who's feeding me a line of %$#&*?

[User Name missing]

Heres the story. Late last year I replaced the rear drums on the Ranger. Second time I've done it, first time alone. All in all, not bad, but afterwards the parking brake didnt quite work right. Other than that, brakes worked fine. Flash foward to bout mid summer, I took the truck in for a rotate/balance and had them look at the parking brake. Keep in mind, since I replaced the drums, I may have put 5k miles on the truck, most likely less.

So I drop the truck off Hours later they call and said I put some of the parking brake components on wrong......thank you Haynes manual and shoddy diagrams. Anyhow, I picked up the truck and drove it home. Didn't notice it much when I drove it home, but the rear brakes where making a sound. Since we were going camping the next day, I didn't have time to look into it. Loaded it up with camping gear, bike, etc and after work the next day, I drove it down to Hocking Hills. By that time, the rear brakes sounded horrible, like a pulsating sound when stopping. A few times I thought I was gonna die in those turns down there cause I didnt want to use the brakes too hard.

After I got back, I took the truck into the same place and asked them WTF they did to my truck! They looked at it and came back with "the holes in the drum that the wheel studs go through were drilled too large, so the drum isn't sitting centered". OK, guess it made sense to me, hell if I know. I musta got extremely lucky when I put them on cause I had 0 problems until they looked at it. Fortunately, the drums were still covered under warranty, so I was able to get them replaced. I told the guy at the part store about what the shop told me about the drums. He came back with "the holes are supposed to be oversized so when you apply the brake, it self centers". OK, made sense at the time. Replaced the drums and drove it around. MUCH better, but there still is a pulsating sound, but not anywhere near as bad. It wasn't until aftwerwards that I was thinking that when you put the wheel on and tighten the lugs, NOTHING should be moving, even during braking....am I correct?

So who is feeding me a line of s***? And what else should I look into to see why its making the sound?

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Never in my life heard or seen bigger holes drilled in a drum for "self Centering" Your truck is most likely equipped with RABS, which is rear antilock brakes. Perhaps that module is bad? I have never felt pulsating in my rear axle with my RABS. That pulsating is typical of antilock brakes, it would be pretty bad of a shop to put your drum brakes together wrong, they are so simple to replace. I might start looking that route.

 

[hondaxr650]

Your parts guy is definitely full of shit. No way a drum can "center itself" with the wheel torqued down on it. If your drum wobbles around on the studs because the holes are too big, they gave you the wrong drums. The drum should be centered by the center hole fitting snugly over the nub on your axle shaft.

 

[ufgators68]

Ummm... uhhh... wow. Never heard that one before.

Sounds like you need a new parts store.

 

[pillen140]

let me guess..... autozone?

 

[User Name missing]

let me guess..... autozone?

Close....advance....

Its a '96 2.3. With the tire off, the drum can move from side to side. Not alot of course. But why would it run fine for a few thousand miles then suddenly start pulsating.....after someone has taken it apart? Needless to say, I've been feeling like that auto shops quality has been declining, so I won't be goin back there.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

this can be a couple things.. first off

drums aren't made perfectly centered so keep this is mind. when they get removed they were on the hub/studs a certain way and then get put back on "out of synch" this can cause pulsation, you can try to mark the drums and turn them one stud at a time until you have no pulsation.

second the drums could just be out of round from your driving, this happens when you get them hot then park the truck with the parking brake on, holding the drum expanded in 2 spots while the other 2 spots the shoes aren't touching are allowed to cool faster and without tension on them.

third.. CHECK the lug nuts. if they aren't tight then the wheel and drum can wobble around. if the mechanic didn't use a star pattern when torqueing the wheels down the drum could have been tightened down unevenly and forced out of round/warped when it got hot

lastly its possible that the FRONT rotors are causing the pulsation, to determine this i usually let go of the steering wheel while braking to see if the steering wheel shakes, if you get a pulsation when you apply the parking brake then its in the rear.

only way to fix this is to get the drums turned on a lathe.

the fact that you just replaced the drums again tells me its probably in the front rotors, BUT i've seen maaaaaany NEW drums come out of round right out the box and have had to either replace them or turn them true on a lathe

 

[AllanD]

There isn't a thing wrong with the people you are dealing with that couldn't be fixed by spending 15minutes alone with them and giving them "a few love pats" with a used axle shaft.

AD

 

[adsm08]

There isn't a thing wrong with the people you are dealing with that couldn't be fixed by spending 15minutes alone with them and giving them "a few love pats" with a used axle shaft.

AD

Allan, you are usually pretty cut and clinical with your posts, but every so often you make me freaking laugh.

 

[bryanb]

Could you have used the 10" drums on a 9" brake? Would the bolt pattern still line up? When I got my new drums, I was asked which, and had to confirm that I had the 9".

 

[feellnfroggy]

thats what I was thinkin 10" drums on 9" brakes. this would allow the shoes to expand farther than necessary by far and even bind a little as the ends grab excessively. THey shouldnt be lose, they should fit snug. You are right when you tighten lugs everything is tight, the shoes will center themselves.