UNDER THE VEHICLE – REAR

22 DISMANTLE REAR BRAKES

The rear brakes are drums. To dismantle them you first need to remove the hub nut cap on each – use a hammer and chisel to lever it off. Underneath each is a 32mm hub nut to be undone. Once they’re out of the way, lever the drum away from the wheel using two hefty screwdrivers.

25 MORE LUBRICATION

Clean inside the drums with abrasive paper to remove any loose or surface rust. Next, use a screwdriver to lever the shoes slightly away from the backplate. At the points where the shoes rest against the backplate, use a bent-over hacksaw blade to apply small dabs of copper grease as lubrication.

23 CLEAN DRUM BRAKES

The drum brake mechanism should be cleaned using a wire brush – carefully, because the brake mechanism can come to pieces when the drum is removed. Use spray cleaner as well. Assuming your brakes haven’t started disintegrating, push on each side of the piston to make sure it hasn’t seized – ours had.

26 REASSEMBLE BRAKES

Trial-fit the drum and use small pliers to turn the small cogged wheel under the piston to adjust the brake shoes in or out – upwards moves them outwards. There should be the slightest bit of friction when you put on the drum, although it should still turn freely. The hub nut is done up to 200Nm.

24 CHECK WHEEL CYLINDERS

Peel back the piston rubbers using a screwdriver blade. If there’s fluid underneath, the cylinder is leaking – as was the case here, meaning replacement was necessary. Assuming there are no such issues, clean the brake shoes in situ by running over them with some abrasive paper.

27 SECURE REAR WHEELS

To make sure there’s no chance of a rear wheel coming off, even if the securing nut does work loose, use a hammer and chisel to ‘tab down’ one side of the nut until it’s firmly in place. After this, refit the nut cover and hammer it so it fits firmly.