Drum Brake Problem

Suspension, steering, brakes, wheels & tires

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wilhay
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Drum Brake Problem

Post by wilhay »

Drum Brake Problem,
Help, this is driving me crazy. Have 72 LWB drum brakes all around. When i bought it right front wheel would'nt roll. After backed of adjuster all the way finally got drum off. Brake shoes look almost new, no signs of anything rubbing, no rust anywhere, with adjuster backed all the wat out wheel rolls fine.Problem is when you adjust brakes even the smallest amount(2 or 3 turns of the adjuster) it takes two people to rotate the tire and wheel with it jacked up, if you adjust it any less and drive it down the road and hit the brakes it pulls to the left so bad it almost jerks the wheel from your hand as if the right front was not even engaging. I've had a couple of friends look at it,they can't figure it out, even my mechanic is baffled. Can anybody shed any light on this?
Wilhay
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basketcase0302
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re: Drum Brake Problem

Post by basketcase0302 »

Wilhay,

Has the "mechanic" checked the roundness of the drum with a dial? (This would cause it to "grab" if it were out of round).
I'd also look real hard at the wheel cylinder or the rubber brake line for the left front being bad.

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wilhay
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Re: re: Drum Brake Problem

Post by wilhay »

basketcase0302 wrote:Wilhay,

Has the "mechanic" checked the roundness of the drum with a dial? (This would cause it to "grab" if it were out of round).
I'd also look real hard at the wheel cylinder or the rubber brake line for the left front being bad.

Basketcase
all those parts are new
wilhay
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Post by wilhay »

all those parts are new
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ToughOldFord
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re: Drum Brake Problem

Post by ToughOldFord »

There's a very good chance someone got the primary and secondary shoes reversed. Pull the drum and look at the linings on the shoes. One's shorter than the other and should be installed on the front side. (Towards the front of the truck) If they are reversed they will grab fast and hard. The improper way to compensate this is to over tighten the shoes to where you loose the grabbing effect. Very common mistake on drum brake jobs.
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ToughOldFord
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re: Drum Brake Problem

Post by ToughOldFord »

Also, check one side against the other. If whoever put the shoes on wasn't paying attention they may have put both secondaries on one side and both primaries on the other.
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