Squeak from the rear wheel when I press the brake pedal.

[ootdega]

I just went to check my brake booster, and I noticed every time I pressed the brakes, there was a squeak. I eventually figured out that it's coming from the rear left wheel. It's parked, and it squeaks louder the faster I press the pedal. It's pretty loud, too.

I also get brake squeal when driving, but only at light pressure. Once I press the pedal harder, it stops.

I'm guessing it's time to rebuild the brakes again. The last time I had the brakes done was when I first got it 3 years ago. From what I read, drums don't last nearly as long as discs, so that might be the problem.

Am I on the right track? If so, how do I know if I have 10 or 11 inch drums?

EDIT: Nevermind, found the brake info thread. They're 10 inch.

[ootdega]

Nevermind, had someone look at it and it's a nothing. Just an annoying noise. I sprayed some oil in the gap behind the drum, that should eventually reach whatever is squeaking.

I'd delete the thread if I could.

[gadget73]

The brakes would be behind the drum. You never want oil on the brakes. Sounds like the shoes are rubbing on the backing plate. If thats let go too long it will wear a groove in the backing plate and hang the shoes up. If its already damaged, a little file work to knock the burr down and a very light wipe of grease will help it. If one of the retainer springs is broken, it'll also make noise. Drums really ought to come off if you've never been in there to look. The back brakes are often neglected.

[ootdega]

The brakes would be behind the drum. You never want oil on the brakes. Sounds like the shoes are rubbing on the backing plate. If thats let go too long it will wear a groove in the backing plate and hang the shoes up. If its already damaged, a little file work to knock the burr down and a very light wipe of grease will help it. If one of the retainer springs is broken, it'll also make noise. Drums really ought to come off if you've never been in there to look. The back brakes are often neglected.

I was thinking it sounded like a rusted spring broken somewhere. In that case, I probably should just go ahead and rebuild them.

I aimed at the crack between the drum and the backing plate. I used Ballistol, not really oil oil, and I didn't use a whole lot. Just enough that it'd hopefully stop the squeak. It might help, it might not.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

I aimed at the crack between the drum and the backing plate. I used Ballistol, not really oil oil, and I didn't use a whole lot. Just enough that it'd hopefully stop the squeak. It might help, it might not.

Not only will it not help, but it can hurt quite a bit. The drum is cast with a groove around its perimeter and the lip of the backing plate rides inside said grove, if you shine a light into the crack you sprayed the oil into you'll see only the drum's wall (really the bottom of the aforementioned groove) on the other side. This means that whatever you sprayed in will most likely just follow the groove all the way around till it reaches the bottom and leaks out and makes a mess on your wheel and tire. If you're particularly lucky, however, and you sprayed at the very top of the backing plate, above the wheel cylinder, there is a chance some of the oil may actually find its way inside the drum. This will be the surface which the brake shoes ride against, so basically the last place you want anything even remotely slippery. In other words pop them drums off and inspect the results of your foolishness and correct as needed. If you wanna keep things lubricated use grease, and the only places that actually need it would be the three contact points between each brake shoe and the backing plate (so total of six per side), and the threads of the star-wheel of the self-adjuster at the bottom of the mess (so it doesn't rust-freeze itself). Would be a good opportunity to check condition of axle seals and wheel cylinders - obviously if either looks "wet" it needs replacing, the fluids behind them may be different but they share the same "keep this evil slickness away from the friction surfaces" characteristics.

[ootdega]

Well it's not like it's hurting much if the thing wasn't working properly in the first place.

I ordered hardware kits and shoes this morning. I'll figure out if I have the tools to even get the drums off in the first place later.

I have enough problems already without people calling me foolish for trying to solve one of them.

[gadget73]

The drums just slip off once you remove the rear wheel. Might need some persuasion in the form of a hammer to get them moving if its been a while, but there are no fasteners. About the worst that happens is they rust-weld to the face of the axle shaft. If they have never ever been off, there *might* be a small retaining ring stuck on one of the wheel studs, but you can just pry that off and carry on with extraction.


Don't get overly sensitive when people say things. its the internet for one, but the goal is to make sure the point gets across. Nobody here wants to see anyone get hurt from making a mistake, so occasionally we can get a little rough on people for doing ill-advised things.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

^^^ What he said! ^^^

And spraying stuff blindly in an area you can't see without knowing what's on the other side is foolish. But did you stop for a sec and consider that maybe I learned how foolish it is by doing it myself and dealing with the results? Some folks do learn from their mistakes ya know, but it's always best to learn from others mistakes, so if you screw something up and get called out on it don't get butt-hurt - I don't do it cause I like treating folks like garbage, I do it cause sugar-coating things makes them ambiguous and allows people to miss the important point. Which in this case applies to brakes. There is just one thing that is more important than brakes on a car, so just fooling around with them is really NOT something you wanna do. If your shit ain't up to sniff and God forbid you hurt someone cause of it you're liable for it. None of us wants to see someone in that position, so yeah I'll play the asshole all day every day if that's what it takes to drive the point in and keep someone out of trouble...

That said, just cause it makes scary noises doesn't mean it doesn't work. Even steel on steel contact with zero friction material left on the shoes is better than seized up parts that just won't move even if you stand up on the brake pedal.

Also, the self-adjusting setup these things have is lousy. I don't trust it one bit especially if you live in place that sees high humidity on regular basis - the adjuster wheels get the threads rusty and don't wanna turn, the little cables that pull on the arms that turn said wheels also like to snap and hang and get caught in stuff (which could very well be the source of the noises you're hearing). Personally I make it a point to pull the rear wheels and drums every oil change and inspect what's going on in there and manually adjust things as needed. Peace of mind is a great thing to have, plus you rotate your tires for more even wear, plus if you have a breakdown and you need stuff replaced ASAP you know things will come apart for you without the need for cutting the drums off in pieces (kid you not, I've done it, thankfully it wasn't my vehicle).

[gadget73]

The self adjusters work OK if you clean it all up and use it regularly. Since nobody does, it just tends to fail horribly. I really hate drum brakes. Too much bullshit, and its all too fussy.


This is also why I let him deal with my cars. I don't mess with drum brakes and I don't rotate tires. The drums have been off my truck twice in 14 years and 100k miles. I think in the 4 sets of tires it's had, one set may have been rotated once. I've never done it on either of the cars.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

At least you get the easy front-rear rotation. I gotta deal with left-right and inboard-outboard on top of that! Fawk remembering this mess, I think I'll just start doing them criss-cross (left out and right in switch places, and right out with left in). There is the matter they are actually two sets of tires and they all look identical. Probably should also paint one set of wheels different color from the other, then at least I can remember which ones I'm rolling on... lol

And idk about the self-adjusters. One of mine was regularly tightening up and the other was loosening up. They were both installed correctly, matter of fact I'm still using the same ones, sans the cable actuators tho.... I think I see an E450 rear axle in my near future, been meaning to widen the rear track somehow anyways, then next time a stupid shopping cart decides to get caught under the fender the tire will chew it up and spit it out before the fiberglass takes any damage.

[ootdega]

I might as well learn how to do it. I'd swap them for discs instead if I had the funds, but I don't right now and I need an oil change before that.

The hardware kits and shoes were $28 with shipping from RockAuto. I can do that.

[sick88tbird]

9.9 out of 10 times the noise you heard is due to out of adjustment brakes and dry backing plates...the lubrication points have already been talked about. It's often repaired with an adjustment unless something shows signs of severe wear, fatigue and/or leakage...in which case you'd have other symptoms as well.

Doing something "foolish" is how you learn...if you didn't know something you'd done was wrong, how would you learn not to do it again? Good luck!

[His Royal Ghostliness]

I might as well learn how to do it. I'd swap them for discs instead if I had the funds, but I don't right now and I need an oil change before that.

The hardware kits and shoes were $28 with shipping from RockAuto. I can do that.

They ain't hard, just annoying as all heck. But yeah, discs are nice but if you can't swing 'em just fix what you got. Drums on these things ain't bad, discs are definitely better but drums work just fine for how most folks use these cars. So long as everything is alright inside them and they're adjusted. You'll be fine I think.