This weekend I put new wheel hubs, bearing, drums, shoes and wheel cylinders on the front of my car. I topped of the brake fluid and blead the brakes, but when I took it for a test drive the pedal still went to the floor and my brake light came on. I know I blead the brakes good, any idea where else I could have gone wrong? o No: Any help is appreciated, thanks!
i have the same problem, the only difference it that ive driven the car for the last month with no problems and ive done no work on the brakes since the original restoration. what do you mean assemblies adjusted?
If you pushed the pedal past its normal travel in order to bleed the brakes and the master is old, you may need a new master now. Corrosion accumulates past the normal travel and when the O rings are dragged though that, it damges them causing the master to leak past the seals internally. So dont discount the master as the culprit. Does the pedal pump up?
If the Brake shoes are not properly adjusted the wheel cylinders will move far more than necessary to apply the brake to stop. The shorter the piston travel in the wheel cylinder the shorter the brake pedal travel.
This is my first time doing drum brakes. All of this makes sense, thanks. Yes, it does. I'm sure this is my problem. I closed the adjuster all the way to get the drum to fit back on, and never made the adjustment after. ou: Thanks everyone! i will figure it out when I get home this evening.
If you need info on adjusting the drums to the correct setting just ask:TU:. If it is the adjustment at-least you don't have to buy any more parts= always a good thing.
Indeed. What is the correct setting? I thought all I had to do was turn the star wheel until the shoes barely make contact with the drum? Thanks!
Ben you are real close. Over the years I have found the best results came from: 1) lift and support car properly (tires off ground). 2) spin tire slowly while adjusting shoes outward until light drag is heard/felt. 3) do this to "all" shoe equipped wheels. 4) Pump brake firmly to "center" the shoes on backing plate. 5) check all tires for slight drag = heard/felt, adjust further if needed. 6) pump brake again check one last time if no further adjustments were needed you should have a far higher setting brake pedal , and do a careful road test to check. If the brake pedal is higher but still feels soft/spongy you will need to bleed the brakes again. Bleed the sytem starting in the rear and blead until the fluid is not only air bubble free but clear new fluid comes out. Then on to the front and repeat. Let us know if it makes a difference.
Well, I made the adjustments yesterday and now the old gal stops on a dime and straight as an arrow! Thanks Everyone! :beer
It's always good to hear when things work:3gears: . Check everything one more time in a few weeks and you will be good. Sometimes the auto adjusters don't work like they should. Again glad to hear things worked out.
Thanks for the tips everyone! Will do... After all this i've come to the conclusion that drum brakes are the DEVIL! I mean they work fine but, all this maintenance is for the birds GEEZE. I sure wish I had some discs up front. Changing a disc set up dosn't take much longer than changing a tire!
This is a really good list of how to do your drum brakes. I really wish everyone knew this. The chance of injuring one's self or an innocent child would be avoided.
