REAR BRAKE OVERHAUL

1

Drums at the rear, just like a Fiesta from 40 years ago. They’re longer-lasting than they used to be and the self-adjusting mechanism works OK. Thankfully, Ford has ditched the ‘all in one’ brake drum with hub bearing set-up that was expensive to replace.

2

Ford, for some reason, fitted not one but two crosshead screws to retain the rear drums to the hubs, yet none to secure the front discs to the hubs. Ours came out OK, but if they are tight you will probably need an impact driver.

3

Our drum came off quite easily, without the usual issue of the shoes getting caught up on the lip of the drum. They hadn’t ever been off either, judging by the amount of brake dust – to be honest, these rear brakes would be fine after a good clean.

4

Here is a close-up of the rear brake shoe adjuster – a self-adjusting set-up. There is the usual long threaded rod between the shoes and the knurled adjuster wheel is turned by that angled bit of steel – the long spring pulls it down as the shoes wear out gradually.

5

Even though it has been years since brake linings were made with asbestos, it’s still important to clean out any brake dust carefully, especially if working in a confined space. Use brake cleaner as shown to wash it all down thoroughly, then allow it to dry.

6

Our brake shoes came from GSF Car Parts and were manufactured by Raicam. Founded in Italy in 1982, Raicam took over Automotive Products Italy a few years back and manufacture many OEM brake and clutch parts. Good stuff, then.

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Here are our new shoes laid out for assembly. The handbrake lever is already fitted and it’s always a good idea to compare the new brake shoes with the old ones before you start taking it to bits.

8

Before we went any further, we flipped back the dust covers on the wheel cylinders to make sure they weren’t leaking. Ours weren’t, but if they are then they must be replaced before the new shoes go on. They are secured by two 10mm bolts.

9

These square spring clips secure the shoes to the steel brake backplate and there’s a steel pin that passes through the backplate and shoe. The clips were removed with a big screwdriver, although a special tool is available to make things easier. Remove the clips to start.

10

Once the two brake shoe retaining clips are off, you can remove the lower shoe-to-shoe tension spring and, pulling the shoes apart at the bottom, ease the shoe assembly from the backplate. Pull the handbrake arm away from the shoe and disconnect the handbrake cable.

11

With the shoes removed, we could see the backplate – made from thick steel, it won’t rust through for a bit. Shown above are two of the four bolts securing the wheel bearing unit to the rear axle beam. The bolts and the ABS sensor are all that you disconnect.

12

The new shoes seemed to be missing these roll pins on which the handbrake adjuster lever pivots. Turned out they were in a separate pack and were quickly and easily hammered in. This suggests to us that these shoes are used for other cars beside Fiestas.

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Here are the new shoes built up and ready to be fitted. Because the new shoes are effectively larger in diameter than the old ones, you need to wind in (shorten) the adjuster so the new drum will fit. Once the shoes are fitted you can adjust them to suit.