Hi,
I am having a problem with the rear nearside brake on my 1978 Mini Van, the wheel & brake drum get very hot after just a few miles, while the offside drum is just warm. I only noticed this recently although they may have been like this for some time. I cover about 3000 miles each year (the vans only on the road during the summer) and I check the brakes before the each MOT. I had noticed before that the shoes were wearing more on the nearside, but as both the wheel cylinder and handbrake cable showed no signs of sticking and the wheel spun freely, I assumed maybe the shoes were softer on that side.
After I noticed the drum was getting hot, I replaced the handbrake linkage inside the drum, wheel cylinder, and brake shoes plus the wheel bearing (which was a little noisey). I slackened off the handbrake before adjusting the back brakes, then adjusted it to hold on the 3rd notch, making sure the wheels spun freely with the handbrake released.
The wheel & drum still get very hot on the nearside after a short journey, but don't smell of overheating brake shoes, otherwise I would have noticed this before.
Any advice on what the problem could be, would be appreciated.
Thanks
Alan