Alternating overheating drum brakes

[Andy.smith.r]

Hello all. I've got an 05 X I just had rear shoes and rear wheel cylinders replaced on both sides. After about a week I noticed the shoes starting to squeak on the passenger side and found the wheel to be too hot to touch. Took it back to my mechanic who pulled everything off, installed new shoes and re-adjusted everything including parking brake. Immediately I noticed something was still hanging up as it felt like I was pulling a trailer. By the time I got home I put my heat gun on the drums and the drivers side was now over 200 degrees and the passenger was about 125. It was only a 15 min drive and barely any braking so I took it back again. The shop readjusted both rear sides again even looser then spec. On the lift both wheels turn without any issue. I drove it again and same deal only the other side started hearing up again. Mechanic felt like the drum on the passenger side wasn't seating properly and took a lathe to the inside of the one until it did seat flush but that did nothing. They are totally stumped at this point.

Brakes have been backed off beyond recommended specs at this point and on the lift everything seems fine. What in the world is going on and what could be causing the heat issues to move from passenger to drivers side? Almost like the axle is floating or something. Any help would be so appreciated!

It has 33's and 2.5" suspension lift fyi.

 

[pagrey]

If you don't do the work yourself just find a new mechanic. The one you have is obviously in over his head. Brakes are't too difficult, this might be a good time to start doing your own work. You might just have a few days to work on it yourself.

 

[Andy.smith.r]

Yeah I hear you. I wasn't super interested in taking care of drums and now more then ever. Two very seasoned mechanics have had their hands in this. Drum brakes are a walk in the park for them which is why I'm reaching out here. If they can't figure it out someone trying to get in to drum brakes for the first time probably isn't going to fair too well.

 

[dbbd1]

This!
Exactly as shown!

I'll bet you a paycheck that the green spring holder-thingey is on the wrong side of the adjuster.

 

[Andy.smith.r]

Interesting.. just sent that to my mechanic. Many thanks for that. What's your profession in case this isn't it? Hoping a physician.

 

[dbbd1]

Interesting.. just sent that to my mechanic. Many thanks for that. What's your profession in case this isn't it? Hoping a physician.

No, but I play one on TV.

(Actually an unemployed, even prior to this, electronic field tech)

 

[Andy.smith.r]

Nice.
Out of curiosity, why would putting that spring holder on the wrong side cause this?

 

[dbbd1]

Couldn't really tell ya'. It seems to be a common enough problem though, the adjuster jams, then doesn't work correctly, I think.

 

[jazz-n-tj]

I actually just went through this last month. My passenger side was heating up to 200 degrees and my drivers was usually around 130ish. dbbd1 is exactly correct. I had the green spring holder on the inside of the adjuster. I took it off probably a dozen times and saw what I wanted to see until I posted a picture and someone pointed out the obvious. 5 minutes later I had it all sorted out and no more overheating. I felt quite stupid that I kept overlooking the obvious on something as simple as drum brakes.

 

[dbbd1]

If this solves your issue, maybe get some refund from the mechanic. You had to do the investigating.

Just my .02

 

[Andy.smith.r]

Wow, OK. Well I'll find out today if that's what it was. And yes, it's a reputable business and they've already stated that they would be eating the cost of everything if it was found to be their error.

Been stalking this forum for a bit and it really seems there's is a lot of knowledge floating around here. I really appreciate the input from everyone and I'll let you know if this was the fix!

 

[Goatman]

My brakes (disk. Rubicon) locked up both rear and right front. Left front grabbing hard. After 30 miles of purchase where they had just done "all new brakes".
The brake fluid (I'm guessing) was still original from 2006 and was dark (almost black) and gritty. Had to completely flush out the entire brake system to get rid of all that sludgy fluid. The crap in the fluid was causing the calipers to hang up. Finally to the point of locking up 3 calipers, with the 4th very close to locking up. So if the mechanic had put your brakes back correctly then this is where I would check out. Dosen't take much to foul up the brakes. Do a thorough job flushing out your system and you might be ok. He might want to replace those wheel cylinders. That's the only way to get 100% of the old fluid out unless you rebuild them. Probably cheaper (labor costs) to replace them than rebuild them. Hope this helps.

 

[Andy.smith.r]

dbbd1 THANK YOU! jazz-n-tj, you too!

So an update - mechanic found that both rear drums had that spring holder thing on the wrong side. Additionally, he ordered new shoes from a different manufacturer and after measuring them they were about a 16th of an inch more narrow. The Jeep is rolling smooth as ever now. I can't thank you guys enough as this probably saved me a ton of time and stress.

 

[Goatman]

I hope you waved goodbye to that mechanic for the last time.

 

[qslim]

And yes, it's a reputable business and they've already stated that they would be eating the cost of everything if it was found to be their error.

That's good. The fact that mechanics make mistakes is inevitable. What's not inevitable is them owning up to it and standing behind their work. Sounds like a decent shop.

 

[Goatman]

I'm less forgiving of the mechanic. By my count you went there 4 times prior to posting here. I am more than understanding that he made an error during the initial install. Hell, I can even see that he didn't bother to look at a book (or whatever they use nowadays) the second time. But the 3rd time? Still didn't investigate the problem, and decided to put a lathe to it instead of looking for information. Apparently didn't bother on the 4th time, yet again.
And only when you went back with a picture to show him (which he was perfectly able to do the first time you went to him) how to do his job on (by my count) the 5th trip to his shop was he able to correctly install drum brakes. No, I wouldn't let him near my vehicle again. Can you imagine if you went for a tune up or cooling problems? No. He may be a nice guy, but that he couldn't bother to check his work, that was obviously wrong, after 4+ times is scary. If this had been someone who didn't pay attention to how his vehicle worked those brakes could lock up and cause serious injury or worse.

Rant is over.🗣

 

[WallyWest]

Nice that they stood behind their work. But I still would never use them again.

Those guys all have access to FSM type resources that would show them exactly how to assemble the brakes. But they thought "it's just a drum, this is easy" and never even bothered to check. What's worse, after several trips back they were grasping at straws like throwing the drum on a lathe, lol.

My mom takes her car to a similar bunch of yahoos that have screwed up several major things, one of which could have killed her. She still insists on using them because "they stand behind their work". I said yeah, much safer than standing in front of it.