peckinpah

OK, I finally did my rear brakes today (2WD leading-trailing type) after about 10 years of putting it off, and 230,000 miles. They still had a coulple mm's of pad left, but I had the day off, so I dove in.

The springs were a PITA, and it took me about 4 hours in the hot sun, cursing, sweating. and looking at the FSM. I managed to get everything re-assembled. I thought I was pretty much done, but my problems were only beginning.

When I tried to put the drums back on they would not fit. referring to the FSM, they said to disconnect the brake line, which I did. I also backed off the adjustment screw completely. That allowed me to press the shoes together, and I lost a couple CC's of brake fluid that squirted out.

This JUST BARELY allowed me to press the drums on about a quarter of the way. I had to tighten them down the rest of the way by carefully bolting the wheel down to press it in place. I knew there would be dragging, but I saw no other alternative. I figured I would just drive backwards, then brake, and get them to self-adjust.

So I got the truck off the jacks and the first thing I noticed was that the E-brake could only be pulled out a tiny bit. And the brake pedal was very soft and went almost to the floor.

I tried driving backwards and braking over and over again, but that didn't seem to help anything as far as I could tell. I went for a drive and the E-brake is still as tight as can be and the pedal is really soft and I have to pump it a couple of times to get decent braking. Not good. When I got home, the passenger side was hotter than hell and smelled like burning brake pad.

So what should I try next? I bought brake fluid to try to bleed the lines and see if it might be air causing the problems. I was surprised that the FSM made no mention of keeping air out of the lines when it said to disconnect the brake line. Seems like air could easily get in that caliper mechanism.

Also, I read where it's possible to put one of the parts in wrong, I think it's called the stabilizer bar. I don't see how that could be possible, it looked to me like there was only one way that brake could possibly go back together and have all the springs fit.

Any suggestions? I don't feel safe at all driving the truck in this condition.

YotaWoRx

something is not right. did u get the right shoes? the drum should easily go on if the adjuster is backed all the way in...

peckinpah

I put the new shoes next to the old ones, and they were the same size, as far as I could tell. But the new ones had almost 1/4 inch of pad, while the old ones only had a couple mm's.

I bough the pads about 10 years ago, so it's possible they're the wrong ones.

Damn. I would hate to have to go through this all over again. I would have gladly paid someone else 100 bucks to fight with all those stupid springs.

mjwalfredo

Was the adjuster arm resting on the adjuster wheel correctly? From the last time I did mine, I remember that the arm would hit the adjuster wheel if I didn't pull it out and over the adjuster wheel. If the arm hits the side of the adjuster wheel, it stops the shoes from retracting completely. Kinda hard to explain, I wish I had a pic.

peckinpah

Sounds logical. That threaded piece of metal the the adjuster wheel is on is in three pieces, so it's possible I didn't reassemble it right. Also, there are some cut outs that have to fit into the brake shoe on that assembly that might be positioned wrong.

I guess I will be taking it all apart tomorrow and playing around with it. Assuming i can even get the drums off. Fun, fun, fun.

I didn't know you could apply the brakes with the drum off and make sure everything is moving properly. I was afraid it would fly apart like the front brakes will do if you step on the pedal when the caliper is off.

anthony1

iTrader: (1)

Someone might've adjusted your parking brake too tight. Try loosen the parking brake adjustment.

sb5walker

Check that the "bellcrank" lever (the parking brake lever that goes through the backing plate to which the parking brake cable attaches) is not frozen in its little bracket. that happened on one side of mine. You can remove the lever and its bracket from the backing plate in one piece. That's lucky, because I was never able to unfreeze it, no matter what I tried - PB Blaster, red hot heat, hammering the bajoobies out of it. It's like it got welded together. Had to get a new lever, bracket and pin from the dealer.

peckinpah

Anthony, thanks for the parking brake suggestion. I went underneath near the gas tank and found a Y-shaped yoke that goes from the parking brake cable to the right and left drums. It was tightened down all the way, probably by me many years ago when my parking brake went slack from my brake pads wearing down. I loosened the nut on the yoke and now the parking brake works like it's supposed to.

I also bled my drums on both sides. That fixed the soft brake pedal, so I assume I had air in the line. For anyone reading this, DON'T REMOVE YOUR BRAKE HOSE when replacing your brake shoes, even though the FSM says to.

So everything is fixed, except that the passenger side drum is getting really hot still, so I assume it's dragging pretty bad. The driver's side is dragging a little bit too, but not getting hot (just warm) so I'm not gonna worry about that for now.

Sb5, I'm going to take the drum off and see what's going on in there. I didn't grease any of the parts like I was supposed to. That might help. And I'm gonna take a look at that parking brake lever and the star wheel and make sure they're moving freely.

Thanks a lot for all the help, I don't know what I'd do without you guys.

sb5walker

You can check the lever by having a helper engage and disengage the parking brake while you look at the levers where they stick through the backing plates to see if they move - you can do it with wheels on and everything connected normally.

Of course, make sure the helper doesn't allow the vehicle to roll over you.

Magnusian

Unfortunately with the type of brakes he has, same as mine, the cables themselves actually go into the backing plates, to see the lever the cable connects to you have to pull the drum off.

The new shoes I bought for my rear brakes have about 1/4" of pad too, but I also bought all new adjusters, levers, etc.

sb5walker

Oh yeah, I see. 2WD lever is inside, where it's not likely to get frozen. Never mind!

Magnusian

Heh, not likely to get frozen? Tell that to the rear brakes I ripped off. Can't even take the adjusters apart!

peckinpah

OK, I think I have it figured out.

Took the drum off on the side that was dragging the worst. Disconnected the top main spring, Greased the back of the pad, greased the star wheel and made sure it was turning freely. Put it back together, and tried to turn the star wheel but it was stuck.

So I poked around with the parking brake lever a bit and suddenly heard a snapping sound as the parking brake lever freed itself from the other piece of metal it was pressed against. I think it was the adjusting lever. Those pieces of metal in there have very rough surfaces from 20 years of heat and brake dust, and can easily get stuck when they're pressed together under spring tension.

I turned the star wheel and it turned easily and make the familiar clicking "parking brake sound" when I turned it. For future reference, don't put your brake drum back on until you hear this sound when you turn the star wheel.

Brake drum slid right on, no problems, and wheel spun freely when I put it back on.

I checked the other side, which was dragging too, just not as bad. The star wheel on the side was pretty much stuck, from being completely backed out and tightened against the end of the adjusting bolt. I played around with it until I got the familiar parking brake sound when I turned the star wheel. Put the drum back on with no problems.

Both wheels turn fine now, with no dragging.

EDIT: Sb5, you were right, the lever was frozen.

sb5walker

Glad you found the problem, despite me not understanding how the parking brake was configured in 2wd, lol. You may want to use a little anti-seize between the parts that froze together, since they are probably a little corroded and might freeze up again. But use the stuff sparingly, since it would ruin your braking if it got on the shoes or drum. I like Permatex Copper best since it's a high-temp synthetic grease anti-seize. No silicone grease so it's sensor safe and the copper helps it conduct electricity so it's great to use (sparingly) on spark plug threads. Great for exhaust manifold and O2 sensor studs/nuts too.