Doing rear drum brakes? A must read!

I've done rear drum brakes 5 times ever (over 100 vehicles). I'd rather pay my mechanic $80 or just buy vehicles with rear disc brakes. I have zero patience and very little Eidetic memory (or any memory at all) left these days.

p.s. The @Mikebee video made it harder than I remember it being. I had less problems replacing the piston and rings in my motocross bike between each moto when I raced.
 
I've done rear drum brakes 5 times ever (over 100 vehicles). I'd rather pay my mechanic $80 or just buy vehicles with rear disc brakes. I have zero patience and very little Eidetic memory (or any memory at all) left these days.

p.s. The @Mikebee video made it harder than I remember it being. I had less problems replacing the piston and rings in my motocross bike between each moto when I raced.

Rear drum brakes are a child of the devil! :cautious:
 
I replaced my rear brakes today. It's really a fairly easy job. Not sure why everyone is claiming it's such a hard repair. Mine were a real mess. Think they were original to the vehicle and it looked like a prior owner had been messing around with them and got some of the hardware on wrong.

I assembled the star adjuster and the lower spring on both shoes, then put the shoes on the backer plate and used a large clamp to compress them both together. Then installed the springs that hold the shoes against the backer plate. Then, installed everything else. I bought a kit from Rock Auto and it came with new corrosion resistant drums, new shoes, and all new hardware. Brakes and parking brake all work great now.

I also replaced my wheel cylinders while I had everything apart. The originals weren't leaking but it seemed to make sense to replace them at the same time.

I did reuse my self adjuster lever though. The one that came with the kit was a little larger as earlier pics in the thread show. It probably would have worked and I probably could have just ground off the excess but my originals weren't in bad shape so I just cleaned them up on the wire wheel and reused them.
 
I have to laugh when I read threads/posts that talk about how hard drum brakes are to R&R. I've prolly done ~200 of them, most of them "all fours" on 50's & 60's vehicles. Before iPhones, the trick (if you didn't have a service manual) was to "do one side at a time" - that way you have a "template" to go by, albeit a "mirror image"...
 
I have to laugh when I read threads/posts that talk about how hard drum brakes are to R&R. I've prolly done ~200 of them, most of them "all fours" on 50's & 60's vehicles. Before iPhones, the trick (if you didn't have a service manual) was to "do one side at a time" - that way you have a "template" to go by, albeit a "mirror image"...

Further proof that "Old Guys Know Shit". :cool:
 
I have to laugh when I read threads/posts that talk about how hard drum brakes are to R&R. I've prolly done ~200 of them, most of them "all fours" on 50's & 60's vehicles. Before iPhones, the trick (if you didn't have a service manual) was to "do one side at a time" - that way you have a "template" to go by, albeit a "mirror image"...

I didn’t trust the mirror image because mine were wrong in several areas from the prior owners fumbling with them. I watched a couple YouTube videos and the pics from this thread and just assembled it that way. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the first pic has the yellow spring installed incorrectly but otherwise, still a useful pic.

I do prefer disk brakes as they work better and are simpler but many vehicles with rear disk brakes still use a drum brake for the parking brake. Realistically, they last a long time.
 
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Drum brakes are a bit of a nuisance to deal with, but they're not *hard* per se. Like anything else, take it apart and put it back together the same way. When I did my Jeep, I hadn't done a drum brake in decades, so it took a couple of hours - partly because I didn't have all the parts and had to go get them. The other side took 45 minutes. A pair of vice-grips and a hook REALLY helps with the springs.
 
Drum brakes are a bit of a nuisance to deal with, but they're not *hard* per se. Like anything else, take it apart and put it back together the same way. When I did my Jeep, I hadn't done a drum brake in decades, so it took a couple of hours - partly because I didn't have all the parts and had to go get them. The other side took 45 minutes. A pair of vice-grips and a hook REALLY helps with the springs.

Having the right tools for the job goes a long way, too. Job-specific, don'tcha know...
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I've done rear drum brakes 5 times ever (over 100 vehicles). I'd rather pay my mechanic $80 or just buy vehicles with rear disc brakes. I have zero patience and very little Eidetic memory (or any memory at all) left these days.
I would rather beat my head with a ball peen hammer than do another drum brake job.
 
Having the right tools for the job goes a long way, too. Job-specific, don'tcha know...
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I think trying to use the wrong tools is what gets a lot of people frustrated with drums. I'm guilty of doing it the hard way (screwdrivers and pliers) for many years. It was nearly a life changing moment when I was introduced to the proper tools. My blood pressure dropped back to normal and my hands quit bleeding. :LOL:
 
Installing a new exhaust system (mainly installing the pre cats) was more difficult than doing the rear brakes. I read all the horror stories on here and was prepared to take awhile but I was done with both sides in 3 hrs. I was working slow and deliberate and also took a break in the middle to eat lunch (included in the 3 hrs).
 
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I think trying to use the wrong tools is what gets a lot of people frustrated with drums. I'm guilty of doing it the hard way (screwdrivers and pliers) for many years. It was nearly a life changing moment when I was introduced to the proper tools. My blood pressure dropped back to normal and my hands quit bleeding. :LOL:

Absolutely! You wouldn't want your doctor operating on you with tools designed for a different purpose. Then again, I've never used a screwdriver as a chisel, or an adjustable wrench as a hammer, or a...........:sneaky:
 
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Absolutely! You wouldn't want your doctor operating on you with tools designed for a different purpose. Then again, I've never used a screwdriver as a chisel, or an adjustable wrench as a hammer, or a...........:sneaky:

Of course not. Screwdrivers are for prying on things and punching holes! What kind of idiot would use a screwdriver as a chisel or a 1/2" ratchet as a hammer? ;)
 
Having the right tools for the job goes a long way, too. Job-specific, don'tcha know...
View attachment 394580

This was an Old Timer's response when I said I loathed changing drum brakes. Get the right tools and it's easy. The first time for me was rough. I did them with needle nose pliers. Next time I used vise grips, much better. If they stay in my life I'll get the tools you posted. But I'd like to swap the rear with disc brakes...
 
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This was an Old Timer's response when I said I loathed changing drum brakes. Get the right tools and it's easy. The first time for me was rough. I did them with needle nose pliers. Next time I used vise grips, much better. If they stay in my life I'll get the tools you posted. But I'd like to swap the rear with disc brakes...

I've had my fair share of springs snapping back because I used whatever gripping/clamping devise was readily available to me, I assure you. But as an Old Timer myself, drum brakes were, and still very much are, a part of what I deal with, so the proper tools ended up in my toolbox. :)
 
I've had my fair share of springs snapping back because I used whatever gripping/clamping devise was readily available to me, I assure you. But as an Old Timer myself, drum brakes were, and still very much are, a part of what I deal with, so the proper tools ended up in my toolbox. :)

I'm just glad I figured out that a T-handle hook made life much better!
 
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drum brakes were, and still very much are, a part of what I deal with, so the proper tools ended up in my toolbox. :)

They really aren't expensive either. I can do the whole job with one of these and a standard set of pliers. I think I paid $5 for one at Oreillys 5-10 years ago.

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