Hello folks,

My Freelander 1 TD4 isn't stopping too well and the handbrake seems for cosmetic purposes only. Plus there has been grating noises from the rear drums on driving.

First thing I found on removing the drums (a nightmare itself) was that on both rear brakes, the left (as you face each) Shoe Retaining Pins were missing, and the Retaining Clip, with no pin to hold it in place, had been rolling around loose in the drum. See the upper red arrow where it should have been. This also left a big hole where the Pin should have been, to let crap enter the drum.



Also, see that linkage with the two studs that the bottom red arrow is pointing at - this got slightly bent removing the drums - can anyone tell me what this part is - does it come with a new set of shoes or a seperate item?

Below picture is a top-view. Where the arrows point to, the inner lip of each Backplate is quite rusty and has an area with a bit of crushing. This is very thin metal and I may be able to bend it back or grind off the bashed-in edges - a question, is this kind of rust damage on a 2001 model sort of the normal? Would I NEED to replace it for a set of new Drums? The Backplates do seem to be a horribly expensive part and I'd like to get away with replacing that if I can.



Lastly, the pic below shows the rust and wear that has been happening with the loose (missing Retaining Pin) brake shoe rubbing on the Backplate. Do these dimpled, riased edges need to be buffed smooth and greased on re-assembly of new shoe's ?




As ever, advice from the more experienced hands appreciated. This is all 'first time ever' stuff to me and I want to not botch this up.

What holds the brake shoes in place? the backing plate.
What holds the Cylinder in place? the backing plate.
Inviting total failure if you don't start with good backing plates.

You might notice everything under the car is rusty if the brakes are like that, comes from salting the icy roads.

You might need to take a close look at everything you can see underneath, things like brake fluid pipes, fuel tank support and around any sort of mounting point. Next MOT could be a disaster if it's bad.

Yeah, last oil change a Land Rover specialist garage with the car up on ramps, said the bottom the car was overall in pretty good nick, he saw no major issues ahead though he didn't look at the rear brakes.

The last MOT, that was done by a major garage. They passed the brakes, yet the drums have clearly not been taken off for years, in fact it took major work to remove them. Feels bad paying for an MOT when the garage simply never even bothered, but proving it would be a battle.

Though I appreciate what you say about brake safety, that backplate is solid, it's the inner 'lip' that I am questioning. Must be others out there with aging Freelander 1 TD4s that could say if it's currently a 'must replace' - both would be near £300.

Right now, I have new pad kits, drums and retaining pins ordered.

Did you back off the adjusters before trying to remove the drums?
In the oval hole with the rubber plug in it, there is a ratchet wheel. You need two screwdrivers to turn it, one to release the ratchet and one to turn the adjuster wheel.
As you already have the drums off, it's easy to work out which way they turn before you put the new bits on, and back them off to minimum length to allow for the extra thickness of new pads. You will have to pull the adjusters apart if they don't turn freely when the ratchet is levered clear, otherwise the automatic adjusters will not work in normal use.
You will need to adjust them manually when drums & wheels go back on so be sure you are clear on the procedure while you have the chance.

Another thing, back off the handbrake adjuster before rebuilding and doing the manual adjustment, then adjust it afterwards. Otherwise the auto adjuster don't work quite right.

Looking at the pic's, the backplate is in a sorry state and there appears to be some corrosion on the exterior of the brake cylinder which is cosmetic but you may have problems removing the cylinder retaining bolt and brake pipe connection nut.
You need to replace the backplates and get replacement shoe retaining clips & pins. The brake cylinders are cheap enough over here (Aftermarket) at around £10 each. The handbrake actuating lever needs to be checked to ensure it's not seized on the pivot and smeared with copper grease...give the rivet a good tap with a hammer to free it if needs be. The adjusters should be checked for wear and ease of movement and replaced if needs be. The flats on the backplate-where the shoes sit should have a smear of copper grease.
Places like Island 4x4 in the U.K. will ship overseas and would have all the parts at a reasonable price-have a look on their website and compare the overall cost with what you will have to pay locally.

Thanks for your help folks, at lest I was able to get the car back on the road with the new parts until I get new back-plates.



Here's another look at the cleaned-off old back-plates - the flimsy inner seal just crumbled away. Got new pads and Retaining Pins. All the link rods were fine after a blast in my ulrasonic cleaner (best money I ever spent on a 'gadget').

The back-plates - anyone removed these? Easy to do?

I'm afraid that replacing the backing plate is the hardest part of brake repairs on the freelander, unless you happen to be replacing wheel bearings, then it's part of the job. Wheel bearings are destroyed, or at very least compromised as they are dismantled as part of dismantling the hub assembly in order to remove the backing plate.:boom:

On a brighter note, the cleanup job looks good, rust does not appear to have gone inside of the critical component mounting circle, if you are sure it has not, you may be safe enough rust proofing them and re-assembling for a few more miles.

Thanks Taz, yep I thought the clean-up went better than expected. Perhaps I can get away with this now and just spend the next free cash on the cylinders.

Obviously, I have no inner-sealing ring now on the Back-Plates, that flimsy metal, spot-welded thin ring. I could never see how it acted as a good seal as it was only held on by 8 or so spot welds. Since I don't really go off-road, I will see how my brakes look after say, 6 months or so.

Thanks for the helps.