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Wed Aug 23, 2023 11:42 am

I've been looking at this for a couple of days because I replaced the rear shoes, springs and handbrake cables a couple of months ago (cables all move freely and greased) and noticed that the passenger side wheel was a bit hot to the touch. I took the wheel off and stripped the brakes off, checked everything was working ok and reassembled.

Jacked up the rear and adjusted the star adjusters by tightening the shoes to the drums and then backing off so there's a bit of friction. Pressed the brake pedal a few times to seat them. But when I put six clicks on the handbrake and then tighten the cable adjuster nuts at the front, the driver side wheel is tightening more than the passenger side. Tightening the passenger side nut more (so the equalizer bar is becoming unequal) actually makes the driver side tighter as well.

Not sure what's going wrong here - any tips?

Wed Aug 23, 2023 3:42 pm

I use 10-12 clicks on the brake lever, then adjust the square nuts on the crossbar until the wheels are *almost* impossible to turn by hand (wheels are off the ground, safely). In other words you can turn the wheels but you have to reef on them pretty hard for them to turn. Adjust for even force needed on each to make them just turn by hand. This normally takes several tries to get right. Then release the handle and make sure wheels turn freely. It's OK if the crossbar is crooked as long as the braking action is working well. The bar is there partly to account for discrepancies in the length of the cables.

Everything else in your post reads like you're doing things properly.

Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:23 pm

make sure the cables are seated properly. If it continues, mark the cables with a sharpie before and after pulling the brake. See if the cables are pulling equal distance. Sometimes sag or bend in the cable housing can cause differences. As long as the wheels turn freely when the hand brake is off, and lock when pulled, that is all which is really required. Usually one side will tighten earlier when the handbrake is pulled, then as soon as it is tight the other side will tighten up. Kinda like watching landing gear come up on older aircraft, same pump driving them but one side will come up first, as soon as that side is up the other side follows. Same cables but one side will move first on the spreader bar no matter what you do. Only the earlier systems with the separate cables and adjusters work truly simultaneously and independently.

Follow the adjusting procedure in Bentley on the rear drums. I find it works the best. I've tried common several methods over the years, and sometimes the older "tighten until a slight drag is felt then back off one etc" method(s) will cause drums to heat up. The key in the VW method is 3 or 4 clicks backed off, and "spin freely." That will require more frequent adjustments than the other brake adjusting methods, but the drums will not overheat.

Tue Aug 29, 2023 4:07 am

Thanks Steve & Scott,

I marked the cables with a sharpie as suggested (good tip) and one cable is pulling more than the other (16mm vs 11mm). I'll take the drums off and have a look at what's going on and report back.