fixing handbrake in AU II Fairlane

HLC · 23-10-2005, 05:30 PM

ok, so my mum drives a AU2 Fairlane Sportsman, but the handbrake doesnt work. its loose and barely grabs/stops/does whatever it does to stop the car when applied.

do any of you guys know how to tighten the cable so the handbrake will be effective?

JC · 24-10-2005, 12:22 AM

I am assuming that the handbrake lever is coming up to an almost vertical poisition when you pull it on? In that case, there are two ways.

The first is the adjusting nut located under the handbrake cover (remove the vinyl/leather cover by pulling it up towards the button). If this is not all the way down, use a long shank 10mm socket and ratchet to give it a few turns.

If the first one still doesn't tighten the handbrake up, then it's because the handbrake shoes and/or the drum part of the disc is worn. So the second method involves resetting the nut in step one (above) back to where it was and then remove the rear discs and replace the handbrake shoes inside the discs. It's not a hard job if you know what you're doing, but is a pain in the butt because if you don't get the new shoes aligned and adjusted "just so", you end up with squealing rear brakes when you drive. Most commondores and falcons (BAs included) suffer from this annoying noise.

HLC · 24-10-2005, 08:28 AM

alright thanks for that man, will that like tighten teh cable as well, becuase there is next to no tension in it when teh handbrake is pulled on.

yeah we've had the car back in ford plenty with just niggles before the warranty ran out (had it since new) and yeah the handbrake was always a problem. so we purchased an extended warranty then there was a big drama with the car. the heater box packed up and wa sleaking so all underneath the carpet was wet. so they had the whole interior of teh car out and teh dash out fixing this thing. so that all got done. but the new heater box was faulty, so the dash had to come out again and a new box put in again.

so nearly 2 grand in labout, then parts on top. and whats extended warranty worth? $700 odd bucks? hah.

alright, ill see if i can fix mine in my car as well, it squeals sometimes its a pain in the butt.

EvilChief · 24-10-2005, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JC-XRWgn

It's not a hard job if you know what you're doing, but is a pain in the butt because if you don't get the new shoes aligned and adjusted "just so", you end up with squealing rear brakes when you drive. Most commondores and falcons (BAs included) suffer from this annoying noise.

thx to a stupid two piece design :gren: