Finished rear (drum) brake job - no stopping power

[Liquid_force]

Hey - got my new shoes and wheel cyls on -- what a headache.

On bleeding the cylinders -- how many bleed cycles should I expect to have to go through to get all the air out? After 4 or 5 I got steady fluid but the pedal still feels pretty spongy.

On top of that -- If I pull the hand brake while moving I'm getting very little stopping power - some, but not much. In drive at idle I can't hold the car still with the hand brake.

Is this going to improve as the shoes seat?

Yes, I cleaned the drum and shoe friction surfaces with brake cleaner.

 

[zorrex]

Did you secure the shoes correctly with the pins? The brake pedal pushes the top of the shoes apart against the drum while the hand brake pulls the bottom of the shoes.

 

[BrApple]

i have to agree it sounds like the brakes where not installed correctly. if you have nothing but brake fluid when you bleed the system then it should be fine. did you try bleeding the front to see if it made a difference?

 

[Liquid_force]

Did you secure the shoes correctly with the pins? The brake pedal pushes the top of the shoes apart against the drum while the hand brake pulls the bottom of the shoes.

Well, they're secured. If the pin is in place and the retainers are installed can they really be wrong?

i have to agree it sounds like the brakes where not installed correctly. if you have nothing but brake fluid when you bleed the system then it should be fine. did you try bleeding the front to see if it made a difference?

I didn't bleed the front.

If I'm going 20 and CRANK on the hand brake I can come to stop in 8-10 sec. I CAN hold the car still in drive at idle, but it does take a lot of force.

The e-brake slide is definitely not an option (not that I would do that).

 

[BrApple]

sounds like the adjuster hasn't adjusted enough or it needs to be tightened up.

I know my ebrake hardly works, but i believe they are the original drums and shoes are over 100k old ... time for new parts in my case, just need to install them ...

 

[zorrex]

Did you put the springs on correctly? It's very easy to flip them over. Take the drum off and snap a picture.

 

[Liquid_force]

I went back and forth from assembled side to disassembled side trying to be as sure as possible I got everything right.

I did the bleeding solo - using a length of 1x4 against the seat mounting bracket to put pressure on the brake pedal. I'll try to get the wife to help so I can run it through a few more cycles. On the road it does seem to stop ok -- no better or worse than before the brake job. However, the first 1/2 of the brake pedal travel is real soft and doesn't do much braking at all, then it firms up and feels like I think it should.
I recall it being more consistent before.

The parking brake is strictly mechanical, right?

I will try to get some pictures up. Now that the drums have been broken loose and I greased the mating surfaces on reassembly - it should only take a few minutes.

 

[zorrex]

I went back and forth from assembled side to disassembled side trying to be as sure as possible I got everything right.

I did the bleeding solo - using a length of 1x4 against the seat mounting bracket to put pressure on the brake pedal. I'll try to get the wife to help so I can run it through a few more cycles. On the road it does seem to stop ok -- no better or worse than before the brake job. However, the first 1/2 of the brake pedal travel is real soft and doesn't do much braking at all, then it firms up and feels like I think it should.
I recall it being more consistent before.

The parking brake is strictly mechanical, right?

I will try to get some pictures up. Now that the drums have been broken loose and I greased the mating surfaces on reassembly - it should only take a few minutes.

It might just be a figment of your imagination. You may be expecting your brakes to work BETTER, but they may be working just about the same if not a bit better, but not up to your expectations. I kinda had the same feeling when doing brakes before.

And yes, the parking brake is STRICTLY mechanical.

 

[Liquid_force]

It might just be a figment of your imagination. You may be expecting your brakes to work BETTER, but they may be working just about the same if not a bit better, but not up to your expectations. I kinda had the same feeling when doing brakes before.

And yes, the parking brake is STRICTLY mechanical.

I was thinking the same thing today.

Here are the pix anyway:

DS from above, DS from below, PS from above, PS from below...