Can anyone suggest where I can obtain a drawing or photo of the BPW brake assembly for the nearside (opposite door side) hub of a 2008 Familia 320GT. Every outing for some while was plagued with the nearside hub becoming hot, sometimes very hot. The hub on the other side remained barely warm. The brakes were adjusted /readjusted/ backed off several times also the Bowden cables were removed , checked for kinks and well lubricated all to no avail. Eventually I removed the wretched one shot nut in order to withdraw the drum and check the brake internals. However on removal of the shoe steady pin clips everything and I mean everything - shoes, springs, and expander unit, all just fell out in a heap on to the ground. After cleaning everything up the next problem was how to correctly reassemble.

The drawing in the BPW booklet supplied with the van was not a lot of help since it shows a different arrangement to that actually on the Familia. It is the same incorrect drawing on the BPW website. The BPW booklet and web drawing both show the expander unit at the top and the adjuster unit at the bottom. The big spring at the top and the small spring at the bottom. If the booklet is turned upside down the drawing then nearer approximates to the Familia nearside arrangement but the direction of travel arrow is then incorrect. Does this matter?

I contacted BPW for a drawing only to receive a snooty reply that only those who have been trained in the BPW workshop should touch the brakes. What a load of cobblers! Any self respecting mechanic should be able to work on rod/cable drum brakes with just a little guidance on the specifics of each manufacturers design peculiarities. I and probably many others used to do so frequently years ago on cars and motorcycles of the era. For the time being I have reassembled in accordance with the booklet diagram turned upside down.

With a smear of high temp grease at contact points (think one shoe had previously been seized) the wheel now spins better but hub still gets warmer than the other side. Hence would appreciate a specific drawing or photo of the Familia nearside brake arrangement for confirmation that I have indeed put the expander unit the correct way round and the shoes the correct way round etc etc.

Based on many years of engineering design I find several features of the BPW hub/brake design to be extremely poor but will save these comments for another day. For the present can anyone direct me to a correct brake assembly drawing for a Familia nearside hub?

Following on from my enquiry a few months ago it would seem that nobody is able to suggest where a drawing or photo of the BPW nearside brake assembly on a Familia can be obtained. What is so high tech / special about these mechanically operated drum brakes that the details have to be kept top secret (or as per BPW only divulged to those who have been trained in their workshops.)

Could it be that BPW do not want owners to realise that the design of the BPW equipment is (c r##) extremely poor. Also that BPW have deliberately made it as difficult as possible for owners to service the hubs/brakes themselves. Owners might also realise how BPW have cheapened their design to minimise their manufacturing costs but without any regard to potential problems and expense created for owners. Three examples.

1) ONE SHOT NUTS
The hubs are retained by one shot nuts tightened to a torque value beyond the range of a normal workshop torque wrench. This is a cheap and simple method for the manufacturer BPW. For the owner though it requires the purchase of a special large and very expensive torque wrench or at least an extension bar for use in conjunction with a normal wrench. Also new one shot nuts are needed to be purchased and be available every time before any work can be done on the hubs.

Hubs used to be retained by castle nuts and split pins where only the pins needed to be replaced occasionally – certainly not every time. Can anyone cite any benefit TO THE OWNER of using one shot nuts rather than castle nuts and split pins ?

2) LEFT HAND THREADS
It has long been appreciated by good design engineers that nuts retaining components rotating in an anti clockwise direction should preferably have left hand threads. If anything untoward should happen the nut would then tighten rather than unscrewing itself. For donkeys years cycle manufacturers have employed left hand threads on nearside pedals for this very reason. For cheapness though BPW use right hand thread nuts on hubs on both sides relying for retention solely on the extremely high torque applied. If ever a caravan or trailer is seen with a lost wheel would lay odds on it being a nearside wheel !!

3) BRAKE SHOE SPRINGS
With a drum removed it is normal to find each brake shoe with an individual pull off spring. BPW though in its cost cutting way use just one spring stretched between the two shoes. This means that it is possible that only one shoe might retract leaving the other rubbing on the drum leading to hub overheating. (This was the cause of hub overheating on my Familia) A single spring means cheaper manufacturing cost to BPW but a potential source of problems for owners.


German engineering usually has a good reputation. BPW cheapo design is clearly an exception. Is ALKO any better?

Alleygater

Found this on the net, any use?

http://www.bpw.co.uk/downloads/technical...Instruction.pdf

Hi and
Tom & Margaret

Thanks Highmiler for the reference but this only seems to cover heavy duty truck equipment. There is somewhere on the web a maintenance sheet which covers caravan type equipment but when the relevant drawing is enlarged to make it readable it only shows the same as the booklet supplied with the van ie an arrangement which is upside down compared to as fitted on a familia (and possibly other models) Drawings show expander unit at top when it is actually at the bottom.If drawing turned upside down the indicated direction of travel is then wrong so are the auto reversing provisions then wrong also???
Why is it that BPW or Eriba or Hymer will not issue correct as built information on their products??

The lesson to be learnt from this saga is to take photographs of the brake assembly whenever a drum is removed and before any further dismantling.
Alleygater