Rear Brake Problem

[msedly]

I have an '85 ranger with the 2.0L and I'm having problems with my rear brakes. I recently replaced the wheel cylinders, brake shoes and drums because the rear brakes needed to be turned badly. Less than two weeks after doing all this work, they are doing the exact same thing.

Basically what is happening is the right side is starting to get out of round again and there is a 'scuffing' noise (for lack of a better term) when I feel the brakes pulsate. Is it possible that I have a bent axle? Or maybe is the master cylinder going out and causing the right rear to take on a bulk of the stopping power? Someone help me before I lose my mind.

 

[msedly]

Nobody has any ideas...?

 

[Mark_88]

Did you put any grease on the contact points for the brake shoes?

You mentioned that you changed the brake cylinders...meaning they've been bled...when you bled the passenger side, was the fluid flowing freely or did it take longer to do than the driver's side? This might indicate that the splitter on the rear axel is maybe plugged and you are only getting proper fluid flow to the one side...

But that would not cause an out of round situation...and having a bent axel would usually result in more noise and uneven tire wear...did you replace the drums or just turn the old ones?

I've got one drum on mine now that you can acually see how the drums is not evenly worn...it looks out of round...but they are perfectly round on the inside and line up with the axel bolts evenly (spins perfectly round)...

If the brakes were otherwise working, I'd suggest rolling up your window or turning up the radio so you don't hear the noises...but the pulsation should be an area of concern...because that means your drum is not centering properly...and should be replaced...

 

[msedly]

The cylinders bled properly and I made sure to grease all of the contact points for the brake shoes. The drums that I recently put on were new, so I would hope they weren't out of round already. What concerned me was the fact that I turned the old drums when I replaced the wheel cylinders and when I replaced everything this past time and re-bled the brakes, the fluid coming out of the side that is having problems was much darker than the very fresh looking fluid from the other side.

I think that I'm going to try replacing the master cylinder (since I can get a reman for $15) and blow out all the brake lines from the wheels back to the master cylinder to get out any potential trash. I'm really hoping this will help because I'm running out of ideas...

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

well you might have a sticky parking break cable.. do you use the parking brake? usually you get an out of round drum when you have hot drums and then park with the p-brake on

 

[Mark_88]

well you might have a sticky parking break cable.. do you use the parking brake? usually you get an out of round drum when you have hot drums and then park with the p-brake on

Good idea...i

I you haven't replaced the cables or, at least, sprayed them with some WD-40 or similar fluid (be careful inside the drum though) it might be a good idea to try that...mine were actually sticking on the drivers' side and I just replaced all the cables...makes it easier that way...

 

[msedly]

That was my only other thought, but I didn't know if that would make them go out of round so quickly. At 191k, I'm pretty sure they might be sticking a little.