Drum Brakes

[The Critic]

The neighbor brought his car over for a major service (valve adjust, plugs, belt, filters, all fluids) and I included a brake inspection as part of the service. The rear brake shoes on the vehicle only had 1.5mm remaining; the OEM wear limit was 2mm.

His last three oil changes and tire rotations were performed at the dealer. The measurement noted for the rear brakes were: "drum," "3mm" and "4mm," respectively. Judging by the amount of brake dust in the brake drums, I do not think the rear drums have been removed in a very long time.

Moral of the story: I don't think the lube techs at this dealer are inspecting the drum brakes. Their measurements for the front brakes were quite accurate though.

 

[JC1]

Maybe they don't know how to remove rear drums or it takes too long for them to remove the rear wheel and drum (especially if that drum gets hung up on the rear shoes).

 

[Rand]

if they are rotating the tires the brake inspection should take less than 5 additional minutes and its a service that was to be performed. seems scummy.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Can you inspect the shoes without removing the drums? Then if you remove the drums, they don't go back on

Another reason I hate drums

 

[Wolf359]

Can you inspect the shoes without removing the drums? Then if you remove the drums, they don't go back on

Another reason I hate drums

I think if you remove the drum, it will go back on. The trick is really removing the drum. Sometimes there's so much rust on the drum, it won't come off no matter how loose the shoes are. When I had drum brakes, the mechanic knew that he'd have to get new drums and didn't even bother to try and take the old ones off, just used an air chisel to cut them in half to get them off.

 

[ka9mnx]

Maybe they blew off all the brake dust with an air gun. Everyone did that before we knew it was a health hazard.

 

[AutoMechanic]

We were trained to glance through the back of the drum at the shoes and estimate it on the inspection. Only time we would take them off is to replace or address another problem or take it off to get to something. And that was rare because no one has brakes done at the dealership.

 

[JTK]

That's disturbing, but not surprising.

I know in the case of my 2015 Nissan Versa S with rear drums, you have to pop the dust caps and remove the one time use (per OEM) spindle nuts to get the drums out of the way to inspect the rear shoes, etc. There's no access holes through the dust shields / backing plates. Lug studs and rear wheel bearings come off with the drums. Supposedly, every time you remove and re-torque the spindle nut, you 'reset' and potentially take life away from the wheel bearing as well which is a great feature.

They've never been removed on mine and it gets yearly mandatory state inspections.

 

[demarpaint]

if they are rotating the tires the brake inspection should take less than 5 additional minutes and its a service that was to be performed. seems scummy.

True most of the time, sometimes you have to do some heavy hammering, or other creative means to get them off. Most shops don't want to spend an extra 5 minutes to do anything, so inspecting them is something they skip, unless you specifically request they check the rear brakes.

 

[spasm3]

I really don't want a shop removing drums to inspect. Things can break when you remove them. They tend to groove and form a lip.

I just replace when they make noise, or when i think its enough miles and do before a winter.

 

[Rand]

I hear all that but when they fake measure is that the right thing to do then?

 

[Jetronic]

did they fake it? how long ago was that service?

 

[nthach]

That's disturbing, but not surprising.

I know in the case of my 2015 Nissan Versa S with rear drums, you have to pop the dust caps and remove the one time use (per OEM) spindle nuts to get the drums out of the way to inspect the rear shoes, etc. There's no access holes through the dust shields / backing plates. Lug studs and rear wheel bearings come off with the drums. Supposedly, every time you remove and re-torque the spindle nut, you 'reset' and potentially take life away from the wheel bearing as well which is a great feature.

They've never been removed on mine and it gets yearly mandatory state inspections.

Wow, it sounds like a older VW or a Focus with a integrated hub/drum assembly. I wonder if that axle nut is a TTY or special unit.

 

[wagsrk08]

For 7 years until I started doing my own OCI and maintenance I took my vehicle to the dealership. The first time I rotated my tires and tried to remove my rear drums they were basically frozen on. Took plenty of Penetrating oil, beating with a hammer and the bolt method to remove the drums. A large "crack" noise once they broke loose. Funny how the dealer would tell me after each 6mo/6k Service how many mm I had left on my rear drum shoes since they've never been off and inspected. They now come off every six months for inspection like butter.... and my rear brake shoes still look great @ almost 100,000 miles.

 

[ragtoplvr]

We were trained to glance through the back of the drum at the shoes and estimate it on the inspection. Only time we would take them off is to replace or address another problem or take it off to get to something. And that was rare because no one has brakes done at the dealership.

What kind of vehicle. All the ones I have had, the backing is solid and has a lip that fits inside a recess in the drum to keep out most of the water. Not possible to see inside.

 

[AutoMechanic]

What kind of vehicle. All the ones I have had, the backing is solid and has a lip that fits inside a recess in the drum to keep out most of the water. Not possible to see inside.

Some of the older Toyota you could see through. Or you could bend the backing plate back a little and see too. And sometimes in rare occasions you can see with a flashlight looking up through where the adjuster is

 

[HangFire]

Many drum brakes have a rubber plug for access to the star adjuster. With the vehicle on a lift, peering in at the right angle, you can see the metal part of the shoe holding above the drum... or right up against it. For a quick "close enough" check it tells you what you need to know.

 

[Kruse]

When I was a Ford tech, every vehicle that came in had to receive a "safety check". The rules said: ALL OF THEM, no matter how old or new they were. This was a duty that was unpaid, but if you did it correctly, it easily took 20-30 minutes. (Notice I said "if you did it correctly".....) We were told that any services needed would come back to us and that's how we would get reimbursed. (Yea, right) It was rumored that techs would skip certain checks, especially checking drum brakes because the drums were stuck to the axles or that the lip on the drum would prevent the drum from coming off without backing off on the brake shoes. Trust me, it happens.