FREELANDER REAR BRAKES STICKING

My 2001MY Freelander has a nastly little habit when parked with the
handbrake on after heavy rain/pressure washing. The rear brake shoes
appear to stick to the drums, and a little rocking backwards and
forwards is required the next morning to free them off (with a loud
clonk!) If I park the vehicle dry, it never happens.

I've stripped everything out, and cleaned/freed off everything that
moves, but it persists. I've had shoes stick to drums before on
vehicles, but only when parked up for months - this is just overnight.

It's almost as though there's a metallic content in the linings which
rusts and adheres to the drum surface... but I'm not suggesting that
that IS the case, because why? In all other respects the brakes and
handbrake work fine.

I COULD leave the handbrake off, of course... but that's not my normal
habit, and I don't want to start it. Anyone any thoughts on this?

GRAME ALDOUS, Yorkshire

"Teeafit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My 2001MY Freelander has a nastly little habit when parked with the
> handbrake on after heavy rain/pressure washing. The rear brake shoes
> appear to stick to the drums, and a little rocking backwards and
> forwards is required the next morning to free them off (with a loud
> clonk!) If I park the vehicle dry, it never happens.
>
> I've stripped everything out, and cleaned/freed off everything that
> moves, but it persists. I've had shoes stick to drums before on
> vehicles, but only when parked up for months - this is just overnight.
>
> It's almost as though there's a metallic content in the linings which
> rusts and adheres to the drum surface... but I'm not suggesting that
> that IS the case, because why? In all other respects the brakes and
> handbrake work fine.
>
> I COULD leave the handbrake off, of course... but that's not my normal
> habit, and I don't want to start it. Anyone any thoughts on this?
>
> GRAME ALDOUS, Yorkshire
>
Sounds like the handbrake cable is sticking, or the handbrake mech on the
trailing shoe is seizing behind the shoe. If you have free movement on the
shoe arm, then it points to the handbrake cable. Is it both sides that stick
on?
Check the handbrake cable outer, you'll probably find somewhere that it has
cracked and is full of crap.




Nigel

Nigel --

Well, I considered the cable of course, but when I had the brakes
stripped down (so it's not the adjusters or linkage at the backplate)
the cable seemed to be working freely, although that WAS on a dry day.
I WILL re-investigate what you suggest, but my gut feeling is that it
lies in the shoes themselves somehow.

BTW, it can be on either or both sides of the car.

GRAEME ALDOUS, Yorkshire

"Teeafit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Nigel --
>
> Well, I considered the cable of course, but when I had the brakes
> stripped down (so it's not the adjusters or linkage at the backplate)
> the cable seemed to be working freely, although that WAS on a dry day.
> I WILL re-investigate what you suggest, but my gut feeling is that it
> lies in the shoes themselves somehow.
>
> BTW, it can be on either or both sides of the car.
>
> GRAEME ALDOUS, Yorkshire

Strange indeed, are you still on the original Landrover shoes?

It maybe worth power washing the car, then remove the drums and check for
water ingress. My Freelander is the same age and the only time I've noticed
any water in the drums is when wadding. You still have the inspection covers
on the backplate?

Take spam out of the address and email me off line.


Nigel

Found a/the problem -- when I took it for its 60K service yesterday,
the garage noticed that the lining was coming unstuck from a shoe on
both sides. Now, I don't know whether or not that was CAUSING the
problem, or as a result of the problem. Either way, the shoes (which
still had a lot of meat on them, and which I had consequently 'passed
as fit' on a quick inspection) have been replaced, and I'll see if
there's any improvement.

To respond to the previous posting, the inspection bungs are still in
place, and there's no sign that it's the cable that's sticking.
Original shoes? I don't know, having bought the car at 54K miles, but
knowing how slowly Freelander shoes are reckoned to wear, they probably
were.

GRAEME ALDOUS, Yorkshire

Teeafit wrote:

|| Found a/the problem -- when I took it for its 60K service yesterday,
|| the garage noticed that the lining was coming unstuck from a shoe on
|| both sides. Now, I don't know whether or not that was CAUSING the
|| problem, or as a result of the problem. Either way, the shoes (which
|| still had a lot of meat on them, and which I had consequently 'passed
|| as fit' on a quick inspection) have been replaced, and I'll see if
|| there's any improvement.
||
|| To respond to the previous posting, the inspection bungs are still in
|| place, and there's no sign that it's the cable that's sticking.
|| Original shoes? I don't know, having bought the car at 54K miles,
|| but knowing how slowly Freelander shoes are reckoned to wear, they
|| probably were.
||
|| GRAEME ALDOUS, Yorkshire

I had the same problem with new shoes I bought for my S2a a couple of months
ago - twice round the block, no braking, took the drums off and part of the
linings had parted from the shoe and shredded themselves. That's the first
time it's happened to me (or even heard of it) in 30+ years of driving.
Coincidence?

--
Rich
==============================

Take out the obvious to email me.

Hi did you confirm that this was the problem? my left rear feels stuck on after driving through heavy rain and deep water, giving me a soft pedal i have to pump a few times and left rear very hot with a v.hot metal smell..??

Sorry to Necro an old thread - I thought this might help someone.
I've had this problem a couple of times over the last 10 years or so with running older cars (including my 2006 Freelander) and it always seems to turn out to be the same problem.
The symptoms are that the brakes stick on but only ever when wet or even damp.
The cause comes down to the shoes attaching themselves to the drums, even if the brake is applied with light pressure, the shoes seem to glue themselves to the drum in presence of moisture.

In all 3 cases I've encountered this it's been due to aftermarket shoes, I don't know what they make them from but even when new the problem is there - and they don't work particularly well either.

Replacing the shoes with new genuine parts in all cases has resulted in a far better handbrake and resolved the sticking issue.

I suspect there's some sort of dissimilar metal in the shoe material which causes galvanic corrosion in the presence of water once some road salt gets in, the shoes on my ZT were only a couple of years old and looked like they'd been under the sea.