Rear wheels locking up (!)

[Chris Barnard]

OK, we've had a bit of rain the past two days and my rear wheels have repeatedly locked up at slow speeds with only moderate force. This has NEVER happened before and the tyres are in good condition. The day before it started raining, I had a big moment on a country road at night when a rabbit ran out in front of the car - everything went sideways and I nearly hit a tree.. In that case, everything locked up but I think again it was the rears first which caused me to nearly spin. Up until these incidents, my trusty old 305 with 185 R14 Goodyear tyres has always been incredibly stable under braking - even particularly heavy braking. Whilst the 'rabbit' incident was a little bit more than normal braking, all other times, I've been braking with only a normal force.. it's starting to make me quite nervous everytime a car unexpectedly pulls out in front of me, or if I need to brake harder than initially expected. It's like the rear wheels just snatch up all of a sudden.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm probably going to take the drums off at the weekend and have a look, but I've got a feeling that things are going to look OK back there (after all, the brakes ARE working!).

Cheers,

Chris.

 

[Matt]

Something similar happened years ago to me with my first 205 (954cc XL) - it was the handbrake gubbins in the drums that had come apart slightly (or broken, I can't remember now) and that would suddenly bind the brakes on - Was a bit odd as the handbrake appeared to still work ok.

Matt

 

[Chris Barnard]

Something similar happened years ago to me with my first 205 (954cc XL) - it was the handbrake gubbins in the drums that had come apart slightly (or broken, I can't remember now) and that would suddenly bind the brakes on - Was a bit odd as the handbrake appeared to still work ok.

Hmm, thanks, I'll take a look at that. As an update, I jacked the car up a bit earlier and none of the brakes are binding as it sits on the drive with me trying the footpedal and the handbrake lever. I dunno if it could be binding on as I'm driving along though, the drums felt quite hot when I got home today.

Chris.

 

[djimbo]

OK, we've had a bit of rain the past two days and my rear wheels have repeatedly locked up at slow speeds with only moderate force. This has NEVER happened before and the tyres are in good condition. The day before it started raining, I had a big moment on a country road at night when a rabbit ran out in front of the car - everything went sideways and I nearly hit a tree.. In that case, everything locked up but I think again it was the rears first which caused me to nearly spin. Up until these incidents, my trusty old 305 with 185 R14 Goodyear tyres has always been incredibly stable under braking - even particularly heavy braking. Whilst the 'rabbit' incident was a little bit more than normal braking, all other times, I've been braking with only a normal force.. it's starting to make me quite nervous everytime a car unexpectedly pulls out in front of me, or if I need to brake harder than initially expected. It's like the rear wheels just snatch up all of a sudden.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm probably going to take the drums off at the weekend and have a look, but I've got a feeling that things are going to look OK back there (after all, the brakes ARE working!).

There's usually a pressure restrictor for the back brakes, it sounds like it's failed if the cars always locking the back wheels even on normal to hard breaking.

jim.

 

[Nice1]

Hi here's what you need to do, strip the rear wheels, clean out all the dust that has accumulated in the drums, then check drums for wear, also check for any leaks if all is ok then it could be the brake pressure regulator valve, this is there to stop the rear brakes from locking up, good luck.
"Chris Barnard" wrote:

OK, we've had a bit of rain the past two days and my rear wheels have repeatedly locked up at slow speeds with only moderate force. This has

NEVER

happened before and the tyres are in good condition. The day before it started raining, I had a big moment on a country road at night when a

rabbit

ran out in front of the car - everything went sideways and I nearly hit a tree.. In that case, everything locked up but I think again it was the

rears

first which caused me to nearly spin.
Up until these incidents, my trusty old 305 with 185 R14 Goodyear tyres

has

always been incredibly stable under braking - even particularly heavy braking. Whilst the 'rabbit' incident was a little bit more than normal braking, all other times, I've been braking with only a normal force..

it's

starting to make me quite nervous everytime a car unexpectedly pulls out

in

front of me, or if I need to brake harder than initially expected. It's

like

the rear wheels just snatch up all of a sudden.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm probably going to take the drums off at the weekend and have a look, but I've got a feeling that things are going to look OK back there (after all, the brakes ARE working!).

Cheers,

Chris.

 

[Neil D]

I would have thought djimbo's answer is the most likely cause,

Neil