change there own brake shoes? Ive done it a few times in the past on different vehicles and each time its been a total pain. Im not all that mechanically inclinded but i do most of my own service work (changing oil, brake pads and such). Im haveing the problem where my rear tire is locking up in the mornings. I left work a couple of mornings ago and when i touched the brake the tire locked up and made a loud squeeling sound.It left black marks on the pavement. Anyway, all the guys were outside and saw it happen. It was pretty embarrassing. My question is if i should try it myself or let a mechanic do it?

 

1st off I am assuming that you have rear drums correct?

If so this is normal in the mornings if the shoes are not adjusted properly.

take the drums off and make sure everything is clean then adjust the shoes so that the drum will only turn a half turn when you try to spin it with your hand.

this should stop your problem. (in simplest terms)

good luck-

 

I'll give that a try. Thanks.

 

do a search on it..mine does the same thing in the morning or if it is real humid. The reason for this is because the braked dust builds up in the drum from the drive in the day. In the morning when you have a dew or it is humid the brake dust will become moist and will make the drum slick and when you hit the brakes it heats up and dryes them out making the rear brakes lock up.

I have the same problem and it used to drive me nuts. But now I am used to it and don't hit the brakes as hard in the morning. I thought I needed to change my pads out also and when I got the back tires and drums off the shoes had 3/4 pad left..So i have some shoes when I need them..

Hope this helps....

Heath

 

I've had my rear drums off a number of times to inspect the shoes. They appear to be like most other drum set-ups, I don't think replacing these are any different then most other shoes.

 

I read in some other post that the break shoes swell from the moisture in the drums and when you first hit the brakes it causes them to lock up. My ford dealer didnt have any idea what i was talking about.

 

it's been talked about in here before. Mine likes to do it in the colder weather. Especially when I forget that it does it, it's snowing, i'm drivin along try to make my first stop and weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, i go through the stop sign real good.

 

a couple of things cause this.

most often it is brake dust build up and moisture.

second is the shoes are out of adjustment so when you put on the brakes the shoes travel farther than usual and when they contact the drum they move with it a little bit and cause the lock up, kind of the way a centrifugal clutch works.

so keep em clean and properly adjusted and you should be fine.

also if you have rear drums your shoes should last through at least 2 front pad changes (if you maintain them properly)