26 minutes ago, BP2411 said:

Just stripped both sides down & rebuilt... Here's what I mean about the adjusters. 

Passenger side lever sits on the teeth without adjusting. 

Drivers side either pulls off the teeth or adjusts the length of the adjuster. 

 

The second picture is the drivers side, the side that the self adjuster doesn't want to sit on the teeth without adjusting the self adjuster first, you can see a gap between the end of the self adjuster where it meets the shoe, this is why I think the springs are the problem as the shoes that side are further apart than the passengers side. 

 I think that you are out of your depth. You do not understand why it doesn't behave as you expect and have decided to change the springs.  Good luck.

Why don't the shoes pull back and  compress the wheel cylinder? A clue, it will not be weak springs...

All sorted! Swapped the top spring from one side to the other and the problem moved with the one spring, fitted a new brake fitting kit, hub back on, pumped the brakes, adjusted handbrake, job done! 

 

Thanks everyone for your input, much appreciated! 

1 hour ago, BP2411 said:

All sorted! Swapped the top spring from one side to the other and the problem moved with the one spring, fitted a new brake fitting kit, hub back on, pumped the brakes, adjusted handbrake, job done! 

 

Thanks everyone for your input, much appreciated! 

That's good news. I'm surprised that the spring lost its tension and there were no obvious signs that it had. 

Every day is a school day.

Every day is a school day is exactly what I was thinking!