What should I do with my drums?

[snocross1985]

I have had my truck for 4 years now and haven't touched the drums since owning it and have no idea what has been done to them in the past. Parking brake sucks and feels like the front is doing all the work. What should I do with my drums? I cannot afford to upgrade to disks, so thats out. I want some of the braking power back that used to be there.

 

[11lariat]

Drums suck..ugh i hate them..

anyway..

if you're looking to freshen them up, i'd replace the wheel cylinders and all the springs, just beware theyre a PITA to get back in..naturally replace the shoes and the drums themselves too..other than that, drums will be drums..make sure you adjust them with the self-adjuster pawl when you're finished..

on the plus side, autozone/advance/whatever you have near you should have everything you need, maybe even in stock!

 

[Jason94sport]

Drums will last 2-3 times longer then the fronts. Inspect them. They may just need some adjusting, & the cylinders replaced.

 

[Brock94]

If your brakes are that old, you should probably just replace them. I just did them-- new drums, pads, springs and cylinders. The parts were about $170 from Carquest and it took an afternoon. If you are replacing the cylinders, it would be a good idea to have a flarenut wrench to disconnect the brake line. I partially rounded out the fitting on mine with a normal open-end wrench, but stopped short of destroying it and made a trip to the tool store for a flarenut wrench. Having the right brake spring tools makes a big difference for installing the new springs as well and they're not that expensive.

BTW, the pads and drums I replaced were not worn below specs, but I did notice a big improvement in performance with the new brakes-- just the standard carquest parts.