Just spent a couple of hours successfully replacing my handbrake shoes. Found this guide very helpful.

http://www.atnet.co.uk/freelander-2-replac...discs.html

Step by step with pictures!! 2007 TD4 SE Manual Santrini Black

Excellent thanks copied that for future reference.

Likewise - good stuff

Step 16. is VERY IMPORTANT!

The pivot (sometimes called the spreader) often seizes and whilst it can make handbrake performance poor, it often seizes in such a way that the handbrake shoes are all but 'on'. In this case, when driving at say dual carriage way/motorway speeds, the friction from the handbrake shoes causes them to expand enough so that essentially they are permanently on. This causes them to get even hotter and eventually cause all sorts of vibration, noise and heat etc. The bottom line is it kills the discs, handbrake pads and brake pads too! you'll not notice the problem whilst just regularly driving around minding your daily business, it's when you come to that all important long distance journey that you haven't done for some while!

You'll notice the detail with which I tell this tale as if it really happened...because it really did!

The very nice man from Land Rover Assist said it was a common thing and although freeing up the spreader essentially fixes the problem, it doesn't repair the damaged caused.

Andy.

A good 'how to'.

I have just replaced mine and I'd just like to add something. You mention removing the rubber bung from the disc. This bung goes in the access hole for the rear shoe adjusters. If you remove this and unwind the adjuster with a flat bladed screwdriver, the shoes will not be sticking on the on the drum/disc and it will come off easily. Make sure the adjuster is lubricated and in the fully closed position. Then, after refitting the disc over the new shoes and securing with the torx screw, carry out the same process in reverse and adjust the adjuster up until the disc 'locks' and cannot be rotated. You can then back off the adjuster until the disc can just be turned. The handbrake shoes are then correctly adjusted. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

Excellent stuff - many thanks.

I know from when I looked at the handbrake on my Subaru Impreza (which has a similar handbrake arrangement) that getting the disk/drum off can be really hard, even when the adjuster is fully backed off. This is due to the ring of rusty scale round the edge of the drum.

I had to be really brutal about this and ended up damaging the clips holding the shoes to the backplate because the shoes were being pulled off with the drum.

So it may be a good idea to make sure you have replacements for any little clips etc before you start the job. On the Subaru you could get to the back of the pins to replace them if necessary but I am not sure what you would do on the Freelander where you can't access one of them (para 14.1 of the instructions).

Pete

To hold the lower pins in position I wound some very thin wire under the small head of the pin and threaded it through the shoe from the rear. I then pulled the wire and the pin through the shoe and held it whilst sliding a greasy clip under the pin head. I then removed the wire. Did the same thing for the cable.

I agree with the comments above about the actuating arm seizing. To avoid this I bought a complete set from eBay, including adjusters, shoes springs and actuating arm.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...1202040919 2007 TD4 SE Manual Santrini Black

I should also add that I am not the author of the guide, I just found it, used it and let others know that it exists.

I tried to wind the adjusters back to help remove the disc, but they were seized, as were the actuating arms. The new ones are copper greased!! 2007 TD4 SE Manual Santrini Black

peasemold wrote:

To hold the lower pins in position I wound some very thin wire under the small head of the pin and threaded it through the shoe from the rear. I then pulled the wire and the pin through the shoe and held it whilst sliding a greasy clip under the pin head. I then removed the wire.

ive not got a big enough jack or axle stands (due to ground clearence), car is getting serviced tomorrow and the indie has quoted me 30 quid to clean and adjust handbrake. The indie went into great detail about the handbrake and said its rare for him to change the shoes on the handbrake, usually they just require a clean and lubrication of the pivots etc. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
Gone MY2010 Freelander 2 Manual TD4.e S, Alaska White.

The step 16 issue happened to me - thankfully it was still under warranty!


Andrew

I have been working on this design of brake for over twenty years; they all suffer corrosion of the hub part of the disc. I always chip away the rust crust of the handbrake drum inside lip then polish out the drum with a drill mounted flap wheel till the black / brown corrosion deposits give way to semi shiny cast metal again. Follow with a light abrade of the shoes before refitting all and adjusting. Follow with a test drive and bed the shoes back in before readjusting again. For the home enthusiast mechanic doing this yearly just before MOT will guarantee both a 'pass' and a good handbrake.
I'm about to fit new rear pads (real LR TWR Galfrey) and having read of other owners handbrake link siezing I am going to boil the links in grease to try and get lubricant in to the pivot pin.

I recently tackled this job on a Dec2009 FL2.
The handbrake has been poor /non existent for a while. Its actually given me and the wife Tennis elbow pulling on the break.
I had noticed that the inside adjuster "balance bar" under the coin tray was very lopsided. I put this down to a stretched cable. It puzzled me for a while.

What I found surprised me,and it appears to have been done at the factory on assembly as no one has been into my rear brakes.

The rear spreader pivot was on upside down and totally siezed. I freed it up and turned it the right way up (pivot rivet at the bottom)

Now the balance bar is even on both sides. Also the adjuster knurled nut was seized and on upside down. the knurled bit should be at the bottom.

New discs & hand brake pads on ,bedded in & adjusted and now working great,but still cant believe one side was assembled upside down!

One other tip to add to the instructions link is to slacken off the inside adjuster as far as possible to give you some cable to play with at the hub end & make it easier to get the cable over the pivot "claw"

hi has anyboby got a copy of the above posting at the top of here with pictures as need to have a go at mine over the xmas holidays

Doing mine today and found this video on the tube....

 2011 SD4 XS