drum brakes adjusted, now one side hotter?

[The motor guy]

Had the shop adjust my parking brake and they adjusted the brake shoes on both sides. Anyways, came back home and it smelled like burning rubber when I got out of the truck. One side was around 180 shooting the actual drum itself with a temp gun, the other side was 120. Not sure what the burning smell was, but I drove it some more. Made a trip to home depot and back and now the we're around 120 and 150ish. Told the shop I was bringing it back, but I wonder if maybe one side was just a bit too tight and it's slowly evening itself out now? They said one side the starwheel was seized, they replaced it. Not sure if it's an assembly they replace or just the wheel itself. If it's anything like my trailer, I believe it's just a few separate pieces. What do you guys think? The last time I checked it was a stop from 60mph right off the main rd into the gas sation and that's when IIRC I read only a 30 degree difference. This is on my dodge ram truck. These people made me mad because the owner gave me a quote to replace the hydro boost a few months back then I brought it in and they didn't want to do it because it was a diesel and apparantly the owner was out for the week. I bet their isn't a difference between the v10 gas and the 5.9 cummins. Anyways, besides that shouldn't the drum brakes even themselves out by themselves after a bit more driving, since they replaced that one seized star adjuster? I probably don't need to bring it back in, huh?

 

[eljefino]

You're right, you need a new mechanic. But these chuckleheads should fix your brake adjustment for you.

 

[The motor guy]

You're right, you need a new mechanic. But these chuckleheads should fix your brake adjustment for you.

I don't know. I think its fixing itself and there isn't anything to do, they might just mess it up more. They did tighten the parking brake as requested, it definitely takes more effort. I don't think star wheel adjusters loosen themselves if they were manually overtightened, do they?

 

[berniedd]

If you're savvy, maybe you can back out the star wheel yourself? 2 clicks in the reverse direction should fix it.

 

[D60]

I don't know. I think its fixing itself and there isn't anything to do, they might just mess it up more. They did tighten the parking brake as requested, it definitely takes more effort. I don't think star wheel adjusters loosen themselves if they were manually overtightened, do they?

The shoes will wear. Your temp difference doesn't seem extreme, I'd probably give it more time as you say.

 

[The motor guy]

The shoes will wear. Your temp difference doesn't seem extreme, I'd probably give it more time as you say.

Well what's done is done is my thinking. Just as long as its heading in the right direction is all. Its not like its at 500 degrees with visible blue smoke. I dont know what that burning rubber smell was, but its not nearly as noticeable as it was. Maybe they sprayed some penatrating fluid in that seized star wheel and the remnants were burning off

 

[50yr Street Mech]

The shoes will even out while driving.. The star will not adjust backwards to loosen by itself, has to be done manually. Put the word out for a new mechanic. Stay away from those clowns. There should be VERY little resistance when you adjust drums. Their always not perfectly round ( unless you turn them on a lathe first). So, you find that one spot that grabs the shoe, and back off a click on the star. Done. Adjusted. As for the rubber smell, I suspect you're right. They sprayed that seized star with something to try and free it up. They should have done the right thing . Take it apart, put the star in a vice, free it up, lube it, then put it all back together. Not rocket science. They couldn't be bothered doing it right. New mechanic will solve you're problem.

 

[The motor guy]

The shoes will even out while driving.. The star will not adjust backwards to loosen by itself, has to be done manually. Put the word out for a new mechanic. Stay away from those clowns. There should be VERY little resistance when you adjust drums. Their always not perfectly round ( unless you turn them on a lathe first). So, you find that one spot that grabs the shoe, and back off a click on the star. Done. Adjusted. As for the rubber smell, I suspect you're right. They sprayed that seized star with something to try and free it up. They should have done the right thing . Take it apart, put the star in a vice, free it up, lube it, then put it all back together. Not rocket science. They couldn't be bothered doing it right. New mechanic will solve you're problem.

Yeah. I noticed that. If I stick it in neutral and back the truck up, you feel it get hung up in spots where the shoes make more contact.and it stops the truck. Are you saying tbe drums aren't typically perfectly round and this is normal?

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Well, that one hot one is definitely out of round now from being overheated. I would leave it be until the shoes wear out, then either get them turned on a lathe, or get new ones, with new shoes on the next brake job. Yeah, it warped out a bit I would say. Same thing like a rotor would with a stuck caliper. Stuck caliper causes excess heat, causing rotor warping. Same holds true for drum brakes. Too tight shoes causes overheating of the drum, leading to warping of the drum.

 

[The motor guy]

Well, that one hot one is definitely out of round now from being overheated. I would leave it be until the shoes wear out, then either get them turned on a lathe, or get new ones, with new shoes on the next brake job. Yeah, it warped out a bit I would say. Same thing like a rotor would with a stuck caliper. Stuck caliper causes excess heat, causing rotor warping. Same holds true for drum brakes. Too tight shoes causes overheating of the drum, leading to warping of the drum.

Same thing happened on my newer 3rd generation dodge. Spent 250 bucks on new rotors and later find that people were throwing it back together with seized calipers. They needed new caliper boots. It didn't matter how much grease you placed on the slide pins. New boots and they moved easily with my pinky finger. Unfortunately, oil changes and brake jobs are aways given to the new guy.