Help! Someone must die!

[sketchman]

Will someone please help me find the person responsible for drum brakes, so I can shoot them?

I'm sure someone has experience with this. I got the shoes off, but when the new ones are on, the drum will not fit back in place.

Turns out the e-brake mechanism is so rusted that it won't move, and it's locked in the "hand-brake handle pulled" position.

Should I try desperately to get it to work, or just remove it. It doesn't work anyway, so I see no harm in it. I've already wasted a whole day beating on it, with a tiny little bit of progress. I mean "TINY", like 2mm of movement.

Honestly, though, what are designers thinking when they decide to put drum brakes on a car when they have disc ones that are soooo wonderful?

[25Horseplay]

Have you tried a good penetrant like PB Blaster? Blaster works wonders on rusted up parts.

[Dave G]

Take a deep breath and fix it - might come in handy someday.

I wonder about why they mix them on the same car too. Seems like it would be cheaper to put the same mechanism on the front & back...

[gdawgs]

I had that problem once as well. The new set of shoes was slightly longer(the steel part) than my old ones.

I just ground off a small amount from the part that fits into the wheel cylinder, and a bit off the lobe that seats into the stationary part on the bottom. Don't take a lot off though, it doesn't take much.

I would fix the adjuster and handbrake mechanisms first though. Most likely if you get that moving, you won't need to grind anything off the shoes.

The best way to get the handbrake mechanism freed up is to remove it from the car and put it in a vice. Spray some PB blaster on the pivot point, then beat it with a hammer to move it back and forth. Eventually it will start to move easy enough so you can just do it by hand. Keep moving it until it moves freely again. It can take quite a while sometimes, but it will come.

[kzbill]

I soaked mine in muriatic acid then baking soda and water. removed all the rust.

[WmWatt]

I put mine in a vice too, but it took a week of spraying with WD-40 and hitting with a hammer before they would move. I replaced the pins (called the clevis pin) with bolts through which I drilled holes for new cotter pins. When my brakes gave out in the summer of 2006 all I had to get home on was the hand brake driving slowly along side streets. Now I check the hand brake linkages and keep them greased to prevent them rusting solid again.

[WmWatt]

Sorry, forgot to answer your question. You can disconnect the hand brake linkages to get the shoes back in the drums. You can drive with the hand brake linkages removed while you work on them off the car.

[jglutz]

I soaked mine in muriatic acid then baking soda and water. removed all the rust.

Heeeeyyyyy.........that's my secret!

The only correct answer.....all brake hardware should be cleaned/decreased and lubed (where applicable) every time your pads are changed. Something thast nevers happens unless you do it yourself.

And by the way....spend a few bucks and buy a hardware kit for your rear drums...it comes with every thing but the pads for ±$15 a wheel...if it's rusted beyond operation, your probalbly missing an inspection boot or the boot where the parking brake lever enters is missing. In any case most hardware kits includes these boots.

[freshtiva]

Those darn self adjusters, I think we've all been there. They should be set to the fully released position before installing the drum.

[scitzz]

Even rear disc brakes usually have a type of drum setup JUST so the e-brake has a way to be engaged. This shows how important the ebrake is! Fix, not disable, would be my vote.

[DuritzCrows17]

I would fix it, I removed mine before after it wasn't working properly and I regret it now.

[anomoly40]

Yeah, no more of those cool power slides.

FIX IT!

[Safety Guy]

If time is of the essence, go to a junkyard and pull a handbrake drum lever that does work, or at least is looser. Then use that after greasing it up nicely and then work on your original lever so it will be a spare.

You might also just pull a whole brake drum and backing assembly off if you want. It doesn't hurt to have "extras."

Karl

[Glease]

It's no fun having to park it in gear all the time, lol.

[sketchman]

Got it. While I was away, my uncle got the mechanism working, and when I came home it was ready to go.

Now I have a new problem. He only fixed the right side. To quote him, "Just put the wheel on and it's done." So that's what I did. Then I fixed the other side and tested the car. Everything seemed fine.

Then, driving home from work the first day, the right side started squealing badly. I looked to find that the center cap was gone, and there was tons of metal shavings and grease oozing out. :shock:

I know those are not exactly easy to get off, so I don't think it could have just fallen off by itself. My mom drives it to work at a high school, so I'd say some delinquents were having some fun. Now the drum is stuck on the axle.