Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

ok you see the pics of the car, looks pretty good...Except when i am slowing to a stop...I have done the following:
Rebuilt the whole master
got some better drums and had them turned
new pads
new lines

Why is it SQUEALING It sounds so damn AWFUL, the squeal travels throughout the frame and metal it seems like..my wife is embarrased so we try to do "missouri rolls" through stop signs and etc...people think im sounding my horn and are getting angry..Any ideas on what the deal is?

When I was turning drums and rotors at the local mom and pop auto parts store I used to work at, we "scuffed" up the drums and rotors with a ScotchBrite pad before we shipped them out, this was supposedly to cure the squealing problem. No one ever complained about squealing so I assume it worked.


Also, something I do on every brake job I do where new pads/shoes are installed is to "break them in". To do this, find a long deserted stretch of road where no one's around, get it to about 60 or so, then get on the brakes hard, but not hard enough to lose control. Do this several times until you smell the brakes and see them smoking. What this does is get all the junk off the shoes like manufacturing oils, etc. It also get the brake shoes/pads to seat on the drum/rotor correctly. This will NOT hurt the shoes/pads or the drums/rotors. I do this on EVERY brake job I've ever done and have never had any squealing or squeaking. You DO need a long stretch of empty road to do this, preferably with no cops around. Use common sense when doing this, and be safe when braking hard, you don't want to wreck the car!

Methods I've used and seen used differ a bit from Eric's but I think accomplish the same thing. (1) if a drum was a shiny as a shaving mirror but didn't need turning, we scuffed them with crocus cloth.

If the drums were cut, we always either shimmed the lining if riveted, or had them radius-ground to the new drum ID. I had a bit of squealing with my 56 Carib after new shoes, but after about 200 miles or so it's pretty much gone. Try driving it for a while and see if it begins to subside - I suspect it will.

Sounds good guys..i know just the place to do this...

Try it and out report back, you won't be disappointed in the results, just make sure you smell smoke from the brakes, and after you're done make sure you have a long stretch to drive without using the brakes to let them cool. You won't have very good brakes until the cool down some, so remember that!

The squealing problem got a lot worse when they took the asbestos out of the brake linings about 20 years ago.

It helps to bevel the ends of the brake shoes with a file. I do this as a matter of routine.

There is a special rubbery goop for silencing disc brake pads but of course, it will not work on drum brakes.

Rusty gives good advice on champfering the ends of the brake linings. Only about 15 degrees of champfer for maybe a 1/4 inch to start to see if that improves the noise.

What kind of linings did u put on the car???? Probably alot of metallic in the linings. Good for wet weather driving/conditions but tend to squeel a litle bit.

Also look for the metal side edge of shoe possibly rubbing the drum when brakes are applied..


EDIT: Noticed in your first post that u did not address the wheel cylinders. When new shoews are installed it pushes the wheel cylinder pistons back furhter into their bore where gunk has probably built up. This prevents the shoe from retracting all the way when brake pedal is released. This causes the edge of shoe to rub and get hot or the metal side edge of shoe to rub drum because shoe is not fully seated when brake pedal is released.

Most likely need to clean out wheel cylinders.

When u remove the drum look for anyodd wear pattern on the linings.

It also helps to place a light film of grease on the high spots of the backing plates when installing shoes.

Speaking of brakes - has anyone adapted power disks to the front of a pre war car?

there are new cylinders on there...i will try all of this advise and let you know what the outcome is.