2012 GEM E2; pulling on the handbrake brings the cables and levers into contact with the brake lines on both rear wheels. It’s just a matter of time before they cut the brake lines. Photo to follow. I pulled apart the drums and inspected the brakes (seeking an adjuster, nope!). The handbrake cables seem properly adjusted, this looks like a design flaw. It may be possible to reroute the brake lines to gain more clearance. 1) is this interference a real or imagined problem. 2) what fixes have you seen/done for it?
When you had the drum off did you note how much lining was left on your brakes? Maybe this is a sign that you need some new shoes?
I’d go ahead and give that steel line a little bend up a little higher and see if that linkage will travel under it.
With a little work you could also get some room by moving the steel line to the other side of that shock bracket.
As an alternate I recently saw someone that drilled a new hole in the arm so it was closer to the drum. Being closer to the pivot alters the leverage so it will not grab as hard on the drum so it is up to you. It can always be moved back.
Knew I could count on you! I did see that the lining is ‘new’. I expected it to be gone, but no. Your other suggestions, I’ve considered. Probably moving the brake lines forward of the shock mounts is the best solution. In the interim I ‘may’ loosen a line fixing bracket and encourage the brake line to take a higher position. This just seems to be a factory defect, unless it isn’t adjusted correctly. Thoughts?
Thanks, I saw and appreciated your comment. I didn’t measure the shoes but they didn’t seem to have any wear on them. FWIW getting past the seized wheel nuts and studs was epic. I’m replacing the wheel adapters to get fresh studs and new wheel nuts and torque them correctly. Amazingly stretched and corroded, they were. I’ll have them off next weekend when those parts come and can measure the brake shoe material thickness. How much do you think it should be when new? I ask because if they were replaced with similar but thinner ones, that could cause this (doubtful).
R