Recently, a problem came to my attention regarding the Mahindra THAR – namely, that the brakes are not functioning as expected. As it turns out, there is a very simple solution to this issue, which I will detail in this post.

First, a brief overview of the working principle of the drum brake and the cause of the problem.

For any drum brake to work properly, the brake shoes must be very close to the drum. Problems arise when the gap between the drum and shoes becomes too much, which generally happens when the brake shoes wear out.

When this gap is created, the piston will require more fluid to travel the increased distance. In turn, the master cylinder has to pump more oil. This is why, when applying the brakes, the pedal will sink closer to the floor.

To eliminate this problem, new generation brake drums have an automatic adjuster.

While examining the Mahindra THAR, however, not only did I find the gap between the brake shoes and drum to be too big, but the drum brake adjuster was not working as it should.

To rectify this, the brake shoes must be manually adjusted to be as close to the drum as possible. This is a trivial procedure that can be performed by any garage technician.