Last year the L322 MOT was almost a bust due to a very ineffective handbrake….so this year I decided it was about time to take a look at the handbrake shoes and replace them.

Changing the shoes is dead simple enough….it is the adjustment afterwards that is a PITA.

So to start, lift and secure the vehicle, both rears wheels have to be off the ground for this task as you need to adjust each side once the shoes are fitted!

Working for a company who specialises in Aircraft tooling, GSE and components, I decided to use a small 45tonne Aircraft Axle Jack (we do have some 150 tonne axle jacks but they are too big to get under!) rather than lugging out the 12tonne bottle jack I normally use, and also the Aircraft Jack uses compressed air to operate meaning I didn’t have to pump it up manually

But even though the jack is capable of lifting over 15 L322’s at once, there is no excuse not to also support on stands too!



Remove the road wheel



Lever out the calliper spring



Now you have two options, either loosen the brake pads and then remove the whole calliper and bracket as a complete unit or (as I did) remove the calliper and then remove the bracket

Pop out the calliper slide/guide pin bung



Take the cover off the bleed screw and crack open while pulling/levering the pads away from the disc. Maintain leverage on the pads and do the bleed screw up, this way the brake system doesn’t draw air back into the system if you do the bleed screw up while it is still pouring brake fluid out of it!!



Using a 7mm allen key, undo the two slide pins and carefully remove the calliper out of the way. Tie it in place so it doesn’t fall or hang on the brake hose.









After applying some penetrating fluid to the calliper bracket bolts use the right size spanner/socket (5/8 if I remember correctly)







Using a 6mm allen key, undo the disc retaining screw





Remove the adjuster hole bung



Line the hole up to the adjuster cog (approx 6 o’clock position) and use a flat blade screwdriver or similar turn the adjuster to follow retract the brake shoes (which direction depends on which way round the adjuster was fitted – so just turn it till either the disc stops rotating freely then turn it all the way the other, or turn it until it stops and the disc still turns freely)



Then with a few taps with a soft mallet to loosen the disc to hub contact, remove the disc



Immediately, the ineffectiveness became apparent!





Imagine if one of those fragments came loose and jammed the brake on at motorway speeds!!...Made me shudder that’s for sure!

Lever off the top return spring





Using a 5mm allen key, quarter turn the shoe retaining pins and withdraw





You can now pull the shoes apart and over the hub



Remove the adjuster



Further inspection of the old shoes – still shuddering about what could happen if these fragments had jammed the brake on solid on the M3 to work!!





Undo the adjuster and clean it up



Next is to remove the expander, as it is called, from the handbrake cable. It fits like a bike brake cable so is easy enough get it off.







Time to refit the new shoes!

Apply some copper-slip to the adjuster screw thread and reassemble the adjuster.



Assemble two shoes with the adjuster and a new lower return spring (upper and lower springs are different!)



Clean up the expander and apply some copper-slip the expander hinge and reattach to the end of the handbrake cable





Fit the shoes to the expander in place



Fit new retaining pins to both shoes



Fight and swear at the top return spring



Apply some copper-slip grease the hub and refit the brake disc after cleaning it up. My rear discs are approaching minimum thickness so I will have to replace them for next years MOT as the pads are just over halfway through (almost 3 years old now) so all will be replaced next year.



Fit a new retaining screw (no real need to do so, but sometimes they can be so tight to get out they get chewed up, so for the sake of a few pence I ordered new ones in anycase!)







Fit the calliper bracket



Refit the Calliper and the slide pins

Fit the Calliper spring



Repeat for the other side!!!

Now the real fun begins, adjusting the shoes!

According to RAVE, adjust the shoes till the disc doesn’t rotate then back off 8 notches. Apply the handbrake several times and repeat the process.

This I have found to be completely useless…!!!!!

The real bug bear comes from having to adjust, then put the wheels on, lower it down, test it, then raise the car, wheels off, adjust again, wheels on, lower, test, raise etc….

After doing this a few times, you get a bit fed up of it, so I have adjusted to only a couple notches off a locked disc and left it like that.

In this position, from a standstill, it will hold the car when put into drive and given a few revs, and from a 15mph rolling, will retard the car to a stop without throwing you through the windscreen, but is as good as I can get it!

Will let you know the MOT outcome next week!

Grab a coffee and you’re done!