Re: Re-installing rear brake drums

Posted by ScottG On 2023/7/30 1:14:25

Thanks to all that have thus far offered both your expertise and your insights.

Since hitting something was mentioned in David's post, I'll say that while I've not run into anything with the car, I do live in northeast Ohio where finding a smooth road is often a challenge and bent suspensions are pretty common. That said, a straight edge confirmed my suspicions that the backing plates were not damaged.

Nevertheless, the thought of something being "tweaked" has stuck with me and, thinking back to Ross' suggestion to look for a twist in the shoe, I took a closer look at the pair on my car. As I mentioned earlier, I took some measurements and found that the friction material was worn no more than 1/32" at its worst spot and a visual inspection confirmed that there was no twist in the shoe frame.

However, the measurements did indicate a wear pattern from side to side along the length of the shoes was unusual. Without trying to explain my very rudimentary attempt at modelling my measurements, I came to the tentative conclusion that something was causing the friction material to wear in a twisted pattern. Taking the theory a step further, I guessed that the "twist" worn into the shoe linings might be just enough to cause them to ride in and out along the drum contact surface and scrape along the underside of the drum.

With that in mind, I returned to the shop that turned the left drum and had him turn the right drum. (Like the left drum, he found that the right drum was in good shape and needed a minimum of material removed.) I then picked up a set of NAPA TS10A shoes and put everything back together.

Although rain curtailed a lengthy test, I did get out and around the block a few times with no noises. The hand brake is still disconnected and a lengthier test drive is needed, but I feel like I'm narrowing this down to a positive outcome. If things go well, I'm going to attempt a post-mortem on all of this to help the next guy that bumps into something similar.