reducing drum brake drag

[EF TuneRR]

Originally Posted by ebacherville

why they even use drums at all is a total mystery to me , discs are far more efficient and far easier to work on .. with the invention of discs the drums should have been dropped completely.. I don't get it , anything over 30 years old should be discs all the way around.

Cost reduction.

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by Gasoline Fumes

I pulled out the auto adjusters from my Civic's rear brakes. The shoes were definitely dragging before I did this.

Thanks to you I've figured out how to remove the self adjusters. However, the main issue turned out to be an out of round drum. In retrospect, this was evident when spinning the wheel, as the wheel kept meeting resistance at the same place on each spin. I'm having the drum turned tomorrow, will see if it helps, and then will check the other one. I read that using the parking brake when the shoes are hot can cause the drum to warp, so I will use 1st gear from now on and refrain from using the parking brake. I can tell which brakes are dragging, because they melt the coroplast.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by EF TuneRR

Cost reduction.

Yep. And it's nice how it's going to cost me around 700$ to do a convert to disks on my '91 Fox ............ -.-

[Frank Lee]

You'd do that why?

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

You'd do that why?

What? Convert to disks? My brakes start smoking and I lose almost all braking power after one lap around the neighborhood. The '91 fox is going to be my drag car when I'm done with it. 331 stroker kit, cobra intake, AFR 185cc heads etc etc.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

What? Convert to disks? My brakes start smoking and I lose almost all braking power after one lap around the neighborhood. The '91 fox is going to be my drag car when I'm done with it. 331 stroker kit, cobra intake, AFR 185cc heads etc etc.

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

You'd do that why?

Why don't you just pour gasoline in a fire, you crazy?!

[j12piprius]

The back left wheel spun only 5 to 11 times at first, so I loosened the e-brake from 4 to 6 clicks, and the wheel spun 21 to 26 times, however kept catching at one place. I took the drum off, cleaned everything, removed the auto adjuster, and loosened the star 20 turns until the wheel spun smoothly.

I took the drum in, the mechanic only did one turn and said it was fine, no change, but it did seem a bit better. I tightened the star but the drag came back, so I let it back out and put the wheel back on. Now the wheel spun 31 times. I jacked up the right wheel and it spun 31 times, took it apart, removed the auto adjuster, put the wheel back on and it was catching at one place. I took it apart, turned the star 2 turns, put the wheel back on and it spun 32 times.

I think the wheels are much better now, especially the one on the left, and I learned quite a bit by doing this.