I need to get at the drum brake shoes...

[Andy Craig]

Hello again everyone...

I posted a while ago with regard to a spring that was poking out of one of the drum brakes. What with other things needing attention (and the fact that the cars still drives and stops safely) I pulled it out easily and left it alone.

However having looked closely at the spring I know know exactly what it is - it's one of the 'pull' springs which connects the shoes and encourages them to retract. Upon releasing the hand brake the shoes cannot therefore be fully retracting.

Can anyone advise me as to how to remove the disk and therefore gain access to the shoes inside the drum? The brake caliper came off easily enough (bolts and shims safely stored) but before I start whacking the huge 'castle' nut which appears to hold the disk/drum in place I thought i'd best put a post up.

It is the left rear wheel so I'd guess that counter-clockwise will loosen it whereas the right side it will be a reverse-thread and therefore counter-clockwise will tighten the nut on that side?

As ever I appeciate all your time and help very much.

Andy

[neil cundy]

You need the special tools to remove the nut - the UK lancia club have them and you can hire from them (see www.lanciamotorclub.co.uk - in the services section) - I am assuming you are in the UK ??

I did wonder in your original post if these were the springs you were describing - but with all the other replies I assumed not. This identical failure happened to a good friend of mine and can be very dangerous. If the spring is on the leading edge of the shoe and the drum catches it, it will put the brakes hard on on one side. At 50 mph this was more excitment than was necessary ! It was this spring that had broken.

[Andy Craig]

Hi Neil,

From what you've said I think we got lucky! When I removed the wheel the spring voluntarily popped out of one of the holes in the drum and I easily plucked it out.

Interestingly, now the car is up on stands both hand-brakes appear to engage and release efficiently and the right rear the 'castle' type nut doesn't have the 'castle' bit and is totally smooth (?).

I'll endeavour to get hold of the tool you mentioned and do a full inspection. The car passed its MOT test 2 months ago so hopefully they'll just need a spring and a good clean up.

I am in Altrincham (S. Manchester) right now although like record numbers of British people at the moment I'm looking to move abroad!

Thanks again,
Andy

[P. de R. Leclercq]

Just to add to Neil's contribution, both sides of the axle have conventional RH threads.

You will find that the nuts are very tight (or should be), recommended torque being in the region of 230 lbs/ft - about 35MKg or 350NM (why do the bloody metric people keep changing - I expect next week it will be kilo-pascals or something - grrrrr).

More importantly you will almost certainly need the special puller to remove the hub - and don't forget to get the little plug that fits into the end of the axle, and provides something for the puller to act against.

Paul

[Andy Craig]

Thanks Paul,

LOL - good old pounds will do just fine for me, although at 32 I suppose I'm meant to be in the 'metric' generation! Crikey, 230 lbs/ft may need some serious leverage...

I'm still confused as to why the left hand assembly looks like a giant 'castle' type nut (i'm sure there's a more accurate description) whereas the right hand side is smooth and has no apparent 'castle' type notches to lock on to. Perhaps once i've aquired the correct tool it might make more sense!

Cheers
Andy



Andy

[P. de R. Leclercq]

If the car is a true S2, there should be three indents at 120 deg on the ring nut. Earlier cars had six for which of course a different tool is needed. It is possible to fit either type.

Paul

[Andy Craig]

Hi Paul,

Interesting - the car is an S2 but on the left rear there are 6 indents in the ring nut, indicating a series one part whereas the right hand side ring nut has no indents and is totally smooth. I'll have another look later today to confirm this.

Andy

[P. de R. Leclercq]

Well, the six-indent type was fitted both to S1s and also to early S2s - what we called "S one-and-a-half"

Paul

[lucas]

Hi Andy,

There are two ring nuts. One is the "huge" one, that is fixing the outer ring of the wheel bearing.
It is secured by a steel wire ring on the inside, first remove that before trying to loosen the nut.
I can send you a copy of the page from the original parts manual if you provide your email address.


The second ring nut is a smaller one, fixing the inner rings of the wheel bearing on the axle.

That is the one with the huge torque for fastening.

(metric or inches, feet?? my feet are bigger than my wifes, so metric is not that bad at all, also we have the steering wheel on the right(left) side of the car.. LOL)

[P. de R. Leclercq]

Removal of the outer ring nut is no picnic (or pique-nique for the metric types ). AT Evo we used a special tool with a 3/4" (19.1mm) drive air gun. The only other method, if you do not have the tool is to drill two small holes to a depth of about 3/16" and use an air hammer. After soaking in WD40 for a fortnight the big ring nut might undo.

However, I hate to be rigid about this but you should NOT attempt to remove the inner ring nut with the large outer one removed, at least not unless you have an air gun for the inner. The reason is that the flange of the outer nut provides support for the tool for the inner nut - essential when leaning on a tommy-bar to which the normal 3 ft length of pipe has been added.

Paul