How do you replace rear brake pads and adjust handbrake on a 1996 Spider 2.0 TS. The brake pedal goes down a long way until you reach the pressure to apply brakes, also handbrake has a lot of travel before it bites to hold the car. Do the rear calipers have auto adjusters for the handbrake? Martin

SOURCE: handbrake problem

hi fro uk when you reassembled brake shoes? did you notice the tubular bar just below b/cylinder? it fits between the two shoes and has a toothed wheel on the treaded side(l/h) this is the auto adjuster ie as tooth wheel is rotated it extends the treaded side thus adjusting shoes to drum o/k? this is normally done auto by the small lever below but when fitting new shoes you must adjust this rod with tooth wheel and keep trying drum fitting when you can fit drum /just? fit and press brake to centralise shoes to drum then adjust again if req'd so that drum fits and rotates withh shoes not binding ?? do both sides THENyou willdrums fitted you will feel b/pedal is improved ie less travel on braking ? SO FIRST THING YOU HAVE TO DO IS SLACKEN OFF H/BRAKE CABLE ADJUSTMENT /SLACK ? then proceed with the above instruction afterwards if you do as above then you pull h/brake up one notch ? then adust slack from cable to light tension release h/brake and ensure wheels rotate freely when you apply h/brake it should hold on approx four//five notch ? hope this helps

SOURCE: car handbrake adjustment

yes you need to check the handbrake ajustment first

steven martin

• 117 Answers
• Posted on Apr 08, 2009

SOURCE: rover 800 handbrake

The rear calipers work as the handbrake as well. The solution is (with the engine running and in park/neutral) pump the brake pedal at the same time as pulling up and releasing the handbrake lever.You may have to do this quite a few times until the caliper resets its self. You will notice the handbrake lever getting firmer as the calipers reset and adjust.

SOURCE: replace rear brakes adjust handbrake

The hand brake hardly ever needs ajusting. See your hand brake mechanincly spreads your rear brake shose inside the drum. Therefore just replace your rear shoes and make sure there ajusted right and you should have no more problems with that part of your car. PS make sure you put some 3M paste on the contact points on your backing plate to avoid a squeak in the near future.

SOURCE: rover 45 rear brake pad renewal (caliper problem)

you have to fitt the caliper realy tight to get a good hand brake..remove the caliper..With pads in place. Press the brake to push out the piston.Only a little.Then replace the caliper with it realy tight onto pads.Then work the handbrake up and down a few times then you should be ok.Dont worrie about the brake being a bit tight.Just take it for a short run then.It will losen up.The handbrake is self adjusting.