Replaced rear shoes and cylinders and now I hear a sound...

[scottyparade]

A saga that began as, "Hey, the brakes feel a little squishy. Maybe I should bleed them..." has turned into an enormous ordeal. I'll skip ahead to where I am now, but I hope this is the last of it:

I was replacing the rear wheel cylinders, and I remember thinking it was odd that one of the pistons (the forward one) was out further than the other one. I couldn't remember if the other one was that way, and anyway, these are brand new, so I slapped it in there, and went on my way. So after messing around with the thing for a while, I noticed a slight noise coming from that same wheel when I'm driving. I thought it very well could be that one piston pushing the shoe against the drum! Well, due to other issues, I ended up with the drum off again, and I noticed the piston again. I ended up replacing the bearings on that side, and thought maybe that noise I heard was the bearings, since I no nothing about diagnosing car noises. After replacing the bearings and spindle nut, I took her for a test spin. I swear the noise is still there. It's faint, but definitely something, and definitely coming from the rear passenger-side.

Now, I'm willing to admit that I am being a little hyper-sensitive, since I ended up having problems with this whole thing, and I'm perhaps putting too much stock into this noise. At the same time, my gut is telling me that maybe I should at least throw it to you guys and get your take. I went back to partstrain to file a return and noticed that in the picture of the cylinder, one piston was sticking out a bit more at the front. Maybe that's normal?

Thanks in advance for the advice! I love this place...

Scott in Atlanta

[Festy46]

Are you sure you have all the brake hardware installed correctly? Do you have the brake shoe hold down pin/spring installed. It's a thing that looks kinda like a nail and goes through the backing plate and then through the shoe about halfway between the top and bottom. The wheel cylinder pistons have equal pressure applied to them and they will move farther to the side with least resistance. If you had an old cylinder that had a rusted piston, that might not move at all while the other side is way out. Since you have new cylinders, this shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes the brake shoes when they are new have very square edges and this square edge may be rubbing the inside of the drum making the noise you hear. If you have all the hardware installed, I would drive it a few miles and use the brakes a lot to see if the noise goes away. If the noise goes away and you have good pedal, you should be good to go.

[Bert]

I takes awhile to become comfortable with replacing brakes if you've never done it before. The tension springs on the final assembly should not allow one piston to stick out more than the other. When you remove the drum take a close-up picture and post it on here. Perhaps someone will recognize what is going on in there.

One of the problems Festys have in the salt belt is that the rear shoes seize on to the drums if the car is not driven regularly. I've doubled up some of these springs and haven't had 'freezing' issues for the past couple of years. Festy brakes are absolute minimum spec at the best of times and if you're in for the long haul, drive hard or plan to upgrade the engine, start scouting around for the suspension and brakes off an Aspire. Used to be I was digging around in the brakes every 6 months but since I swapped over to larger components haven't had to do anything for the past 2 years.

[scottyparade]

Are you sure you have all the brake hardware installed correctly? Do you have the brake shoe hold down pin/spring installed. It's a thing that looks kinda like a nail and goes through the backing plate and then through the shoe about halfway between the top and bottom. The wheel cylinder pistons have equal pressure applied to them and they will move farther to the side with least resistance. If you had an old cylinder that had a rusted piston, that might not move at all while the other side is way out. Since you have new cylinders, this shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes the brake shoes when they are new have very square edges and this square edge may be rubbing the inside of the drum making the noise you hear. If you have all the hardware installed, I would drive it a few miles and use the brakes a lot to see if the noise goes away. If the noise goes away and you have good pedal, you should be good to go.

I'll ride it around for a while and see if the noise is abated by working the brakes some. I definitely re-installed the old hold down pin and spring. What a pain that little clip was, too!

[scottyparade]

I takes awhile to become comfortable with replacing brakes if you've never done it before. The tension springs on the final assembly should not allow one piston to stick out more than the other. When you remove the drum take a close-up picture and post it on here. Perhaps someone will recognize what is going on in there.

That makes sense. Perhaps the springs are losing their springiness? Is it normal for the wheel cylinder, out of the package, before install, to have one piston sticking out more than another? I suppose if the spring is strong enough, it should pull both pistons back in, right?

One of the problems Festys have in the salt belt is that the rear shoes seize on to the drums if the car is not driven regularly. I've doubled up some of these springs and haven't had 'freezing' issues for the past couple of years. Festy brakes are absolute minimum spec at the best of times and if you're in for the long haul, drive hard or plan to upgrade the engine, start scouting around for the suspension and brakes off an Aspire. Used to be I was digging around in the brakes every 6 months but since I swapped over to larger components haven't had to do anything for the past 2 years.

I've given a lot of thought to upgrades on this car, and I will continue to think about it. The Aspire Swap is probably the most practical and related to my needs. I do not drive a lot (50-60 miles a week), but I do want to know that the car will brake when I need it to. I'll get some new springs, and maybe double up on the top spring for good measure, as you suggested and report back. I'll snap a pic when I'm in there.

Thanks Festy46 and Bert!

Scott in Atlanta