Drum Brake Service

[JHZR2]

I did my first drum brake service today. If I never do one ever again, I’d be most pleased.

The wheel cylinders were starting to weep, and there’s a well known upgrade using Chevy 1-ton cylinders with much more area.

What a pain. When I pulled the drum, which might well be the original with almost 438k miles, I found cracked shoes.

I was doing this offsite, and didn’t have good tools. Finally I bit the bullet, and got a pair of drum brake pliers from Autozone for $11. On brakes this large, the springs are strong, and it was next to impossible to do it any other way safely. Even with vice grips.

I used ceramic lube in these in most places. I used corrosion x in the adjuster star wheel threads.

At one point before I got the pliers, I was very close to driving down the road with no drum, and just drop the truck off at the shop to have a pro do it. I’m very grateful to @The Critic for walking me through some things from 2865 miles away.

I didn’t fully adjust and bleed them yet, so my pedal is soft and I have a warning light that seems to be related to excess pedal travel. But hopefully that can be fixed tomorrow!

 

[Nick1994]

I had my Jeep's rear shoes replaced a few years ago, they were cracked a little worse than those. Amazing they didn't break off yet.

 

[Lubener]

I would have changed the hardware too. The kit is cheap.

 

[Redright9]

I have done a few drum brake rebuilds in my short time... I agree, disc brakes are the way to go!!

 

[demarpaint]

I learned how to do brake jobs on drum brakes. I still have them on my van, fortunately they last a very long time on that vehicle. I replaced them once in over 30 years due to a leaking wheel cylinder. Truth be told I'll probably never touch a set of drum brakes again. Mine should go to the junkyard with the van.

 

[JHZR2]

I would have changed the hardware too. The kit is cheap.

I bought a centric kit for the truck off rock auto. Most of the pieces were wrong, and it didn’t include all the springs.

 

[supton]

Looks like a fun time. Drums come off ok?

 

[Trav]

I did my first drum brake service today. If I never do one ever again, I’d be most pleased.

The wheel cylinders were starting to weep, and there’s a well known upgrade using Chevy 1-ton cylinders with much more area.

View attachment 28457View attachment 28458

What a pain. When I pulled the drum, which might well be the original with almost 438k miles, I found cracked shoes.

View attachment 28459
View attachment 28460

I was doing this offsite, and didn’t have good tools. Finally I bit the bullet, and got a pair of drum brake pliers from Autozone for $11. On brakes this large, the springs are strong, and it was next to impossible to do it any other way safely. Even with vice grips.

I used ceramic lube in these in most places. I used corrosion x in the adjuster star wheel threads.

View attachment 28461View attachment 28462
At one point before I got the pliers, I was very close to driving down the road with no drum, and just drop the truck off at the shop to have a pro do it. I’m very grateful to @The Critic for walking me through some things from 2865 miles away.

I didn’t fully adjust and bleed them yet, so my pedal is soft and I have a warning light that seems to be related to excess pedal travel. But hopefully that can be fixed tomorrow!

Looks good. I dont envy you, when I started that was pretty much standard on all 4 wheels on all but the new cars and a few odd balls. Be thankfull it didnt have the cable operated self adjusters, these could be a PITA to get working right.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Those are really excellent photos. Thanks for the post.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

I grew up learning to deal with Drum Brakes (at least the Rears).
Do one side at a time so you can always check what goes where.

I have Drums on the rear now and my solution is: disassemble and clean the Backing Plate, then throw all new parts on.

 

[JHZR2]

Looks like a fun time. Drums come off ok?

a few hits on the front edge with a 3 lb mallet, and they came off just fine.

IIRC, in PA the mandated inspection requires pulling drums to check shoe thickness.

in hindsight, maybe I should have put a bit of antiseize on the hub. But it’s something I can easily do at another time. This truck is pretty easy to work in overall.

 

[Delta]

IIRC, in PA the mandated inspection requires pulling drums to check shoe thickness.

They're supposed to, and make sure the parking brake actually works. But with the amount of rotted junk rolling around here there is alot of Billy-Bob's Uncle Brother sticker slapping service around here. Those cracked shoes would have never passed by a legit shop...

 

[Astro14]

I have owned, and still own, cars with 4 drum brakes. I bought the spring pliers many years ago, they don’t get much use now, but I cannot part with them. The Packard doesn’t require them but the occasional parking brake job is made easier with them.

Replacing the wheel cylinders is easier, for certain. I’ve honed a few wheel cylinders and replaced seals, and that always worked for a while, but then they would leak again in a year or two...

I don’t use anti seize on hubs, personally, too worried about contamination creeping into the drum surface, but I do clean them well with a wire wheel and then hit them with a very light coat of pure zinc primer. Works great, even in our salt water environment.

 

[JeffKeryk]

"I’m very grateful to @The Critic for walking me through some things from 2865 miles away."

Yes. Michael is always willing to help. Knows his stuff and is a generous guy.
Great work, by the way. Well done.

 

[JTK]

Looks good!

Is the self adjuster and parking brake mechanism out of sight on the bottom?

I guess a good thing is there's a decent amount of room to work in there.

 

[SeaJay]

They're supposed to, and make sure the parking brake actually works. But with the amount of rotted junk rolling around here there is alot of Billy-Bob's Uncle Brother sticker slapping service around here. Those cracked shoes would have never passed by a legit shop...

It used to be like that up North all over the place where I lived with some indy's giving out safety & smog inspection stickers without doing any actual inspecting for an additional fee, maybe $10-$15 at the time. But the state government cracked down and took away the inspection license needed to give out the stickers in many of those indy's. I don't care about the smog tests, but legit safety inspections have their place. I now live in a state without safety inspections and its not difficult to see cars in parking lots with tires that are well worn past the point of being safe. Can't imagine that the brakes in some of those vehicles are kept up to spec either.

 

[JHZR2]

I have owned, and still own, cars with 4 drum brakes. I bought the spring pliers many years ago, they don’t get much use now, but I cannot part with them. The Packard doesn’t require them but the occasional parking brake job is made easier with them.

Replacing the wheel cylinders is easier, for certain. I’ve honed a few wheel cylinders and replaced seals, and that always worked for a while, but then they would leak again in a year or two...

I don’t use anti seize on hubs, personally, too worried about contamination creeping into the drum surface, but I do clean them well with a wire wheel and then hit them with a very light coat of pure zinc primer. Works great, even in our salt water environment.

There was no way I was going to get this job done without them. And I probably really need a version sized for a HD truck. They only marginally fit on that knob at the top center, and the spring was hard to get over. Like it was too big. But they worked well enough. Far better, and more importantly, safer, than vice grips or some other device.

Good point about the cold zinc primer. I have some and have used it on all sorts of things. This would be a good candidate.

 

[JHZR2]

Looks good!

Is the self adjuster and parking brake mechanism out of sight on the bottom?

I guess a good thing is there's a decent amount of room to work in there.

 

[Peted]

That's some good work! 438k miles?! What year truck are you driving? Do you think the larger 1 ton cylinders will also fit the rear drums of my 2009 Sierra 1500?

 

[JHZR2]

That's some good work! 438k miles?! What year truck are you driving? Do you think the larger 1 ton cylinders will also fit the rear drums of my 2009 Sierra 1500?

It’s a 96 Dodge Ram Cummins Turbo Diesel.

Thise one ton cylinders were from GM, the bolt setup seems pretty common. Are the brake hose fittings on your truck metric? Mine are imperial.