rear brakes dragging hard

[2004lowlux]

drove my rona home tonight and the rear brakes started dragging hard same time the pedal was rock hard.

this happed before the last time i took it out but once it had cooled off the rear brakes free'd up so i backed them off as they felt like they were dragging a bit still

not something ive encountered before and ive rebuilt the master cylinder and front calipers and flushed the fluid rear cylinders seemed in good shape same with the shoes.

dont suppose anyone has encountered this before have they?

[thechuckster]

check that the self-adjust mechanism in the rear drums is working OK or hasn't been adjusted up so much that the pads are dragging.

Hint for adjusting rear drums (or internal handbrakes on rear disks): pull the handbrake up a few clicks, adjust rears so the pads are just starting to bite on the drum. When you release the handbrake, the shoes should be off the drum and you won't have to pull the handbrake up 12 inches before it holds the car on a hill.

[allencr]

Adjusting rod that comes out of the brake booster/servo.

[2004lowlux]

i did adjust the rear shoes in quite a bit the first time unless they managed to tighten up again.

allencr: i didnt want to mess about with the rod adjustment but i might have to

think it might be in the master cylinder or the rlp valve

[thechuckster]

rod adjustment at the master cyl would affect all the brakes, not just one circuit. And you need the residual pressure valve for a rear-drum setup - otherwise when you take your foot of the pedal the rear slaves retract too far.

Before you go playing up the front, pull the rear hubs off and make sure the spring and self-adjust setup is correctly working. The fault is showing itself there so why start changing stuff elsewhere?

[2004lowlux]

the rear adjusters looked fine when i checked them nothing out of the ordinary so either theyre re-adjusting themselves which i doubt because they then wouldnt back off when cold unless the residual line pressure valve is sticking and building up pressure, might have to drive it to make the issue present itself then get it up in the air and crack the line before and after the valve and see if it relieves the pressure