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One side drum brake problem

1217 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Charles Reeves
Hello everyone,

My 68 mustang failed the yearly inspection due to the difference in braking power and the parking brake which is about 82% on the rear axle. From the numbers I have on the inspection sheet, RR brake 0.43 KN, RR parking brake 0.24 KN, RL brake 2.33 KN, RL parking brake 1.84 KN.

So there is an issue with the rear right drum brake. 2 months ago I had a problem with my brakes not bleeding properly so I have replaced most of the hydraulic parts of the braking system parts, One year ago I have installed front disk conversion kit and on the rear brakes I have replaced every single part except for the backing plates.
When I couldn't bleed the system 2 months ago, I have replaced the rear wheel cylinders and when I removed the drums I have noticed that the right brake is very clean and looks like the brakes never applied on that side, but on the left side there was a lot of brake dust which indicates it was working. with the drums removed I asked a friend to apply the brakes and noticed that the shoes on the right side barely move and on the left side they were moving as expected. Also, when I removed all the brake parts to replace the wheel cylinders, the springs on the right side brake were much more stiffer than the other side and took me much more effort to remove and re-install.

Could it be because of the stiffness of the springs, or are they stiff because they haven't been moving a lot like the other side?

What else could cause this problem? and the problem is with both the normal braking and parking brake.
1 - 1 of 8 Posts
You will never get the parking brake to be as effective as the regular brakes on one of these cars. I hope that isn't how your inspector thinks it should work.

As Rex indicated those springs are return springs and pretty wimpy compared to the hydraulic pressure from the foot pedal. I highly doubt that new springs will make any difference as long as the brakes aren't dragging without pedal pressure.
1 - 1 of 8 Posts
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