Hi.
A few things to check.

Did you loosen the handbrake cable adjuster before adjusting the threaded adjuster bars.

Do the handbrake levers and cables move freely.
Are the cylinder pistons free to move and not leaking under the boots.
Have you tried bleeding the brakes.

 

Did not loosen the handbrake cable - I thought if it was off that would be OK. - Is it that important ??
Levers and cables all move freely.
Piston movement is OK & No leaks.
Never considered bleeding them.
Comments appreciated

 

If the handbrake is partly on it can throw out the adjustment.
The lever in the car maybe down but the cable can still be tight enough to hold the levers off their stops. Maybe more on one side than the other.

Back the cable adjuster off until the cable is slack then recheck the threaded adjusters and see if anything has changed.

Could be a bit of air in that cylinder or pipe. You never know.

Check those and report back if it's still not playing.

 

Checked handbrake lever inside drum With handbrake off. The lever is against it's stop - so I assume thats OK.
Blead brakes - no air.
Still no change - with the engine running - foot on brake - you can force the wheel round.
There is what looks like a compensator valve on the back axle. Could this be misbehaving - what is the likelyhood -
Nearside rear brake is OK and it closer to this valve.
Could it be the handbrake actually needs adjusted to make the distance between shoe and drum closer - so when you apply the brake a greater area of shoe engages the drum ?

 

Have you maually adjusted the adjusment screws inside the drums??

 

What year is your car.
Is it a mk2 phase1 model.
Does it have ABS.
If it failed for brakes binding- what did you do to fix that.
Is there a large lip on the drum stopping it going on easily.

The handbrake should have no bearing on the footbrake side.
As long as the levers are against the stops and the screw aduster is wound out until the shoes lightly brush the drum then that's right.

Does it look like any work has been done recently or unmatched age parts between the 2 sides.

Compensator fault- It's possible but not sure how likely. Difficult to determine unless you can measure the pressure in the hydraulic lines.

 

Manually adjusted screws inside drums until binding but not tight when the wheel is on. So light resistance to wheel turning.
1998 Clio - basic model non ABS.
Drum shows some light scoring but nothing serious for age.
No significant lip.
N/S shoes show slightly increased wear ( but I suspect that is because they are more efficient ) compared to O/S
I would of thought the handbrake must have a bearing on the footbrake - as shoe position at the handbrake end is a pivot point.

 

The footbrake works using the bottom locating point as a pivot and the cylinder pistons open to force the shoes out against the drum.

When the lever is against the stop, the end of the adjuster sits against the shoe. As you move the lever, it hits another section of the adjuster.

If you look at the end fitting of the adjuster, you should see that it's stepped. The handbrake uses the adjuster for it's spreading leverage point.

Technically, you could bin the whole handbrake setup without affecting the footbrake.

As the shoes get thinner the adjuster needs to get longer to keep the shoes close to the drum otherwise you get more pedal travel at the footbrake.

If you're old enough to remember- some cars also had drums on the front. Didn't need a handbrake on front and back with them.

Anyway- has it had any new parts that you know of.
What did you do to cure the binding.

 

Today I replaced the brake shoes in case it was a combination of drum wear and shoe wear. Braking improved but O/S wheel is still turnable with moderate force.
Son needs this car for UNI - Ideas would be appreciated.
Handbrake lever inside drum sits against it's stop so there is no handbrake influence on the shoe adjustment.

 

Is that testing the foot brake when the car is off the ground. If the car is fitted with a load limiter valve then the pressure to the rear brakes will be severely reduced when the suspension is hanging down.

 

Yes it has a compensater valve. So I put the Axle stands under the suspension to mimic it sitting on it's tyres.
Still exhibits this weak o/s brake.

 

It may be worth checking the condition of the wheel cylinders - pull the gaitors back and have a squint inside.

 

Wheel cylinder pistons are bright and shiny.
Rubber gators are in great condition.
Pistons can travel full distance till they leak - then I have to bleed them.

 

Its all down to the adjustment of the shoes. Ensure hand brake is completely off with the cable adjustment completely loosened off then adjust the brake shoe adjusters so that the drum just fits over the shoes. With the drum on then adjust the adjuster through the hole in the back plate until the wheel locks up, then back it off until the wheel just turns freely. Do the same on both sides then readjust the hand brake ensure that after this adjustment the wheels still rotate with the hand brake released. You also need to understand that with the compensator valve the rear brakes don't do a lot until there are passengers or a load in the car. Sometimes when they are tested on the MOT the rears don't lock up anyway. So you could just be chasing your tail. Before you spend too much time take it to an MOT center and get them to put it on the brake tester. It may well be OK.

 

Handbrake is off and lever on shoes inside drums are sitting against their stops.
Shoes are set so they are just binding with light resistance.
Still - with engine running and standing HARD on the brake - you can force the O/S wheel around.

 

A couple of things to try. Make sure the shoes are centralised after adjusting them and before putting the wheel back on. You can do that either by hitting the drum lightly with a hammer a couple of times or working the handbrake. When you wind the adjuster out. It only winds out one shoe. Therefor when you put the drum back on it rubs against one side which gives the effect of it slightly rubbing and wing adjusted when it may not be. Then When you then put the wheel back on and pull the handbrake up it then pushes out the other shoe. But only untill it just touches because you run out of pull on the handbrake. By the sounds of things you've tried everything and proberbly including this! But just incase you haven't