what I've ended up doing), and if you've bought a set of new springs, check your lengths (ooh er!). See pic below
22551

Number 2 - The way I put it back together is to first of all fix both shoes in position with their retaining springs (the one's that push in through the center), then do the big spring, then fit the H bar (or adjuster, which I'll come on to), and finish with the thin spring.

TIP - On the first side I still had a bit of a fight with the big spring as I was trying to use pliers to hold it and stretch it up to the top shoe. On the 2nd shoe I found a much easier method, using a long flat head screwdriver as a lever. Fit the spring to the bottom shoe, pass it between the hub and the expander, then put the blade of the screwdriver in the hook at the top of the spring, lay the screwdriver over the top of the hub and lever against it until the spring pops in to the hole on the shoe. Remove screwdriver and tap the hook fully in to position on the shoe. Job jobbed. See piccys....
225522255322554

As noted earlier in this thread, you can replace the H bar with adjusters. Having read of other people still struggling to pass their MOT with all new parts, and with my MOT Failure being the reason for doing this (11% efficiency) I thought it would be prudent to fit the adjusters rather than take any chances. They go on easy, and are a piece of cake to adjust through a wheel bolt hole. I've no way to compare before and after since I've replaced the disks and shoes at the same time, but my handbrake is now pretty solid. At 3 clicks the car won't either forwards or backwards if I ease out the clutch and give it a gentle bit of throttle.

22555

Fingers crossed it's enough to clear the MOT on Tues!

[partsforvolvos.com]

how long is the original longer spring?
i might check my kits to see which is in them- it could well be based on the original design.

[Gold 'N' Brown]

I won't be able to measure the original springs as that would mean taking the brakes apart again, but I'll happily measure the replacement ones I've got (which are about 0.5 cm shorter). I got my kit of springs from eBay over a year ago. In hindsight, using the method I mentioned above of using the screwdriver to lever the spring upwards, probably would have allowed me to fit the new springs. But I never thought to try it at the time.

It passed the MOT retest. I think it was 19% efficiency this time (up from 11%). The tester said that the NS was fine, nice and strong, but the OS was much weaker and he really had to pull the handbrake up to get enough for the test. I do remember when I set the new adjusters that I hadn't matched them side to side and that the OS (which I did last) was a bit looser than the NS. So I think this goes to prove how essential those adjusters are. I think perphaps it would still have failed without them. I'll give the OS another click or two to tighten it up.

[Gold 'N' Brown]

Having had the joy of taking this all apart again today (possibly the 3rd time since I've had the car) to do the handbrake cables, I'd totally forgotten my own advice about how to put the springs back together, and it's bugger of a job if you don't know the tricks. Anyways, I was watching a very handy video on Youtube about handbrake cable replacement and the guy had a much better way of doing the springs, which I followed, and it saved a bunch of time and effort.

Get the top shoe on first, pop the retaining spring (a.k.a. Little C***) in.
Pick up the bottom shoe and attach one end of the thick spring to it.
Hook the other end of the thick spring in to the top shoe.
Now try to pass the spring behind the expander whilst pulling down on the bottom shoe to stretch the spring down (this is much easier as you can get a good grip on the shoe and have more leverage)
YOu do still have to apply quite a bit of strength to stretch the spring far enough but the lower shoe will soon pop in to place.
Fit the retaining spring to the lower shoe.
Fit the H bar (or knurled adjuster)
Fit the thin spring between the two shoes.


Now, if only someone could come up with a guaranteed easy way to remove the shoe retaining springs (which are still a bastid even when you know how to do them) this whole job would be so simple.