Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 M3W brake failure

As has been discussed on these pages before, it would make life easier in the event that one has a seized/bound rear brake drum if there was a manual adjuster. I currently have the rear end stripped out for tyre & bearing change, and with plenty of time on my hands I reckoned now would be as good a time as any to investigate further.

The drum components are mainly Lockheed so it didn't take long to find something on eBay that looked about right.



Here it is compared to the standard fixed item.



As you can see it slips right in.



...and all looks very 'stock'.



I set up the adjuster so that the brake shoes are held the same distance apart as the standard fixed item. Just to be clear, I don't intend to use this as a regular adjuster because the standard automatic ratchet device works well most of the time. However, If my pads bind on the drum for some reason then it will now be a doddle to back off the adjuster to allow easy disassembly.

Another 'Lockdown Project' complete!

What a very good find - might go looking for one of those myself!

Nice find Andy

I think you must have found the last one

Need to be creative with the search! Just found another one. He claims that he has five of them too, although they are a little more expensive than the one I bought.

A very thoughtful modification!

Nice one Andy 👍

Found a cheaper one if anyone's interested. eBay item No. 124589834979

This is exactly what brake fade does! Ask anyone that’s tracked cars hard. Fluid gets hot and things get spongy in a hurry.

I would suspect that the bad adjustment overheated the drum, which then weakens the entire braking system. Have an unassisted like in the morgan and you’re close to the floor under normal conditions, the threshold to hitting the floor can be minimal.

If brake fade is so bad that the pedal hits the floor, then the primary cause will be VERY old fluid that has absorbed moisture and reduced its boiling point dramatically. This moisure when hot forms bubbles in the fluid, which of course being compressible then proceed to do just that, losing all your braking ability. Anyone experiencing a really, really long pedal after a hard ession on track should look to change the fluid before the next session. A condition like this on the road should never really occur however, but if it does, then something is significantly wrong with the braking system and wants addressed ASAP.....!