hi, after fitting a new handbreak cable i cant get the drums of my 95 vectra to fit over the shoes, i have checked that the handbreak isnt tensioned.should the shoes be able to sit right up to the cylinder as mine dont

gav, September 2007

thanks m8, i know the notched wheel you speek of and i did try it but there is plenty of dead space between the bar that the wheel sits on and the shoe so you would think the shoes would be able to close up a bit but they seem to go no further even with a gap between the shoes and the cylinder pistons. thanks again douglas.

gav, September 2007

Hi Gav.
If you took the drums off to fit the cable they should go back on. You may have to move the shoes slightly to centralize them. If this fails you should de-adjust the auto shoe adjusters. If you look near the brake cylinder you wil see a little serrated wheel that revolves around a thread. You need to rotate the wheel upwards on the nearside and downwards on the offside. There will be slight resistance as you turn the wheel but if you lever the serrations with a screwdriver it should click round. Only de adjust enough for the drums to fit over. So..de-adjust a couple of clicks and try drum. Keep doing this until drum slides over. Once all is re assembled operate the footbrake several times and also use the handbrake. Finally adjust handbrake cable to approx 6 notches. Then road test to settle in brakes.
Hope this helps.

Douglas Osborne, September 2007