My MK1 focus had a wheel bearing done on the drivers side rear yesterday, I also did the shoes on both sides as they might aswell of not been there at all they were that worn!

Anyway I put the new shoes on put the adjusters all the way back but now the drums are getting pretty hot. The passenger side is not too bad but the drivers side drum is pretty hard to touch after 20 mins of driving, not so bad that it is smoking or smells but still pretty toasty.

Also when putting them on I adjusted the handbrake so it was slack in the cockpit then tightend it all up.

How long roughly should it take for the new shoes to bed in and when I put the wheels back on and tightend up the hub nuts they both span freely?

Ive heard that reversing and putting the handbrake on should adjust the rear brake adjusters (cant think off the top of my head how it will do it)

Cheers

 

If this is still the case then I would say the heat is just from braking?

 

some cars have a spacer between the inner part of the bearing and the stub axle , miss this out on refitting and you will get a red hot drum
the focus has a self adjusting brake mechanism to prevent manual over adjusting of the rear brakes, you, as you said back off the adjusters and the handbrake cables
then when new parts are fitted just pump the brakes a few times you will hear the adjusters ratchet up. then you just take the slack out of the handbrake cables
it is alsopossible that you have over ajusted the handbrake cables causing a bind on the rear brakes too

 

Jack the car back up.If the wheels are spining freely there ok.If the wheels are sticking your handbrake cable might be sticking.

 

sound incorrectly adjusted tbh

 

Just trying to see if ive done it all properly.

Put the adjusters back as far as they went after rebuilding the brakes with new shoes.

Put the wheels on and tightend the hubs. BOTH the wheels span freely.

The handbrake has a quite a bit of slack on it.

When the car is jacked up the left rear wheel spins freely with some slight drag (new shoes so should be expected)

The right hand wheel however seems to have a bit more drag, I can spin it with my hands but it takes a slight bit of effort for it to spin with its own inertia.

I also noticed with the handbrake on the right wheel will still move (only just!) when I take the handbrake off it still feels tight, but will spin?

I dont want to go taking the hub off again because I dont fancy ripping the new bearing in half if it doesnt want to come off properly. The car will roll down hills okay but just seems to be a bit slower and its returning a slightly lower MPG, unless the feeling of it being slower is Psycological

 

the handbrake cable should be fully de adjusted, then the rear shoe adjusters adjusted so that there is a very slight drag on the brake drum, then and only then do you take the slack out the handbrake cable.

I see your in blackpool, if you get stuck I can have a quick look with you.

 

Jack the car up pull the hand brake on then off check the wheels if the drums are sticking shake the cable where it goes through the suspension arm.If the drums free off the cable is sticking.

Me and the wifes focus hand brake cable was sticking like this.

 

Yeah I had done that and it slackend off slightly, were would it most likely be sticking? I forgot to say the right drum used to get pretty hot before Id even done any work but not as bad at all.

And the handbrake cable was pretty much completly slack when I put everything back on. I cant mess too much with the handbrake adjuster as the thread is pretty shit.

 

It was the main cable that was sticking. The longer cable.Is the out part of the cable corroded.

 

No it looks okay to be honest!

 

I dont know then.Your brake drums get hot but they shouldnt be red hot and shouldnt have steam coming from them.

 

No steam coming from them? I cant smell them either, though ive not been using the hand brake today and they both seem a lot free-er to spin. Must be a sticking handbrake lever inside then drum Cheers for the help!

 

No bother mate. Im happy to help.