I have recently purchased an axle and diff from a MK1 Escort, which was all working fine. I stripped down the axle and removed the diff while fitting the mounting brackets. When stripped down i decided to flush out the old oil.

Having put the whole lot back together, there is a lot of resistance from one side. As far as i can tell the problem only exists when the drum on that side is fitted, however it is not binding on the brake shoes though, as it all slides together easily. Everything seems to work as normal until i apply pressure to the drum towards the diff i.e. tightening up wheel nuts. The resistance appears to be coming from the diff area and not the brake assembly

I have tried removing the drum and fitting the wheel and everything is fine, therefore it must be something caused by the drum - any ideas?

It seems odd to me, but maybe (probably) there is something simple that i have overlooked.

Any help/ideas appreciated.

Cheers

Its the brakes tightening the wheel nuts dosen't change anything else..

Swap the drum side to side --- it is possible the drum has been damage when it was removed -- ford drums are easily damaged.
Also check the shoes are the correct width for the drums and backplate.

Otherwise Mk1 Escort axles with 8 inch drums with sliding wheel cylnders and manual screw adjusters -- pretty fool proof. Check the cylinders slide ok in the back plates and that the hold down springs are OK.

Thanks britishtrident for the help. I did actually try swapping the drums but it made no difference. The other thing is, that the binding is a lot worse when i spin the wheel backwards.

As i said above, it feels like something isnt quite right in the diff.

I forgot to mention in the first post that when i removed the diff, there was a bolt loosea few turns, which i tightened. The bolt was one of maybe 6? bolts holding the crownwheel onto the main body of the diff. Do you think that may have anything to do with it?

I am quite clueless about RWD cars, as if you havent guessed already!!

Everything with the brakes seems to be OK, i unscrewed the adjuster to close the shoes and the cylinder is sliding OK.

Cheers

just a thought have you checked the halfshaft is not bent ?

If half shaft turns no problem without drum on... then probelm is brakes.
If shoes are not fitted correctly.. springs, holding pins etc, then when u turn the axle with drums on, the shoes WILL move and tend to lock the drum. hope this helps.

Remember once swapping a half shaft on a capri - the wheel bearings had shims to set "looseness" did you get these back in right? (OK might be completely different....)
cheers
Bob

Shouldn't be any shims at all on an anywhere escort or capri wheel bearing. The only other thing I can think of is the dreaded Escort handbrake linkage with its reinforced rubber hinge -- that always caused problems with the brake on the left side.