2006 Focus "sport" Rear Brake Issue

[sharpe2002]

Hi All,

Last week my focus failed an MOT on rear brake application being uneven and the handbrake not locking.. i assumed worn shoes/drums so decided to replace them myself to save extortionate labour charges

So, to the issue. The drums will NOT come off.. i'm no stranger to this issue from previous old Renault ownership. Went at it with a big mallet and an even heavier hammer as well but could not get it to come loose. Had a look online and found a thread from here detailing how to remove the whole assembly which seems obvious enough, however i don't have 13mm bolts.. i have these little torx star bolts which makes thing a bit annoying..not the end of the world.

Now the bit i'm confused about.. youtube/threads on here mention removing rear wheel and then popping off the cover for the 30mm nut which once removed will allow things to come off.. My car doesn't have that. It doesn't have a cap at all, just a solid chuck of metal pushed into the drum (assuming this help centre the wheel onto the studs??)

Is this a known difference in these cars? I need to get the rear brakes ordered by would want to order the right parts first time..a lot of eBay parts say "fits all focus models from 2004 blah blah" but don't see how they could if there are differences in rear drum set ups.. Also, if i take the whole assembly off and it still doesnt come apart i guess i'l need to order a new bearing and all as well?

What do i do? :(

Any/All advice really appreciated.

Thanks

Dan

[sharpe2002]

help! :(

does the drum slide over that metal insert? its the only way i can see the drum coming off without taking the whole assembly off the car and would also match the images I've seen of the replacement drum part (ie, the drum with the hole in the middle).

Is there any particular part of the drum that i can focus my hammer on to help it come off?

[IINexusII]

That metal insert is the wheel bearing assembly, so yes it does slide over it.

I don't have any solutions to take that drum off though. have you tried penetrating oil around the gaps, and letting it soak in before hammering it?

if nothing else works, the final option would be to remove the 4 torx (t50 i believe) screws out of the wheel bearing behind the brakes assembly and removing the whole unit out.

[JW1982]

This is a commom problem. The 2 mating surfaces of the wheel hub and the brake drum are unprotected metal and after time they are rusted solid.

The easiest way to remove the brake drum is by using a large (bearing) puller. Next to this you can also apply a bit of heat using a torch. Sometimes a lot of force is needed to remove the brake drum from the wheel hub.

Most times the brake drums are deformed during removal and can not be used anymore.

[artscot79]

had this issue i used the good old trusty hammer tapping on the top of the drum all the way round took 10 minutes to get it off after i just sanded and painted the drums and used my rotary tool to remove any rust deposits so tap round the drum with a hammer then at 12 oclock and 6 o clock on the face then back to round the edges

[TomsFocus]

Yes, there are different drums on the Focus's. On the earlier cars they had the 30mm nut. At some point (probably Mk2) that changed to the system you've got with the 4 bolts on the back.

The usual way is to just remove the bolts, I can't see why you wouldn't want to? I was looking at this link the other day, might be useful for you - http://www.focushacks.com/mod/Rear_Brake_Squeal_Fix_(Lubricating_Rear_Brakes)

[sharpe2002]

Ah I hadn't seen that picture, thank you.

I didn't want to remove the torx bolts as they looked a real pain to get to. Needed to go and buy the bit as the ones I have didn't fit either.

Think Il replace the drums at the same time as they're cheap enough :)

Thanks for the replies guys. Now that I see how the drum sits on the bearing assembly I know what I need to do

[artscot79]

Good luck 1 of the torq bolts wouldnt budge no matter how much heat or spray was put on it so in the end the drum still had to be seperated also you wont undo the handbrake cable either the hammers the easiest option

[Stoney871]

Strange that you have drums on your Sport, I have discs all round on mine.

[stef123]

The drum is more than likely stuck on due to the lip on it caused by wear where the shoes rub.

Guessing it's a petrol for the fact it has drums.

[sharpe2002]

Stoney871: its a 1600 petrol which may explain the drums on the rear. I'm not sure its worth doing the disc conversion this time around but maybe next time.. its hardly the fastest car and i've never noticed any issues with the drums performance.. other than the reason for posting here -_- I think most FF brake bias is towards the fronts anyway aren't they?

I've tried heating up the front face of the drum last weekend and giving it beating with the hammer but not for long enough i don't think. I was concious of breathing in the brake dust that was falling out on ever hit.. Hopefully the weather isn't too bad this weekend as the parts are ordered. Fingers crossed it doesn't give me any further hassles.

Those torx bolts look very difficult to get to, even with an extension and one of those fancy swivelly adapters so its going to be a last resort if all else fails.

Other than this rear brake issue the car has been great so far. Its needed so little doing over the last 7/8 years that i feel like it needs a bit of tlc in the important areas like brakes/tyres/suspension.

Unfortunately, its my partners car now so I've been banned from making any "modifications" to it lol

Thanks again [+]

[IINexusII]

Strange that you have drums on your Sport, I have discs all round on mine.

Stoney only 1.8 engines and above have disks at the rear, petrol and diesel

[TomsFocus]

As above...1.6 TDCi 110 here and didn't get discs. And drums look daft behind big alloys....thankfully the Titanium came with multispokes to cover them up lol. Even my old 306 HDi90 came with discs as standard!

I really hate drums as well, especially since having a shoe fall apart and lock the drum solid on one of my previous cars....just hope that's not an issue with the shoes on the Focus, it seems to be more of an issue with circa 2000 PSA cars though. The squealing, lack of easy maintenance, getting stuck on after rain and the fact the 'auto' adjusters never work automatically are all other reasons for my dislike of them lol. But at least they're cheap to mass produce I guess. <_<

[sharpe2002]

aye, my 1989 Honda crx came with discs as standard :) there are down sides to having discs on older cars like that like handbrakes not working, calipers seizing etc..but in this day and age it really shouldn't have drums on a car this size.

the only issue I've had with the stock drums on the ford is that they seized after leaving the car standing for a few months. A few smacks with mallet and a quick drive (slowly) sorted them out.

Its refreshing working on something newer though B) I'm so fed up with dealing with rust and corrosion.

[STEADS]

When I have this problem the easiest way I find is to slack the hand break right off then with a large flat bladed screw driver or similar start to work around the drum working it off can take a bit of force but never failed yet and never cause any damage .

[sharpe2002]

The drums came off! waheey! The ford now has new drums, shoes, rear tyres and new plates as well so it looking a lot less sorry for itself.

What worked: I hit the outside edge of the drum at 12 oclock, rotated it round a quarter turn and hit the 12 oclock position again and following that process doing two full rotations before hitting the front face at 12 an 6 o clock.

I did the above twice and i was then able to pull it off B)

There seemed to be loads of life left on the old shoes/drums but replaced the lot anyways. 8 years is adequate service in my opinion.

Thanks to all for the suggestions on here. Really did help me out and saved a lot of time i didnt really have this weekend.

:D