Replacing handbrake shoes - workshop manual gone AWOL

[mikeloadsasaabs]

I'm planning to replace the rear discs, pads and handbrake shoes on my 9-5 estate over the next couple of weeks. I've done it all before except replacing the handbrake shoes, and wouldn't you know it, my Haynes manual has gone missing  .  Does anyone have any words of advice, areas of difficulty etc? Having only one car, and being out of town, means that I can't afford the job to go belly up with the car immobile.  TIA.

[sgould]

Not done this myself, but I did help a friend.  The biggest problem was at the rear where there was a big lip on the edge of the handbrake drum that made it difficult to pull off.

Have you got spare handbrake cables?  If the bellows on the end has gone, you may need to replace the cables.

Otherwise the only difficult thing is to remove the retaining screws from the discs.  I found that a quick spray with a plumber's freezing spray shrunk the screws and they came out finger tight!

And the release mechanism to pull back the drum brake shoes is a star on the end of the brake cylinder.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Thanks Will, I wasn't aware of the possible need for new handbrake cables.

The disc retaining screws should be OK, they've been in situ for just 3 years since I last replaced the rear discs.

I've often adjusted the handbrake shoes with the star adjuster, but now's the time to replace them completely!  Thanks for the picture, hopefully it will all be quite logical once I get in there. 

[sgould]

At least you can look at the handbrake cables and see what condition they are in before you start.  If the rubber bits have gone then they are probably rusty inside and may stick later.  But I think you can change them later without touching the brake unit.  But access is easier when it's all apart.

[SaabGeeza]

I did this on the 'seeing as I'm in there' principle when I replaced rear pads and discs.

It was fairly straightforward, but I seem to recall wishing I had another pair of hands when re-installing. A helper would be, ... well, helpful.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

I did this on the 'seeing as I'm in there' principle when I replaced rear pads and discs.

It was fairly straightforward, but I seem to recall wishing I had another pair of hands when re-installing. A helper would be, ... well, helpful.

I'll check what the cat's up to on the day I do the work, an extra two pairs of hands would be even better 

Seriously, thanks for the tip, unfortunately I only SWMBO available and I can't see her wanting to get her hands dirty. 

[phil-saab]

In all honesty I cant see why they need changing,  they are only ever used when the car is stationary,  mine have been on since 2002 and have plenty of meat on them.  I replaced rear discs & pads last week and found one of my adjusters (n/s) had seized due to the amount crud round it, I also tightened the cable a tad by the adjuster sitting at the bottom of the glove box above the handbrake.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Phil, I have tried any number of times to adjust the handbrake both internally (within the drum using the star drive) and externally (with the cables) with no success. I last changed the rear discs & pads in 2010, about 55,000 miles ago. I had the nandbrake shoes ready to fit, but as you say they didn't seem too bad. I'll obviously take a decision on the day, but either way I have to strip everything down as I have another set of new pads & discs to be fitted. Perhaps I just need to free something up. In any event my car has done a few hundred short of 200,000 so they haven't done badly! 

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Just chilling out after spending six and three quarter hours replacing the driver's side rear tackle, got the nearside to look forward to tomorrow  It took around 75 minutes to strip everything down, including removing the handbrake shoes. That was when the fun started. It took nearly two hours to get the first steadying spring firmly secured. There were a number of difficulties related to refitting the steadying springs onto the pins, my solutions to which will, I hope, help anyone else doing the same job. I reckon I spent around two and a half hours just getting these ruddy springs on!!

• The pin has to be mobile to some extent, and wanted to move in and out of the backplate. For the rearmost pin, I lodged one of the old brake pads between the backplate and the suspension arm. For the front, I put a spring washer of the right size in the recess in the backplate where the pin is before I lodged the old brake pad in. That still allowed them to move freely, but stopped them moving and out, thus giving more length of pin, which meant there was room for the spring under compression.
• Because the tension springs were already fitted to the shoes, they tended to want to move outwards, which meant trying to compress the steadier spring against the tension of the shoes pushing out. I used a G-clamp and piece of wood to secure the shoes against the back plate, once again easing the job of compressing the steadier spring.
• I used two screwdrivers with a wider blade to push the slotted washer that retains the steadier spring. Once you get the pin through here, you need to rotate either pin or washer to lock the spring in position. The first screwdriver should go through the large inspection hole in the hub, and the second to lever from behind the hub. There's a lot of tension in that spring!
• Lastly, I cannot see how getting these pins & springs back together is a one-man job. In desperation I employed the services of SWMBO who did a sterling job in both managing to rotate the pin, and in not commenting on the ripe language she was hearing. 

The other thing that I found tricky due to restricted space was making sure that the tension spring at the bottom end, by the handbrake lever was ABOVE the mechanism, not easy when you are juggling spring-loaded brake shoes!

My last problem is one that I'd appreciate comments on. When I tried to get the new disc back on, it took a lot of juggling to get it to go over the shoes. I spend about 30 minutes adjusting the position of the shoes, including making sure that the adjuster is fully backed off, which mine wasn't, and finally managed to get it back on. However, now it's on, everything is fully de-adjusted, but the wheel is still pretty difficult to turn. I can't turn it at all with normal hand pressure with the wheel off (needs a screwdriver in the vents of the disc), and even with the wheel on it needs two hands. I'm concerned that, if I drive it like this, the disc and hub will get overheated. On the other hand, I'm guessing that the handbrake linings aren't made of very stern stuff as they don't do much, and the excess will rapidly wear off. Any thoughts?

Finally, I'd like to thank Saab for making this such a pig of a job  I'm guessing that it's something that would perhaps only be done once, if at all, during the lifetime of the average car. At 199,600 miles, mine definitely needed it, as the lining on one end of one of the shoes was down to cigarette-paper thickness, and the average thickness was around half that of the new shoes (which is what makes me think that the linings aren't terribly sturdy given that they are normally only used when the car is stationary!).

[Petemate]

Chroist - sorry for your struggles. Glad I've got a 9-3, even then some of the bolts etc are FT but I've got a good set of torx tools. When I did the discs/pads all round on the previous 9-3 it didn't take long but I did have the use of a good (Sealey) wind-back kit.
Looking forward to doing the current one; plenty of meat on the pads yet, but the discs have fair edges on. They are smooth though, and the brakes are brill. But as soon as the pads get down enough, on with new ones all round.
Pete

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Well, day 2 finished far more successfully than yesterday. However, I discovered that the reason for the binding disc on the first day is simple -  I put the new shoes on incorrectly. I did not notice until today that the holes in the shoes for the steadier springs are not equidistant from each end, and the shoes are in fact asymmetrical. The shoes themselves are universal, but the hole for the steadier spring must be nearer the top than the bottom. I feel embarrassed at not noticing earlier!  So having successfully sorted side 2, I am now in the process of re-doing side 1  . It's much easier this time because everything is clean and easy to dismantle, it doesn't have 3 years/50,000 miles of crud on it 

Couple more tips:

• When installing the new shoes, don't put the tensioner spring on at the bottom and then attempt to lift it past the handbrake mechanism. It's easier to locate the spring on one side, position the shoes, then pull the spring into position over the top of the handbrake lever.
• SWMBO suggested that I pre-compress the steadier springs and wire them into a compressed state to make things easier. Ha, I said, OK we'll try it, thinking it unlikely to work. But.....it did. I used thin plastic-coated garden wire, a bit like the ties for freezer bags.

So another 2-3 hours work and all will be fettled. I'm glad this will won't need doing again for another 200,000 miles