Starting in on a drum brake job, all 4 wheels. Dropped off the front drums to be turned yesterday, picked them up today. Service manual states they should be cleaned "thoroughly" anytime drums are removed. I'm wondering to what extent this needs to be done. Should I be cleaning out all the old grease, and having them hot-tanked? I have to admit, it would be nice to spray the outside surface with maybe some black VHT to get rid of the rusty look thru the wheels.
By cleaning, they probably mean to wipe down the contact surface with some brake clean and a clean paper towel. You might want to spray down the linings and springs with some brake clean to remove the dust' When I was working in repair shops we would call it a "dustbust and adjust" meaning clean and adjust the brakes As far as painting the outside of the drums, I would take a wire brush and remove any loose rust. Spray them with some Spray 9 or similar cleaner and give them a coat of your favorite paint.
To paint mine I used a drill with a wire wheel and engine enamel. I think they turned out pretty good. I would just spray a rag with brake cleaner and wipe down the inside of the drums.
When ever I clean old drums (ie; Regal), I sand blast them (outside only) and paint them with high temp engine paint. I of course don't have to fool with grease (I'm guessing) your type have a bearing in them?
pop out the seals and make sure to get all of the grease out of the bearing pockets. If any of the machining material removed from the inside of the drum gets into the bearing pocket it's only a matter of time till the bearings fail with it.
David, When You Get The Front Drums Machined The Seal And Bearing Is Removed Before The Drum Goes On The Brake Lathe. Make Sure The Drum Shavings Are All Cleaned From The Race. Of Course Wash The Bearings And Apply Fresh Grease When Re-assembling. If Its A Good Machinist He Will Clean The Drums For You After MACHINGThem.
Yes, bearings and seals removed beforehand, no worries. My concern is what Nate mentioned, that some of the material removed could have ended up inside, and hard to spot in the old grease. Is that very likely?
So are you guys painting the fins as well? Or are they best left bare? Cold, humid and raining here today, guess I"ll only get to wire brush today.
Moving along into re-assembly... as soon as springs kit arrives tomorrow. I've got all the new bearing cups installed, no issues there. Will pack new bearings tomorrow, most likely. Anyway, with the old shoes, etc, all removed on one side, I'm puzzled by the shoe hold down springs. One spring seats directly against the secondary shoe, while the other spring seats into a "cup" that inserts thru the actuator and into the primary shoe. Is this correct, that the hold down spring on the secondary shoe simply seats against the shoe? I haven't taken the other side apart yet, but it appears to be the same, only the primary shoe H/D spring is seated into a cup. That's the way it's supposed to be? I don't see much of a parts breakdown in my parts or chassis service manuals. Guess I'll see what NAPA provides in their springs kit tomorrow...
david, thats the way its supposed to be. the hold down spring alone into the secondary shoe. leave the other side together until you put one side together, that way you can use it as a reference if your not sure how it goes back together. dont be alarmed if you dont use all the parts in your new spring kit, sometimes you get extra parts that go in a different application.
Thanks John, I sort of reached that conclusion as well, after inspecting the side that's still together.
Got 'er all back together, no real issues. Except NO one has new dust caps! I got a nice looking pair of Mr. Gasket caps that are supposed to fit, but they are too small, they slip right in and fall right back out... Mine are beat all to heck, thought I'd put on new ones. Funny thing is, the old caps can't be swapped side to side. One of them is too loose in the other hub. So I cleaned them up and used them. NAPA is bringing in a set that are also supposed to fit, but are a different design than stock. Will check them out tomorrow. I also will need to adjust the brakes, as I turned the adjusters most of the way in to get the drums on, and don't have much pedal to work with now. I took a careful test drive this afternoon. Now I've got the adjuster tool from my brother, to go thru the back side of the backing plates, so shouldn't have much trouble getting that straightened out. I also discovered where the little oblong rubber plugs from the springs kit belong...
NAPA brought in a set of dust caps for me from another store. They fit on ONE hub, but not on the other... too big. I even tried filing down the edge on the cap, still can't get it on. Didn't matter in the end, as they are too tall and don't clear the center caps. So I cleaned up my old ones and pounded out a few dents and put 'em on again. Oh well, can't see them anyway. Adjusted the shoes out quite a ways today, still too much free play in the pedal, but at least the BRAKE light doesn't turn on.
on 4 wheel drum brakes you need to have all 4 wheels adjusted properly to get a good pedal. what i do david is, after i adjust them i take the car for a ride and then check the adjustment again. when properly adjusted, the wheel will have some drag to it when you spin it with your hand.
The fronts do just drag a bit now. They needed so much adjustment that I pulled the drums/hubs off again to speed up the process. However I do still have way too much pedal travel, will adjust further tomorrow. I recall there was more drag before I started in on this project, so maybe I'm just not quite there yet. I haven't touched the rears yet, they will have to wait til next spring.
