Friday, February 19, 2010

CHECKING REAR BRAKE SHOES FOR WEAR










For those of you who want to check your rear brakes shoes here are the risks and rewards. First you will need 2 (m8 X 20mm) bolts to remove the drum, they are 13 mm head bolts, the middle photo shows the location they are to be placed. From here you simply tighten each one a quater turn till the drum is loose and can be removed. Then look at the shoes to see how much brake material is left, mine was fine so I took a wisk broom and brushed the dust free from the inside of the drum and the brake parts. This is where it got tricky, the drum would not go back over the shoes for some reason. I realigned the shoes but there was no good spot that worked, so I looked real close and saw the gizmo that is supposed to widen as you brake in reverse to keep the shoes tight against the drum as the shoes wear. I recall from this part from some german cars of the 1970's and you could take a screwdriver and leverage the gear to make them expand or to contract them in order to remove the drum, it was hit or miss as to the direction you spin the gear but I leveraged a full turn on the gear and suddenly the drum slipped over the shoes and into place without further adieu. By placing the rim back on the studs and tightening you compress the drum back into its proper place and are finished. I do not recommend attempting to replace the shoes yourself, there is more to removing the hub to even get close to the shoes than you want to bother with, and since I can get over 100,000 miles on a set of shoes the cost per mile replacement factor is minimal. The front pads cost $28 and were the best non-metalic pads available which equates to .037 cents per mile.

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