why do I have to beat a new drum on new brake shoes?? Because they're new??

[todd_adams2001]

Okay, First I have a 91 Navajo

Problem, I just spent this weekend replacing both rear wheel cylinders, both rear brake shoes, and the drivers side rear brake drum. I have the passenger side on (no problems there). The driver side however, I'm having to beat the drum on with my rubber mallet. Is this because, both the drum and shoes are new on this side? And if so, Do I not worry about it and just let it "wear" down?

What I have done: I've made sure the "adjustment star bolt" is completely in. I put the shoe with the longer "pad - friction area" on the back, closer to the bumper. And, I've went over everything two or three times. Everything looks good. Any i deers????

 

[MuddHungry]

The same exact thing happened on my 92 Explorer. Passenger side drum came off no problem. Drivers side on the other hand was a B-itch! I pounded on it for about a half an hour before I could get it off of there. It was so bad that the shoes had grooved into the drum and there was a huge pile of dust and rust in the drum when I finally got it off.

I also had a little problem getting it back on, so I took it off and pulled the shoes into each other to get the drum back on. As I assume you know, dont push the brakes when the drum is off. Had to throw that out there. But after I got it on, I did the backing up to adjust them after manually adjusting from the port in the back of the brake assembly and they work better than before...imagine that huh? Well not to mention I only had front brakes working to begin with that would lock up If I pressed the brake pedel too hard or fast.

So what all of this jibbery style oinkery I just typed basically suggests is press the shoes inward toward the center of the brake assembly and press the drum on. Granted, be aware that when you push the bottom of the shoe in the top will pop out. So chances are there is a portion of the shoe that is obstructing the path of the drum goin on...

Hope all of that was of some help...

 

[todd_adams2001]

yeah, I noticed that too. Pushing the bottom inward caused the top part to spread. I'm gonna pull her back into the garage 'morrow and try one more thing. When I went to put all the pieces on that side, I remember having a hard time engaging that one piece onto the spring/cable via park brake. Gonna check all that out. I'm still open for suggestions though,....

 

[glfredrick]

Proabaly an air buble in the cylinder, forcing the shoes outward. They should be close -- but not so close that you have to beat the drum in place.

Crack the bleeder screw in the rear of the brake cylinder and let some fluid escape.

 

[Tony H]

If you push the bottom of the shoes and the top opens you need to look at the one large bar that is above the axle and runs from one shoe to the other.
Either it is not straddling the Emergency brake piece that is under the shoe OR the notch on the new shoe isn't deep enough and that's causing that rocking affect you are getting. I had this happen once, the notch in the new shoes were not deep enough to let the shoes rest properly.

 

[todd_adams2001]

Well, Thanks for all the help.........I Fixed my problem. The park brake cable was froze/seized up. That's probably why I just found one pad laying in the bottom of the old drum. I just bypassed it -unhooked it from the backplate area. New drum slid right on, no problem, and boy did I smile...Thanks again.

 

[Tony H]

Yup that would explain it. That was along the lines of that bracket I was talking about. When you pull on the E-brake it pushes on that bracket. if the cable was frozen in the slightly pulled position, it would force that bracket to start opening the top of the brakes... that what the shoes were pivoting on.
Brake cables are cheap enough and at least it was an easy fix

 

[Mettler]

Okay, you guys are funny. Ive just gone through and done all my brakes recently and had some similar problems, but my approach was a bit different.
First, when dismantling you want to pop out the rubber plug on the backing plate and de-adjust the star wheel. Its alot easier if you use two screw drivers. Or 1 screw driver and a adjuster tool. Use the screw driver to push on the adjuster plate while turning the starwheel up. this is so you dont mess up any thing trying to beat the drum off of the truck. Once you get the drum off, the "lip" on the drum can be scraped off.
Unless you've really trashed on your brakes.
I took a somewhat rigid paint scraper, and scraped, and scraped, till that rust build up came off the drum. Made it alot easier to slide on and off. Once you get them off you should do one side at a time and use your camera phone to take a before shot, so you know how to put it all back together. The first time I tried I forgot how to put that adjuster plate back on. Stuck ebrake cables suck btw. Unfortunately, using the ebrake regularly keeps the rear brakes adjusted properly. In any vehicle that is. Once your done, re-adjust the star wheel till you get a small amount of resistance when turning the drum/wheel. So aside from that it sounds like you guys got it under control. Just thought Id give a couple little hints case you didnt already know. Makes doing rear brakes a bit easier.

 

[runderwo]

I was reading this thread and I have a related question.

My parking brake is non-operational. I push it as hard as I can but it doesn't get to the first "click" and just returns back up when I take my foot off.

If I remove my left rear drum, the pedal clicks into place just like it should, but the left side shoes expand FAR beyond the point where they would be making contact with the drum. It is not even close trying to put the drum back on when the pedal is locked, thre's no way it would fit. If I release the pedal they go right back into place and the drum goes right back on.

Is this a problem with the equalizer since it only happens on the left side? All this stuff is rusted and it's hard for me to make out what it's supposed to do/look like.

 

[Mettler]

Runderwo, take a picture of the assembly for us so we can help.
Infact post pics of both sides. You may see at that point what is wrong with it on your own. Compare the two against each other.

 

[runderwo]

By assembly do you mean the brake assembly or the equalizer thing? I'm going to have to get more jackstands to take pics of the other side brake assembly unfortunately.

 

[Tony H]

I was reading this thread and I have a related question.

My parking brake is non-operational. I push it as hard as I can but it doesn't get to the first "click" and just returns back up when I take my foot off.

If I remove my left rear drum, the pedal clicks into place just like it should, but the left side shoes expand FAR beyond the point where they would be making contact with the drum. It is not even close trying to put the drum back on when the pedal is locked, thre's no way it would fit. If I release the pedal they go right back into place and the drum goes right back on.

Is this a problem with the equalizer since it only happens on the left side? All this stuff is rusted and it's hard for me to make out what it's supposed to do/look like.

Is this 'X' new to you? It sounds like at one point the E-brake was adjusted too tight. OR the star adjuster at that wheel is way too tight.. yet you say you can pull te Drum off the car.

 

[runderwo]

Is this 'X' new to you? It sounds like at one point the E-brake was adjusted too tight. OR the star adjuster at that wheel is way too tight.. yet you say you can pull te Drum off the car.

Yeah, it's new to me in the sense that this is the first time I have had the chance to look at the rear brakes. I wonder if the other side is froze up and it's transmitting all the cable tension to the left side as a result. I'll know once I get the other side off and have a look at what it does when I hit the pedal.

 

[runderwo]

So I looked at this again today, the difference between the two sides is that on the right side, only the front shoe is pushed forward to contact the drum, but on the left side, the front shoe is pushed forward but also the rear shoe is pushed out about 1/2 inch. That rear shoe being pushed out makes it too hard to get the pedal to "click" into place. Maybe this is a shoe hardware issue, i.e. the springs on the rear shoe are too weak?

 

[Mettler]

Pictures. It could be that the star wheel adjuster is not installed properly or is adjusted out too far.

 

[catfisher81]

Probably whats happened here is this: some one has adjusted the e-brake and now the you have new shoes on the back the ebrake needs to be backed off. and the adjuster closed all the way and then put the drums on. NEVER BEAT THE DRUMS ON!!!!. unloosin the bleader on the wheel cylenders and loosin the ebrake up slide the drums on . adjust the brakes, blead the brakes and then adjust the ebrake. problem should be solved.

 

[Tony H]

So I looked at this again today, the difference between the two sides is that on the right side, only the front shoe is pushed forward to contact the drum, but on the left side, the front shoe is pushed forward but also the rear shoe is pushed out about 1/2 inch. That rear shoe being pushed out makes it too hard to get the pedal to "click" into place. Maybe this is a shoe hardware issue, i.e. the springs on the rear shoe are too weak?

At the Top, are both shoes sitting on that Pin in the center or is one spread out off that Pin? Star Wheel is turned all the way in?

I'm still thinking your E-brake cable is frozen on that side.