How many miles before changing brake shoes?
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Just pulling the drum is the best thing you can do for them.
A tiny bit of never-sieze on the hub is useful.
If you live in the land of rust, grinding down the unswept ridge on the outer inner lip (make sense?) makes sense so you can get them off next time, too.
Hit the adjuster wheel with a screwdriver for one click. One click! Make sure it clicks freely. It's sort of a feel thing, but if the whole thing binds up it only takes a couple minutes to pull it out, clean it, and never-sieze the two halves upon reassembly.
Having done all that to my decade-old cars, I sometimes still feel they have weak e-brakes and, presumably, weak service brakes. Since the rears only do 20% of the braking a drop to 10% isn't really noticeable. New cheapo shoes that aren't glazed-over are often the cure.
A tiny bit of never-sieze on the hub is useful.
If you live in the land of rust, grinding down the unswept ridge on the outer inner lip (make sense?) makes sense so you can get them off next time, too.
Hit the adjuster wheel with a screwdriver for one click. One click! Make sure it clicks freely. It's sort of a feel thing, but if the whole thing binds up it only takes a couple minutes to pull it out, clean it, and never-sieze the two halves upon reassembly.
Having done all that to my decade-old cars, I sometimes still feel they have weak e-brakes and, presumably, weak service brakes. Since the rears only do 20% of the braking a drop to 10% isn't really noticeable. New cheapo shoes that aren't glazed-over are often the cure.
Probably easier to convert to discs than to replace the drums. Instructions for your car should be easy to find
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Probably easier to convert to discs than to replace the drums. Instructions for your car should be easy to find
Wanna buy a bridge? For one thing, removing the drums is still needed to convert to discs. I agree, drums are a PITA. "self adjusting brakes" are a hoax. You have to adjust the brakes periodically. It isn't rocket surgery. Its a 1/2 gazzillion little parts that have to be replaced just so. The lip should be left alone for strength. Back the adjuster off whilst holding back the self adjuster. Remove one drum, then remove the other. Work on one side at a time. You always have one side for reference. There are a few specialty tools for drum service. An adjuster tool, a spring take off and a spring replacement tool. Cheap versions are fine unless you are a pro. I don't do enough brake work so, I have to feel my way along every time I work on them. You can't get away from them. the E brake has its own little set in the rear disc.
Probably easier to convert to discs than to replace the drums. Instructions for your car should be easy to find
Wanna buy a bridge? For one thing, removing the drums is still needed to convert to discs. I agree, drums are a PITA. "self adjusting brakes" are a hoax. You have to adjust the brakes periodically. It isn't rocket surgery. Its a 1/2 gazzillion little parts that have to be replaced just so. The lip should be left alone for strength. Back the adjuster off whilst holding back the self adjuster. Remove one drum, then remove the other. Work on one side at a time. You always have one side for reference. There are a few specialty tools for drum service. An adjuster tool, a spring take off and a spring replacement tool. Cheap versions are fine unless you are a pro. I don't do enough brake work so, I have to feel my way along every time I work on them. You can't get away from them. the E brake has its own little set in the rear disc.
I just pulled the drums off my Ranger last night for inspection. 66k miles on truck, original shoes. They still have plenty of friction material on them. I'll finish cleaning, lubing, and adjusting them tonight or tomorrow and put it back together and revisit them at 100k.
Never touched rear drums on the following:
'93 Mazda MX6 - went to 34x,xxx miles, original clutch and only a front pad swap - still original rotors
'00 Civic HX - currently over 200k miles, never touched rear drums, replaced front pads and rotors at 150k-ish
'05 Saturn Vue - sold at 149k, never touched rear drums, replaced front pads and rotors at 100k-ish
Loved me some low (non) maintenance rear drums
'93 Mazda MX6 - went to 34x,xxx miles, original clutch and only a front pad swap - still original rotors
'00 Civic HX - currently over 200k miles, never touched rear drums, replaced front pads and rotors at 150k-ish
'05 Saturn Vue - sold at 149k, never touched rear drums, replaced front pads and rotors at 100k-ish
Loved me some low (non) maintenance rear drums
Drum Brakes can last a long time. 2-3 sets of front pads is common.
For the cars that I maintain, I remove the drums at every oil change (every 5k) and rinse them out the drums with a garden hose. Every 2-3 oil changes (10-15k), I also rinse off the drum brake assembly with brake cleaner and apply brake grease to the portion of the backing plate that the shoes contact. I do this by using a flathead screwdriver to gently lift the shoes upwards, and this gives me enough space to stick a brush in there. Lubing the shoe contact points really helps with noise problems.
For the cars that I maintain, I remove the drums at every oil change (every 5k) and rinse them out the drums with a garden hose. Every 2-3 oil changes (10-15k), I also rinse off the drum brake assembly with brake cleaner and apply brake grease to the portion of the backing plate that the shoes contact. I do this by using a flathead screwdriver to gently lift the shoes upwards, and this gives me enough space to stick a brush in there. Lubing the shoe contact points really helps with noise problems.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Drum Brakes can last a long time. 2-3 sets of front pads is common.
That's what I've found. I've seen them last even longer if they're not properly adjusted, and the front brakes are doing even more braking than they were intended to do.
In fact its not uncommon to see rear drum brakes doing little to almost no braking in some instances. Poor maintenance, improper adjustment when they were done, and/or relying too much on self adjusters is often the cause.
Drum Brakes can last a long time. 2-3 sets of front pads is common.
That's what I've found. I've seen them last even longer if they're not properly adjusted, and the front brakes are doing even more braking than they were intended to do.
In fact its not uncommon to see rear drum brakes doing little to almost no braking in some instances. Poor maintenance, improper adjustment when they were done, and/or relying too much on self adjusters is often the cause.
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