There's gotta be an easier way...

Grip the dished washer in a pair of pliers, right at the business end of the jaws. Push it over the pin. Then, with a finger on the head of the pin, grip the washer as hard as you can, push and twist. And be grateful it's a corsa and not a truck.

There is a tool available, but I never could be arsed to buy one.

Steve

Steve

"Tim Downie" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

They have.

It's called a rear disk.

Tim Downie was thinking very hard :

When I last had any drums (a very long time ago), I...

Simply set up the dished washer in a pair of pliers, right at the very tip, in my right hand and pushed the back face of the pin in with my left hand around the back of the brake plate. The pliers enable you to easily push the washer to compress the spring.

When you first mentioned struggling with springs, I straight away thought you must have meant the pair of springs pulling the two shoes together. You get those on by hooking the two springs onto the shoes first, then offer the shoes onto the back plate each at 45 degrees, then push them back fully into place against the springs.

use your brake shoe spring tool. or a pair of pliers, or slide the shoes out so that they are beyond their sliding surface and there is more pin sticking through. your ones are easy, the hard ones are the type used on later fords where the spring is a U shaped clip that slides in from the side

That was what I was attempting but I suspect I need some new pliers, the gripping surfaces on mine were just too slippery.

Think I'll just leave it to a pro next time. ;-)

Tim

Hmm, that might have worked. I would have thought though that the pin would have been too oblique with the shoe in that position to gain any effective length.

But why do they have to be so fecking awkward? I swear they were designed by an apprentice in his lunch hour 50 years ago or more. All it would need would be a knurled head on the back of the pin to allow you to rotate it whilst pressing down on the cupped washer and spring and the job would be a doodle.

I suppose that would cost a penny more per pin though... ;-(

Thanks for all the advice.

Tim

Actually it is a doddle. With a decent set of pliers you'd have seen just how easy it is.

I've always thaught fitting those as the easy part of replacing brake shoes.Usually the more difficult part is fitting the springs between the shoes. Some of those don't like staying in position as one fits the shoes to the backplate. Mike. .

you can always use your brake spring fitting tool :)

the tool is only about 4 quid, you could make your own from a bit of suitable size tubing, just flare the end to fit the retainer, cut a window or two in the sides, a wadge of duct tape on the end to push against and bob is your aunty.

I've got a a pair of rear disks.

But someone had the bright idea of putting drums in the hub of the rotors to stop drunks pushing it around.

(They did it this on a lot of German cars too)

Anyway handbrake levers on disc calipers seize.

I have a special tool for them. Didn't cost much and worth every penny. ;-)

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Harry Bloomfield saying something like:

Now try it on a Transit - bastard things.

This sort of thing:-

On 8/04/2010 11:18 PM, shazzbat wrote: down and

I bought one and never found it satisfactory, what you suggest is what I have always done.

One I've got works a treat. Think there is more than one size of spring, though.

yep I have a couple of double ended ones various sizes.