cheap brake drums...

[brelandt]

Had 2 customers return after a rear drum brake service. Neither of which I performed. The first car was a 1990 Mazda 626. The co worker did not grease the back plate so it was clicking when the brakes where applied. not an easy set up as the drum is held on by a spindle/nut set-up. I greased the plate and smooth the rough edges down. Sanded the shoe and drums. That's when I noticed a 1" half moon shape crack in the rotor. Less than 1000 miles on them! Waited 5 hours for a replacement.
Meanwhile a 01 PT Cruiser came back for a loud noise and the pedal jumping up and down when braking. left rear wheel turns freely but the right was hanging up. Turns out the new drum was warped!
not sure what brand we bought but I'm tired of cheap chinese brake parts! cost me a lot of time!

 

[Donald]

Do you routinely check lateral runout for rotors?

 

[brelandt]

Nope, managers push to get the cars out as well as customers asking every 10 mintues if their car is done. Creates a work habit I really do not care for. My own care gets the full treatment when I am doing the job on my driveway.

 

[bigjl]

I will only buy brake parts from proper shops these days.

Not eBay or Amazon or unknown online retailers.

I try to stick with Pagid, Mintex or if feeling flush EBC. Though recently put Eicher pads on the rear of the Pathfinder, was skint and it needed them, they seem decent quality and I think they are made in India.

Used to use Jurid a lot back when I ran a garage, though they never seemed to last well.

 

[mechtech2]

What rotor?

If you mean drum, the problems seem to be bad installation - poor procedure, The problems were possibly from that, and were the initial cause. A drum can overheat very rapidly if the shoes are too tight, and warp very quickly.
And as you say, the other one is very bad technique of the tech.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: brelandt
Nope, managers push to get the cars out as well as customers asking every 10 mintues if their car is done. Creates a work habit I really do not care for. My own care gets the full treatment when I am doing the job on my driveway.


Sears was like this as well. Management would not give the techs time to do jobs properly, or with the correct equipment. Then the techs would get yelled at when stuff went South.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: brelandt
Nope, managers push to get the cars out as well as customers asking every 10 mintues if their car is done. Creates a work habit I really do not care for. My own care gets the full treatment when I am doing the job on my driveway.

Sears was like this as well. Management would not give the techs time to do jobs properly, or with the correct equipment. Then the techs would get yelled at when stuff went South.

I think you just outlined the general problem in American industry.

 

[artificialist]

I have worked at such jobs where I was not given enough time to do things right, and got fired when something went wrong.

 

[brelandt]

Yep it sucks, there are times when the customer allows me to take my time and as it happens we aren't busy. Doesn't happen very often. Then some co-workers just refuse to try harder. The customer returns and I get stuck with them cause the managers know I can fix it right and the customer won't return.

 

[zzyzzx]

Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:

 

[Kestas]

Makes sense. A wider air gap means a thicker core during molding. Thin cores can be problematic at the foundry. Thanks for the picture.

When shopping online for rotors, I'll look at the weight and favor the heavier ones.

 

[mechtech2]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:

Not so fast...
This goes both ways. I bought Chinese rotors that were full pound heavier than stock and premium rotors.