Awe crap, time to replace the rear brake pads, bad noises, so, how in the F*)k do i do this? Any body done it?

 

One of those fairly easy but nice and dirty jobs.

If you don't have a manual, don't worry. Once you pull the drums off it will more or less do itself. The rears aren't hard at all, so if the discs don't scare you up front, then don't let the drums in the rear do it.

 

Manual, meaning, transmission, i do.

 

I think "manual" means repair manual. Transmission type makes no difference in rear brakes.

 

my suggestion, once you get the drums off. Just go and get the hose and wash the brakes off, it will make your job more pleasent.

 

i agree, you cant even begion to imagine how much brake dust there is all over those ccomponents in the drums. as far as difficulty, the first time i did it took me about an hour following a chilton's manual step by step. its really not hard at all, good luck!

 

Those spring are hard to stretch back into place, but it can be done with a little muscle.

 

Jay,

I did mean service manual, as the tranny type won't matter. The job really will explain itself once you pull the drum off.

As Beastie said, the springs can be a little of a PITA if you don't have one of the tools, but I've always managed without.

If you're really concerned, pick up a cheap Haynes or Chiltons repair manual. Even if you don't need it for the brakes it may come in handy for other things.

 

Take note of how everything goes. You can easily get confused on how the brake shoes go (shoes go on the back, pads go on the front, you'll see). You can get the brake shoes on backwards sometimes and they wont work properly. Like previously said, there are springs etc that have to go on. I like to use a good needle nose plier to do this, not some china pair as they will bend or slip. Yup, takes a little muscle.

Lastly, it has been my experience that you need to tighten the adjuster when you put them on. Turn it so that the shoes adjust out to where the brake drum barely slips back on. I then turn it a couple clicks farther after I get the drum on. The shoes may slightly make a little noise when you turn them without a load. They will work themselves out after this point. Usually if I just put the drum on, the self adjusters (even new with new hardware) will not adjust tight enough, and the front brakes will do most of the work or lock up under slick conditions. Everyone will now come behind me and tell me I'm nutz of course.

Get a manual, it will help a lot.

If we only had all wheel disc.....

 

Make sure you only do one side at a time so you can look at the other side and see how it goes. You will need a special holddown tool to remove and install the holddown springs (the coil springs, one on each shoe), just push them down with the tool, twist 90 degrees and release. Before you put the new shoes on you need to lube the backing plate. If you look at the backing plate you will see little raised areas, these are the "bosses" that the shoes ride on. Put a little anti-seize on those before you put the shoes on, that way your brakes won't squeek or rust up.

-Jon

 

God, I can't tell you how many sets of brakes i've changed. It's not that hard of a job. I have did many with just pliers and screwdrivers but if you want it to go quickly just go buy one of those tools that looks like they went through a tornado and it shouldn't take but a few minutes. Good luck.

 

It wasn't hard, good ole locking vice grips for the springs, the needle nose for the shoe part, and for the ones that are coil i used big vise grips and turned, but i had to also replace the drum on the passenger rear, it was toasted, but the brakes are tight, i loosened them as much as possible with the star thing, but, i took it down the road a mile to my uncles, rode around for a min, and came back and a small amount of smoke was visible?? yes they're still quite snug??

 

I'm pretty sure they are self adjusting....you should have adjusted them as lose as possible and them pump the brake's a few times and i think the parking brake also and they would adjust them selves.

 

I went down there and did the same thing twice, and on the second time i noticed it wasn't smokey, just smelt a bit