Drum Brake Woes

[01silvapathy]

Okay so I was in the process of taking off my wheels and tires to paint them, so I had jacked up the rear of the pathy. I used the scissor jack cuz it was the only jack I had. So I went to take off the passenger side rear tire and the whole scissor jack bent and the teeth on the pole that goes through the middle sheared off. All the weight landed on the edge of the drum So im stranded in the parking lot til a friend came and we used a high lift to get the tire back on. The drum looked to be bent at the time but straightened out once the lugs were put back on. It does rub a little bit when I drive its noticeable for sure, and it kinda sounds like sandpaper over metal but its like its only rubbing in one place when Im driving at like 10mph its a steady beat like swish...swish...swish...swish, and when I brake it becomes a steady swishhhhhh. The brakes still work fine from what I can tell I have only gone up to about 15mph and had no troubles stopping from that speed. So my question is, what could this be, just the outer shell of the drum or what? It looks like there is some considereable space difference between the two drums I will run down and get my camera I took pics with to show yall what happened. Im really hoping that this is a cheap fix or even just an adjustment. I will be getting a real floor jack later this afternoon to take off the tire again (hoepfully without the rear falling again ) And see if I can pry what looks to me like a dust boot away to see if that helps at all. I know nothing about drum brakes and I was an idiot for doing this but any help would be appreciated.

[01silvapathy]

Okay just uploaded pics

 

 

What the normal drivers side drum looks like

 

What the dropped side looks like

 

You can kinda see in the last pic that there is a flat portion on the bottom of the drum and I can see a fresh line that looks to be from rubbing. Im planning on taking that and prying it out and hopefully that will help solve the problem If not I dont know what im going to do On the bright side of things I got some pretty mad flex YO!

[Slick]

omg, i had that happen once, lucky for me i was on dirt

[esy]

it's possible that when it fell onto the drum, it may have dented the drumor misshaped it somehow, and that could possibly be rubbing up on shoes causing the sound you're hearing.

 

drum brakes work similarly to disc brakes. the braking material is on the inside of the drum, as are the shoes. there's a piston that pushes the shoes out onto the inside surface of the drum, which causes your braking force to be applied. so, my guess would be that you warped something somewhere. it doesn't sound or seem like anything horribly major. worst case scenario is that you'd have to replace your drum.

 

here's a link that will help you understand drum brakes a little better. My link

[01silvapathy]

Thanks for the link man. I looked into it a bit more and took a screwdriver and a hammer and bent what I call the dust shield back into its normal place...that fixed the rubbing I heard while driving and coasting around. Now I hear a bit of hissing when I brake. I could just be that I am listening for it more intensely and it was always there, or the jarr could have knocked loose some dirt and dust inside the drum. I will take off the wheel and try to see if the drum is bent or and liners broken later when i have a friend around to look out for falling.

[skulptr]

how come the jack is all the way on the drivers side of the rig?

[01silvapathy]

Cause after I took it out to see what happend I threw it back down in rage and thats where it landed

[adamzan]

Maybe take the drum off and bring it somewhere to get them to check it. although it should be fairly obvious

[01silvapathy]

Maybe take the drum off and bring it somewhere to get them to check it. although it should be fairly obvious

 

Might go have them turned if anything.

[skulptr]

Cause after I took it out to see what happend I threw it back down in rage and thats where it landed

 

upright and under the vehicle, and its even still extended! wow, you got talent

[Kingman]

Even a few thousandths of an inch indent can make parts rub together, I'd imagine you did at least that by dropping the truck on one drum.

 

Why wasn't the tire underneath the truck to stop something like that from happening?

[01silvapathy]

upright and under the vehicle, and its even still extended! wow, you got talent

 

Well it wont close at all, the rod in the middle is bent so it cant turn at all

[GoPathyGo]

Scissor jacks suck. I had one fail as I was lowering my car. Luckily I was turning it by hand; if the handle had been in there I would have likely bust a few bones.

 

Probably a good chance the drums are bent or something on the inside's bent. But as others have pointed out, it's not worth losing sleep over. Avoid driving it till you get a replacement part, check the hub while you're at it, make sure everyhing is tight and then run over the jack a few times.

Edited April 12, 2010 by GoPathyGo

[JamesRich]

I was going to say it had to be the dust shield rubbing but you beat me to it. If the drum bent at all you will feel it while braking. You do need to take it off and check it for cracks though. If you don't see any cracks and no surging while braking I wouldn't worry about it.

 

and then run over the jack a few times.

I wouldn't do this, with my luck after I ran over it it would bounce up and put a hole in the truck!

[GoPathyGo]

I wouldn't do this, with my luck after I ran over it it would bounce up and put a hole in the truck!

 

Free snorkel hole! Just kidding.

[180sx]

I think you just need to take it off.It might be just someloose dirt or something. I had this happen to a friends truck one time. It was fine except it knocked the shoe alignment somehow.