Series III 88 Lightweight Frozen Brakes

Hoping for some advice on a new to me LHD Series III 88 Diesel Lightweight. Front brakes are very tight, attempted to back them off using the adjusting nut located on the backing plate, to no avail. Also loosened the bleeder and brake line to the brake cylinder to see if system was pressurized, just a dribble of fluid exited, no change. Rear wheels move when jacked up, fronts will move (barely) if leaned on with all of my might. Brake pedal does not drop slightly when starting the engine. Looking for some advice on where to start. Ideally would like to get the whole system sorted, but would be happy if I could just free up the front brakes so I could move the vehicle in and out of the garage while I work on it. Thanks in advance for any advice. Not sure if I should have posted this in the military section, figured the brake systems are similar to civilian models and I may receive more responses here.

I tend to start with beating the life out of the drum to see if it frees up enough to get the drum off. Once off the problem should unveil itself.

Thank you, my project for tomorrow morning, should I hammer the face to try to “pop” it off, or should I be hitting an outside edge trying to force it off outward ?

Hi you say using the shoe adjusting nut on back plate, on some brake arrangements on series 3's there are 2 adjusters per wheel ie one each shoe.
I can never remember which has which. I would try and release shoes first before any hammering

Mark, there is only a single adjuster on these brakes, I turned the adjusters both ways with the wheels off the ground, I didn’t notice any difference. Both front wheels are very tight, I mentioned “frozen” which is a bit extreme, I can move the wheels by hand, but only an inch at a time, and using all of my strength. The truck will move under its own power, but there is some serious resistance. I’ll make an attempt at removing the drums in the morning. Thank you

It is possible to wind an adjuster so far back that it actually applies the shoe again, set them in the mid position and at their most loose position. a good tap all round the drum should hopefully release a stuck shoe. If they are adjusted that tight you are going to struggle to get the drum off and would suggest hiring a 3 or 4 legged puller to drag off the drum, care needs to be taken though or you will destroy the drum, bits will break off on the rims if its that hard.

Just beat the bejesus out of the uncooperative git. It’s the shock that frees it not the direction.
If the shoes don’t free you’ll probably destroy their lining anyway by scoring great chunks out of them as the drum comes off. Be prepared to replace them. Not a bad idea anyway while it’s in bits.
I’d vote for seized slave cylinders. They don’t last long if you don’t pack their dust cover with pink grease.

Oh and as the drum wears, it provides a nice step on the inside just to make life that little more interesting. And of course to make removal that little more of a faff.

Mark, I noticed on some videos I found, that the adjuster appears to be in a cam shape, so as you mention, going beyond the smallest portion of the cam, would actually start to expand the shoes outwards again, tightening the brakes. I am prepared for damaged parts during the disassembly and will replace all
of the consumables with new. I do have access to some heavy duty pullers if needed. I didn’t tackle this today, weather is a bit warm at 90F along with tropical humidity, my patience wears thin in those conditions. Thank you again

Bobsticle, would the frozen slave exhibit the extremely stiff brake pedal ? I read a failed servo could possibly show as a hard pedal also. Maybe a combination of both ? Thank you for your suggestions, weather is supposed to break tomorrow evening, I’m holding off until then. I’ll update as I go

In all instances of a lifetime of old bangers I’ve never had to or indeed had access to pullers. Just perceiver with a tap and a flat screwdriver and it should tease off eventually.
It’s an easy job to pop the shoes off and try pushing the slave pistons in and out by hand. They should return to their out position if not try and actually pop out altogether with the light coil spring they have behind them. If they feel stiff or catchy then I simply replace the whole cylinder. Here in Blighty with the salt spreading in the winter I have replaced mine twice in the last eight years.

oh and I’ve just renewed the actual drums on mine. Mostly due to bits of edges missing where previous owners had hammered something in to lever them off. Just tap around the drum and apply pressure round the edge.

A stiff pedal doesn't sound right

kermit_rr said:

A stiff pedal doesn't sound right

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Might need a master anorl.

Thank you to all who have provided suggestions ! Weather has cooled and both front drums were removed with surprising ease, light tapping with a small sledge and a bunch of wiggling slowly walked the drums off with no damage to any of the components. I was expecting to find a rusted mess hidden by the drum, but everything looked somewhat newer and decent. If I apply pressure to the pedal with the drums removed, to see if the wheel cylinders are operating as designed, will I push the internals of the wheel cylinders apart/out ? Or will they only travel so far and stop ? I think now that it’s opened up, I am going to replace springs, shoes, adjusters, wheel cylinders, and drums. I have a few parts suppliers in the USA, if price is NOT a concern would you recommend Land Rover parts, TRW, Delphi or something else. I would imagine that the Land Rover parts must be made by a major manufacturer, and not in house, no need to pay for a label if they are actually TRW/Delphi etc. Thank you again !

Go branded if you can. Avoid britpart as much as possible.
If you push the brakes with no drum on the pistons will pop out of their cylinders but worth getting someone to dab the pedal so you can judge movement.

Thank you Bobsticle.. when you say “branded” do you mean actual branded Land Rover part ? For example a Land Rover wheel cylinder is $115 US vs $55 for a TRW, Rover brake adjuster kit (4 wheels) $249 vs $28 for an unknown brand. If the actual Rover part is higher quality I have no problem spending the money, thank you.

Fortier137 said:

Thank you Bobsticle.. when you say “branded” do you mean actual branded Land Rover part ? For example a Land Rover wheel cylinder is $115 US vs $55 for a TRW, Rover brake adjuster kit (4 wheels) $249 vs $28 for an unknown brand. If the actual Rover part is higher quality I have no problem spending the money, thank you.

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A well known brake part manufacturer know what they are doing and have a reputation to protect. Easy for bearings and shoes but harder for relatively rare components. Unfortunately like the rest of us you end up more often than not with a bit of tat knocked together in a Bombay outhouse. Land Rover genuine parts are possibly made in the same outhouse but have gone through some form of quality control and testing to make sure it will at least fit and live up to their expected engineering parameters.

That’s a great response ! Brought a chuckle during the read. I’ll stick to the Land Rover parts and at least I’ve done my best to fit parts that are of some quality… for now, I’m going to try to find if there is a difference from a regular outhouse and a Bombay outhouse ! Thank you and kind regards.

Didn’t find a specific reference to a Bombay Outhouse… but from the top internet offerings, I’m sure I wouldn’t want to spend a weekend in one ! Have a great weekend