Drum brakes, how do?

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Aquarelle

Aquarelle

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Uriehusky
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Uriehusky
Kia ora guys :)

So after being rid of my last car to save on costs for parking, I've been rather bored. I was talking to my grandmother and out of the blue she offered to give me her Lancer for free once I move to my next house. (she's getting a mortgage to get a new car, probably a Jazz knowing her since she always loved it.)

Splendid! saves me going and buying one.

However there's a problem.. (besides the fact that I'm going to have to replace all the fluids, filters, possibly perform a manual transmission swap for the experience and do something about the pathetic power output) and that's the fact it has rear drums.

Now, I don't really know the specifics of how much more unsafe they are but I really don't trust them with my life; simple as that.
So... naturally I want to swap them out.


Problem is, I've never done this and my 'mentor' that taught me everything I know about mechanics is no longer with us.

Can anyone help me with a reliable resource? first hand experience, diagrams, websites - anything like that would be so immensely appreciated.

I have a few months before the keys even touch my hand so I have more than enough time to organise myself for everything else, this particular process is something I have no experience in and being that it's a pretty darn important safety aspect I'd rather not go in blind.

(Please don't suggest that I see a mechanic to do this for me, mechanics is my life and I need to grow. Getting someone else in isn't going to help with that.)
 
Why do you think rear drum brakes are soooo bad. Every car I've owned has had rear drum, several with front drum. The biggest thing I can think of being bad about them is replacing the shoes. When replacing the shoes the easiest thing is to put car on jack stands and remove both rear wheels so you can walk around car when you forget which spring goes where.
63 chevy
68 chevy wagon
68 Camaro
76 Camaro
68 Camaro still own this one drums on all four
69 Opel GT
Several clunker cars
92 GEO Storm
00 Dodge Dakota 4x4

Also most newer cars has a check valve built in that if the front/rear goes out the fluid will be stopped to the failed section.
 
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I absolutely hate doing drum brakes. They aren't necessarily hard to do, just more so a PITA. The wheel cylinder isn't tough to replace, usually there is a few screws on the back of it that you take out and it pops off. The springs can be really tough to pull back and lock in though when you are replacing the shoes. Opel is right when he said to take off both tires so you can look and see what spring goes where. I think the worst thing is adjusting the shoes after everything is all back together, for me at least. That takes the longest.
 
Slashfan
I absolutely hate doing drum brakes. They aren't necessarily hard to do, just more so a PITA. The wheel cylinder isn't tough to replace, usually there is a few screws on the back of it that you take out and it pops off. The springs can be really tough to pull back and lock in though when you are replacing the shoes. Opel is right when he said to take off both tires so you can look and see what spring goes where. I think the worst thing is adjusting the shoes after everything is all back together, for me at least. That takes the longest.
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That's why it's best to put car on jack stands after your done you can spin the tires with your hands until the shoes start to drag or you can hear them start to rub a little. After that put tires back on and drive back and forward to let self adjuster do the rest.
 
In that car (and most cars, actually), the rear drums don't actually provide very much of the total braking force. The front brakes usually do most of the work, the rears are just kind of there. If the rear drums don't work at all for whatever reason (e.g. they're seized or the shoes are completely gone), then replace them. If not, just leave them alone.
 
I believe to this day some car companies still use drum brakes in the rear, fairly certain my sister-in-law's '09 Corolla has them. They may have a bit less stopping power, fade quicker and be more difficult to change but I certainly wouldn't classify them as unsafe by any means.
 
casey_2005
I believe to this day some car companies still use drum brakes in the rear, fairly certain my sister-in-law's '09 Corolla has them. They may have a bit less stopping power, fade quicker and be more difficult to change but I certainly wouldn't classify them as unsafe by any means.
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Drum brakes are supposedly better than disc, especially in the rear.

Once your done put the tire back on and spin it, the tire should only spin about a turn and a half
 
Slashfan
Drum brakes are supposedly better than disc, especially in the rear.
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They aren't. They are cheaper to equip, hence why they are exclusively found on economy cars nowadays; and with the proliferation of ABS and traction control most of the old problems with slapping them on the rear to save some cash aren't a problem anymore.
 
Drum brakes aren't dangerous. Unless it's drums all around, and even then they're only as dangerous as the nut behind the wheel not taking account of extra braking distances required.

TheBook has it pretty much spot on - a FWD car like the Lancer will barely use the rear brakes anyway. Given this scenario, drums are probably better than discs because they're pretty long-lasting. They're just there and can largely be forgotten about.

Driving-wise, discs all round tend to have a little more of a positive feel under the pedal, but again in something like a Lancer it'll be much of a muchness.

It certainly isn't worth the job of swapping them out.
 
Drum brakes aren't dangerous. They are less effective than discs but they are perfectly fine as the front brakes do most of the stopping.


They are a pain to try and fix or replace though.
 
Drum brakes are best for heavy usage. Why you will never see a big rig using disc brakes. Disc brakes perform better because they dissipate heat better than drum brakes but drum brakes typically last longer. In all they are both safe so don't worry about it. Now in my opinion I rather have disc just because they are much easier to work on but once those ****ers warp it makes stopping a shaky experience. :lol:
 
haitch40
They are a pain to try and fix or replace though.
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I wouldn't even say that. They're not as accessible as disc brakes but they're mechanically incredibly simple.

I mean, I'm having a bit of a nightmare with the rear drums on my Beetle, but then not every car is 40 years old and probably running the same shoes it always has done.
 
Alos, drum brakes are better as parking brakes, so they're well suited to rear wheel duty on a FWD car.
 
It also makes it a bit less complex, because you don't need a dedicated parking break that might go wrong like cars with disc brakes all around sometimes have. Mom's truck has a truly obnoxious system where the parking (drum) brake is built into the brake assembly, so to do anything with it you have to completely disassemble the rear brakes to even get access (which, because she almost never uses it, means it fails to work every year around inspection time so dad has to rip everything apart).


Instead you can just use one of the drum brakes already there.
 
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homeforsummer
I wouldn't even say that. They're not as accessible as disc brakes but they're mechanically incredibly simple.

I mean, I'm having a bit of a nightmare with the rear drums on my Beetle, but then not every car is 40 years old and probably running the same shoes it always has done.
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I always have trouble putting the springs back.

But no it doesn't take skill to know how to put them back together.
 
Spoil-t
Drum brakes are best for heavy usage. Why you will never see a big rig using disc brakes.
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Sorry for bursting your nonsense bubble, but big rigs already run discs for quite some time now. And that is discs all around.

And drums on the front aren't that bad, you just need to hold the steering wheel firm in your hands when you brake the first couple of times after the car has been sitting still for a couple of days.
 
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Dennisch
Sorry for bursting your nonsense bubble, but big rigs already run discs for quite some time now. And that is discs all around.

And drums on the front aren't that bad, you just need to hold the steering wheel firm in your hands when you brake the first couple of times after the car has been sitting still for a couple of days.
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I've never seen a semi around here that had all discs on it.
 
Well, both my dad and brother are truckers, and I am a greasemonkey, "small" jobs like replacing brake pads, we tend do them ourself. And on both Scanias there are discs front and rear, and they use the exact same pads, front and rear. And they are HUGE.


Never-one:
Air is used to move the pad, instead of fluid, it not like you blow air onto a disc or into a drum to make a truck stop...
 
xNEVER-ONEx
I thought most trucks used air brakes.
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They do. Air brakes are like drum brakes but they are powered by air. When you press the brakes the pressure builds and pushes out the wheel cylinder which then forces a wedge that between the shoes which then pushes the shoes against the drums, slowing you down. You can't ride air brakes either because it depletes the air supply. The advantage is that air compresses more than liquid (brake fluid), applying more force and more stopping power, but at the same time allowing you to lock up the brakes quite easily. Vacuum brakes are similar principles but different arrangements of force.
 
From Wiki

Recent studies have been performed in the United States to test the stopping distances of both drum brakes and disc brakes using a North American Standard called FMVSS-121. The results showed that when newer compounding of friction materials typically used in disc brakes is applied to drum brakes that there is virtually no difference in stopping distance or brake fade. As the United States changed its FMVSS-121 rules for Class Eight trucks built in 2012 to reduce stopping distances by about 1/3rd there was no recommendation to use either drum or disc brakes in the current law.

Newer drum technologies and turbine cooling devices inside of these drums has also eliminated any edge disc brakes may have had in heavy duty applications. By installing brake turbines inside of a specially configured drum, temperatures are many times cut in half and brake fade is nearly eliminated.
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Ok, so they are as good as disc systems, but drums still require a lot more maintenance in such heavy applications.
 

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