Bicycle Mechanics - Back brakes problem

Hello im new here so try and bear with me.

I have a dual suspension bike with v-brakes, 2 finger adjustable brake levers and is a y frame bike. The problem is that my dad tried to tighten the back brakes a couple of days ago. Cos he couldn't slacken the nut which lets you move the brake pads in and out he had to take off the whole brake. Once he put it back on it is now sitting lop sided sitting to the one side which is making the brake pad rub against my tyre which is hard to pedal.

How can I level the brakes out again? Is it something to do with the brakes spring mechanism?

I'm sorry if this is not clear. If you do not understand i will try and get some pics.

Thank you for any help you give me.

First, make sure the wheel is fully seated in the dropouts on each side. If not, your brakes will not be centered.

Then, since you said you have V-brakes, there should be a small adjusting screw near the pivot of each brake arm. If you tighten one of those screws, the arm will move further from the wheel. Loosen it and the arm moves toward the wheel.

What brand of brakes? Quite honestly the cheaper brands of linear pull brakes, (It has to be Shimano to be a V-brake) suck. I honestly am at a loss to give you any good advice on how to start, particularly since yours have already been fubared.

when you put a brake arm back on, it's critical to know that there's a little metal thing that sticks out of the side of the brake arm into the frame, on the inside (wheel side. this means left side of the right brake arm and right side of the left brake arm.)

The little metal spring-attachment points go into the tiny holes in the frame, and if they're in the wrong holes, the screw supcom mentioned may not be able to adjust the brakes well enough.

Did your dad have to take off both arms, or just one? If just one, look at which hole, as cerewa described, is used by the one he didn't remove. Make sure the re-installed one is using the corresponding hole on the other side. Oh, and at the risk of sounding a bit preachy, next time you or your dad decide to take something off the bike, make sure to note in what position / configuration it was beforehand. It's not a given that things go back together exactly the same way they came apart. A quick drawing/diagram, or, if availiable, digital photos of the "before" will help you with the "after".

When you say "he couldn't slacken the nut which lets you move the brake pads in and out", are you referring to the adjusting barrel on the lever? If so, you should get that resolved. You need to be able to adjust your brakes via that barrel.

Thank you all for the advice.

He only took one of the brakes arms off. The one he didnt take off is set to the middle hole. As for the nut thing you cant get to it very well because thins are in the way so you can't use the spanner to slacken it. I think its shoddy made.

Anyhow I'll try what advice you gave me and I will get back to uze on it.

As for the nut thing you cant get to it very well because thins are in the way so you can't use the spanner to slacken it. The adjusting barrel should be movable with bare fingers. If it's so tight that you need a spanner, somebody death-gripped it too tight. What exactly is in the way? Can you post a pic?

Its ok now i fixed it :-) thanks for the help. As for you madpogue it was the wrong thing I was talking about, I meant the nut underneath the brakes arm that lets you move the brake pads in and out. Anyhow its fixed now.

A nut underneath the brake arm? On a linear (V) brake? Oh, are you talking about the two little screws (sometimes they're Phillips-head, sometimes they're allen-head), one on each arm, to adjust each individually? Still, there shouldn't be anything in the way of them. More to the point, they're only to adjust each pad relative to the other. If you have to adjust both sides at the same time, in or out, the barrel on the lever is the way to go.

Good thing is, you got Humpty Dumpty back together again. Hey, first time I changed out a power steering pump, I failed to notice the bolts were all different lengths. Took me three extra hours of fiddling to get them right. At least when I did my brother's a year later (same kinda engine), I knew what to do! That's how you learn.