One side drum brake problem

1218 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Charles Reeves, Apr 18, 2015

ALDEEM

Discussion Starter · Apr 16, 2015

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.

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Ironhorse302

· #5 · Apr 16, 2015

Rex just touched on the easiest (and most often made) drum brake error. It is critical to lay out the parts thus...Primary ("short") shoe and short upper return spring is installed towards the front of the car. "Long" (secondary) shoe and longer upper return spring is placed facing the rear of the car. Again, this is sooo easy to get wrong, but also sooo easy to fix.
I can see where this would also affect parking brake holding...if there is 1/3 more braking surface available on one side, it would sure hold better!

Disclaimer: this my opinion only; there may be other, better informed members to reply to your post.

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