My 2010 Focus MK2.5 1.8 has an annoying issue where the rear drum brakes will stick/bind if the car's left overnight, especially after driving in wet weather. It wouldn't be a problem however when trying to drive away in the morning the binding can be so bad that it can take some serious rocking to get the drum to release, other times there's none/hardly any binding. 

The car's done 76k, and as far as I know the rear drums have not been off in that time and the shoes have never been replaced. Is it worth just replacing the shoes and springs if I'm going to the trouble of removing the drums? If so, are there any suggested brands and suppliers? 

 

Also, are there any differences in make/size of drum I need to be aware of when ordering parts? Its a 2010 1.8 Petrol with ABS

It won't make any difference...that's just the way with drums unfortunately.   I've been glad to back to rear discs again after being stuck (quite literally!) with drums on both Focus's!

I've had no end of drum issues over the years, absolutely hate them lol.

22 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It won't make any difference...that's just the way with drums unfortunately.   I've been glad to back to rear discs again after being stuck (quite literally!) with drums on both Focus's!

I've had no end of drum issues over the years, absolutely hate them lol.

I've had both discs and drums over the years on various cars, and have had equally poor experiences of both. On discs its generally the handbrake systems not working and on drums its the fact they never get checked until something breaks. Given how often I have to park on steep hills I'll take a drum setup over discs unless there's a real need for the extra stopping power on the rear axle. 

On this particular car the brakes are fine in dry weather, but seem to enjoy sticking on if left overnight after driving in wet weather. I'm guessing either the return springs are weak, there's a buildup of crud and/or there's some contamination from iffy wheel cylinders. 

I've never had a problem on hills with discs so far...

Drums are just awful though.  Even with brand new parts they'll still stick when water gets into them.  If you like to apply the handbrake hard (as I do!) they'll always be welded together the next day.  Eventually the lining rips off, gets caught in the other shoe and locks the rear wheel solid without warning at 45mph...I can't say that was a fun experience!

You can probably improve yours by just cleaning them out, there should still be plenty of material left on the shoes at 75k.  

I have been driving since 1982 and almost all cars I have had had drums on the rear (I had a Volvo 244 for a year with rear discs, but it still had drums for the handbrake kind of inside the centre of the disc). I have only had this problem with the shoes sticking to the drums when the car has been left for weeks and weeks.

I think you are going to have to take the drums off and see what's going on in there. Can you tell if it's both or just one?

The MK 2.5 Drum Brakes are notorious for this, even if it is only slightly wet when you park up for the night. If it has snowed or you are parked on gravel it is not funny. Even if you renew everything I don't think the problem will go away with that car, it might just get a little bit better for a while.

If the Drums have never been off then they should be to check everything and clean up all the dust. They do produce a lot of dust and don't have a groove down the middle so the dust has nowhere to go.

If you do take the Drums off then leave yourself plenty of time because the Drums are quite soft and there may be a big wear lip which makes it hard to pull them off. If you dismantle them then they are a bit fiddly to put back and the self adjusters take an eternity to wind back up by pressing the Brake pedal.

If you need new Drums then the Borg and Beck ones are excellent, indistinguishable from the originals. I can't help you with the Shoes though. 

Mine were exactly the same a few months back, now cured (though don't know for how long). I simply applied the handbrake briefly  whilst driving at about 15/20mph. Obviously, do it on a quiet road LOL

Exactly this happened when my son left his car for a day or so during a holiday period. They were completely stuck fast. The car needed breakdown service and taking to the Ford service department. They seemed to fix themselves after that. But next service they did some work on them. My husband drives the car now. We haven’t had the problem again but it was terrible when it happened. We just couldn’t free them at all. 

1 hour ago, isetta said:

I have been driving since 1982 and almost all cars I have had had drums on the rear (I had a Volvo 244 for a year with rear discs, but it still had drums for the handbrake kind of inside the centre of the disc). I have only had this problem with the shoes sticking to the drums when the car has been left for weeks and weeks.

I think you are going to have to take the drums off and see what's going on in there. Can you tell if it's both or just one?

It varies. Sometimes its both (You feel the suspension drop/rise on both sides) whereas today it was only the rear passenger drum (car only seemed to hold back on the left side).

It certainly looks like its strip down time either way!

1 hour ago, Tizer said:

The MK 2.5 Drum Brakes are notorious for this, even if it is only slightly wet when you park up for the night. If it has snowed or you are parked on gravel it is not funny. Even if you renew everything I don't think the problem will go away with that car, it might just get a little bit better for a while.

If the Drums have never been off then they should be to check everything and clean up all the dust. They do produce a lot of dust and don't have a groove down the middle so the dust has nowhere to go.

If you do take the Drums off then leave yourself plenty of time because the Drums are quite soft and there may be a big wear lip which makes it hard to pull them off. If you dismantle them then they are a bit fiddly to put back and the self adjusters take an eternity to wind back up by pressing the Brake pedal.

If you need new Drums then the Borg and Beck ones are excellent, indistinguishable from the originals. I can't help you with the Shoes though. 

Sounds about right! My issue is if I park in my gravel floor garage then there's no room to go backwards to release the drums, only forwards a few times and hopefully have them release.

Thanks for the advice around getting the drums off. From what I've read on other forums it seems that Ford fitted shoes with a particularly hard friction material which have a tendency to do this 

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Mine were exactly the same a few months back, now cured (though don't know for how long). I simply applied the handbrake briefly  whilst driving at about 15/20mph. Obviously, do it on a quiet road LOL

Tried that a few times at various speeds and for various times to "dry" the drums out, it doesn't seem to be helping

Just now, rhyds said:

Tried that a few times at various speeds and for various times to "dry" the drums out, it doesn't seem to be helping

Not so much 'dry' them, but takes any surface rust off so that there is nothing really for them to bind on. Disappointing it never worked for you, at one stage, my car would barely move at all one morning as I 'floored' it to get it shifted, applying the handbrake for me at low speed certainly did the trick and that was over 4 months ago now. Good luck buddy 😀

17 minutes ago, Gilli said:

Exactly this happened when my son left his car for a day or so during a holiday period. They were completely stuck fast. The car needed breakdown service and taking to the Ford service department. They seemed to fix themselves after that. But next service they did some work on them. My husband drives the car now. We haven’t had the problem again but it was terrible when it happened. We just couldn’t free them at all. 

This one will free eventually, but this morning was stuck fast for some reason. Eventually some rocking got it to release and I was on my way

I've had the same seized rear drum syndrome.

In desperation one cold morning I poured a kettle of boiling water over the outside of the offending drum. It worked.

I did also did try, on other occasions, to drive several miles with the handbrake up a few clicks to give slight binding before parking up.

I had myself convinced it kept the drums free. Who knows if it made any difference!

ScaniaPBman.

I can't tell if you park your cars with the hand break applied but if you do you're just asking for trouble park the car in first gear and if you are on a slope facing down or up hill turn your wheels to make a right turn that way if the should move it will roll to the right hand curb, ohh I forgot you drive on the left side in Britten then turn your wheels to make a left turn that way if the car should move it will roll to the left hand curb.

1 minute ago, 2 Fast 4 U said:

I can't tell if you park your cars with the hand break applied but if you do you're just asking for trouble park the car in first gear and if you are on a slope facing down or up hill turn your wheels to make a right turn that way if the should move it will roll to the right hand curb, ohh I forgot you drive on the left side in Britten then turn your wheels to make a left turn that way if the car should move it will roll to the left hand curb.

This hosts a whole other problem.  When I had a C class Merc, because it had an auto box, I never used the handbrake from one year to the next. Hence, every MOT, it would fail because the handbrake seized due to not being used LOL

I can confirm with new shoes and brake cylinders installed on mines that problem no longer exists. They are very easy to replace fiddly but easy and makes a hell of a difference. Check the cylinders at the top for splits in the rubber.

Shoes: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391396292622

Cylinders: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333095945441

The reason for the drum brakes sticking is probably because the shoes are worn to a point where they are over expanding and the cam not returning, I had the same problem on my 54 plate MK1 Focus, had to drag the rear wheels 50 yards down the road before the rear brakes released, don't have the problem now as I no longer have the car!

9 hours ago, 2 Fast 4 U said:

I can't tell if you park your cars with the hand break applied but if you do you're just asking for trouble park the car in first gear and if you are on a slope facing down or up hill turn your wheels to make a right turn that way if the should move it will roll to the right hand curb, ohh I forgot you drive on the left side in Britten then turn your wheels to make a left turn that way if the car should move it will roll to the left hand curb.

Erick

I take it from your signature images you're from the Netherlands. 

I live in Wales, in a part called Snowdonia where we have 800m+ mountains and many, many hills. I've got a lot of faith in my Duratec HE, but I'm not going to rely simply on compression and steering in to the kerb to stop my car rolling away!

1 hour ago, rhyds said:

Erick

I take it from your signature images you're from the Netherlands. 

I live in Wales, in a part called Snowdonia where we have 800m+ mountains and many, many hills. I've got a lot of faith in my Duratec HE, but I'm not going to rely simply on compression and steering in to the kerb to stop my car rolling away!

TBH I hardly ever use the hand brake, just leave it in gear (1st or reverse depending on the downhill direction).  The only time I do use it is if I have to get out of the car and keep the engine running eg. to open a gate or drop something off quickly.  On 150,000 miles now and never had the rear drums off so I hate to think what condition they are in, but never had an issue stopping or passing the MOT.

1 hour ago, rhyds said:

Erick

I take it from your signature images you're from the Netherlands. 

I live in Wales, in a part called Snowdonia where we have 800m+ mountains and many, many hills. I've got a lot of faith in my Duratec HE, but I'm not going to rely simply on compression and steering in to the kerb to stop my car rolling away!

Steering into the he kerb is also a terrible idea on tight UK roads...  Only takes one fool to be driving a little close, their tyre catches yours and they end up parked on your bonnet.   

1 hour ago, south_bound said:

TBH I hardly ever use the hand brake, just leave it in gear (1st or reverse depending on the downhill direction).  The only time I do use it is if I have to get out of the car and keep the engine running eg. to open a gate or drop something off quickly.  On 150,000 miles now and never had the rear drums off so I hate to think what condition they are in, but never had an issue stopping or passing the MOT.

I use both the gearbox/engine compression and the handbrake. Relying on just engine compression is ridiculous when you're on a steep gradient as you're effectively hoping your highest compression cylinder (with the mechanical advantage/leverage from the gearbox) is enough to hold 1300kgs of car from rolling away down a hill.

To give you some idea of what kind of parking space we're discussing, here's an example:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6547081,-3.8416396,3a,75y,40.69h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbGg100DxP8K2ffHUp1dJiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

1 hour ago, rhyds said:

To give you some idea of what kind of parking space we're discussing, here's an example:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6547081,-3.8416396,3a,75y,40.69h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbGg100DxP8K2ffHUp1dJiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

That image has been photo shopped! A photo in Wales, with the sun shining?? Come on buddy LOL

1 hour ago, rhyds said:

I use both the gearbox/engine compression and the handbrake. Relying on just engine compression is ridiculous when you're on a steep gradient as you're effectively hoping your highest compression cylinder (with the mechanical advantage/leverage from the gearbox) is enough to hold 1300kgs of car from rolling away down a hill.

To give you some idea of what kind of parking space we're discussing, here's an example:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6547081,-3.8416396,3a,75y,40.69h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbGg100DxP8K2ffHUp1dJiA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I mean, they could've just built the road slightly to the left in the flat bit...  

Tbf though, we have steeper hills even here in Suffolk, especially where the land suddenly drops away down to the coast.  I've never had a car roll away yet!  Rarely even leave it in gear unless there's something particularly nice downhill of mine.