Questions on Drum Brakes

[Joel T.]

Hi;

I recent finished a complete overhaul of the brakes on my 1963. Basically everything is new with the exception of the original steel lines which were in decent shape. I even had the master cylinder sleeved and rebuilt. BTW the drums are new as well and have been cut just a bit to ensure they are completely round.

Two questions...

1) On the self adjusters. As installed (by me) they appear to be working properly. I get the "clicks" when adjusting them up and they do not permit reverse action without relieving the arm. While this is true, I cannot seem to get the pedal to come up even after repeated stops while going in reverse as per the shop manual. To get a higher pedal I have had to pull the wheels and manually adjust... Am I missing something here???

2) My right rear brake seems to be dragging. It runs HOT and I can smell it cooking after a short ride. I've backed off that adjuster but honestly it was not all that tight to begin with. Any ideas what might be causing this one wheel to drag.. Again, I did the assembly, using all new parts.. the other side is just fine.

Appreciate any help you guys can provide...

[David D.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Joel,
I'm thinkin of a possible reply, but first I'm curious....did you change or rebuild wheel cylinders as well? Or did you drain/change the brake fluid to where you had to bleed the brakes in any way?
David

[Robert K.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Joel,

Re3garding your second comment as to the brakes getting HOT after a short while......Are you sure that when you reinstalled the "shoes", that you did not mix up the front (forward) shoe with the rear shoe? It is possible to do and if this is done, you will get the result you are getting.....Trust me, "It happened to me"!!

Bob

[Joel T.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Guys;

To answer your questions...

When I did the overhaul, I replaced the wheel cylinders, along with all the adjusters, springs, brackets, shoes, hoses etc..

On the shoes being reversed.. I'm gonna check that now. I know the longer lined shoe is supposed to be in the rear.. but let me check... I've done many drum brake jobs over the years.. wouldn't it be a hoot if I messed this one up...

Thanks for the suggestions!!!

[Joel T.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Bob,

I just finished pulling that right rear wheel.. The shoes are in the correct position.

Thanks!

[Ray C.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

I am not sure on the 63, but on a 65 I restored the return port in the master cylinder was blocked. This would not allow the fluid to return to the reservoir and the breaks did not back off. Cleaned the return port and the brakes worked fine.

Ray

[Timothy B.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Joel,
If you have checked everything including springs inside the drum try jacking the wheel off the ground and have someone apply the brakes then let go and spin the tire to see how much time it takes for the wheel to spin freely again. Look for any restriction like a crimped line that would restrict fluid from returning to the master cylinder. Are you sure the wheel is not adjusted to tight. Did you flush the lines with fresh fluid? In the past, others have reported having trouble with the old rubber hoses but if they are new?? You also mentioned a resleeved master cylinder and did you bleed the master good, I don't know if this would make any difference because your problem seems to be only with one wheel.

[Joel T.]

Re: Questions on Drum Brakes

Hi Tim,

When I did the job I flushed out all the lines with brake cleaner and then blew them all out with compressed air. I am fairly confident that they are clean. The master cylinder was vacuum bled as well as were each of the wheel cylinders. Once I finished with that process, I did a conventional bleed down. I might have had the adjuster up too tight to start.. it is hard to know with the rear wheels because they don't spin freely as the fonts do.

This last go around, I backed off both rear adjusters so that the drums would come off if I just yanked on them which tells me that are fairly loose. I also tightened the parking brake a bit.. and the pedal is pretty high.

I'm going to run him a bit more and see what I have going on.

Thanks for all the help!