Series 3 Why a third brake spring?

Hi all,
Have just started replacing brake shoes on my 1974 S3 88 for the first time since I’ve had her. Standard 10” brakes. But as well as the leading shoe pull-off spring and the return spring, the front wheels (and for all I know the back as well, haven’t got that far yet) have a third spring, in line with the leading shoe spring but on the wheel side, connecting the two shoes.

They look like springs off a 109 rear brake, the one with a springy bit at each end and a long straight bit in the middle.

Neither of my workshop manuals nor the LR parts manual shows a third spring on the 88 10” brakes. Any ideas why they are there please? Are they necessary? If not necessary, are they doing any harm?
Thanks for any thoughts

to try fix and issue ,but i doubt it did if set up correctly everything will be ok

I had a friend help me first time I did the brakes on my Landy and he insisted that we fit what he insisted were "all the springs" - because there are holes for them and he'd assumed that some lazy bugger had omitted them in the past.

Someone may also have fitted them if the (232074) distance pegs are broken/missing/wrong to try and keep the shoes straight.

The trailing shoe is only pulled in by the bottom spring and is fairly lazy, the top spring should just go to the leading shoe and the back plate. If the trailing shoe is pulled in too tight you will find that you need more pedal travel before the brakes come on and you may need to pump very fast for decent braking as it will tend to push the piston right back. With it properly set up there shouldn't be too much travel in the pedal and the brakes should work well.

It's not helped by the fact that the exploded diagram in the parts catalogue is a bit misleading (the diagrams are usually good) in that it has an arrow to the outer brake shoe peg when it is actually the peg on the back of the other shoe that should be used and the leading shoe is the one with the snail cam...

This looks right to me: http://forum.lro.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=94222

D

Have heard of some fitting an extra spring to reduce brake lockup/sticking but whats needed is just to chamfer the shoe brake material on the leading edge.

tottot said:

Have heard of some fitting an extra spring to reduce brake lockup/sticking but whats needed is just to chamfer the shoe brake material on the leading edge.

Click to expand...

Chamfer on leading edge reduces squeal not a lot else.

You are right wammers, should have added "and make sure pistons return withe ease"