Club 80-90 Forums

Took the van out for a run on Sunday. After about 10 minutes on the motorway, I pulled onto a normal road and carried on driving. About 5 minutes later I applied the brakes and the pedal went down to the floor - no brake pressure. So I pumped the pedal and got some brake pressure back and stopped. I got out and noticed the smell of overheated brakes. I went to touch the rear wheel hubs. Touched the nearside rear and it was burning hot to the touch. The offside wheel was fine. So, I stayed put for 30 minutes with the handbrake off. Full brake pressure returned.

Took it into the garage, They took the hubs off and found that one of the retaining clips for the pins holding a brake shoe had rusted to bits and come off. In a nutshell, they replaced the pins, retaining clips and springs on both rear wheels. The old pins and clips were in a sorry state and should have been replaced a decade ago and certainly when the shoes were replaced a couple of years ago.

That was a scary moment that I hope not to experience again. The brakes are now working perfectly again.

you can buy all the pins -springs etc as a kit,they can be quite pricey but after what happened to you they are money well spent,I cleaned all mine up a few years ago and have not had the drums off since,may be a job for a warmer day

scottbott wrote:you can buy all the pins -springs etc as a kit,they can be quite pricey but after what happened to you they are money well spent,I cleaned all mine up a few years ago and have not had the drums off since,may be a job for a warmer day

The kit costs about £12 from Brickwerks.

think I was looking at Just campers or something,but it was pricey or maybe I was having a senior moment

If your brakes (& brake fluid) have got so hot as to cause the very soft pedal, I suggest that you need to be completely replacing the fluid. Possibly it is as old as the retaining clips?

Bleed it through until it runs clean.