I redid my front brakes today my 56 Customline, and after re-mounting the front drums/hubs it is so tight I cannot turn it by hand.  What is wierd is that I can slide the drum onto the spindle over the shoes without much effort, it is a snug fit, but not hard to get the drum on. However I cannot turn the drum by hand once it is in position.

The adjuster nut is tightened into it's smallest position, and I hardly have the banjo nut tightened at all.  Even with the wheel/tire mounted I cannot turn the wheel by hand.  Is this happening just because I have brand new pads that are probably touching the drum?  Is this bad?

It is just suprising me beucase it wasn'too hard mounting the drum over the shoes, snug, but not hard to get the drum on.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Nate,

Can you define "redid my brakes" have your replaced shoes, wheel cylinder, had your hubs off? What did you do?

Hubs should turn with wheels on with minimal resistance, only a little brake drag once adjusted. If you cannot move your hubs you've done something wrong.

Don't be afraid of asking how before you try something. You'll waste a lot of time and money doing thing the opposite way.

cheers

Warren

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

Nate;

Did you have the drums turned at a shop? Usually if you bring them the new shoes when you bring them the drums, they make sue there is no binding. Sounds like either the drums need to be turned or the brake shoes need to be arched so they are matched.

Rono

  Ron Lane,  Meridian, ID

Grizzly, I replaced the wheel cylinder and shoes.  I also cleaned up the backing plate,  I reused the return springs, and original wheel bearing, etc.  Then I just cleaned the drum really well with brake parts cleaner (since it originally had brake fluid spilled in it).

Rono, I did not have the drums turned I was hoping I wouldn't need to do that. last time I needed drums turned I called a few places and I couldn't find anyone to do it, but that was years ago maybe I didn't try hard enough.  Do most brake service centers turn drums?

Even though I theoretically know better, I just hope that the new shoes will clean up the drum surface after a few stops. Maybe that is the issue, even though they feel pretty smooth, maybe the drum surface is too rough, it allows me to slide the drum over the shoes, but too rough to rotate.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

Many newer vehicles use rear drums so I would think so but I would not be surprised if today's replace rather than repair culture could have made turning obsolete.



There's a machine shop in my town that offers that service so it is still done at at least a few places.



Did you make sure that the shoes were the same before installing? Incorrect shoes can cause brakes to drag. Over 50+ years it's nearly impossible to know what's been done to a car. It's possible that the correct shoes may not be the needed shoes.


Lawrenceville, GA

Big, you should have the drums turned, the new show will not "clean them up". Besides if your drum is out of round it will cause binding.

After turning you should have the shoes re-arched to the new drum diameter.

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

Jeez, if I have to find a machine shop to turn the drums this is going to be a never-ending brake project.  I'll spare you the horror stories about getting the correct shoes from the local parts stores, but I will say I spent far more time driving around town than working on the car yesterday.  I finally got shoes that I think are correct, they are very slightly narrower than the ones that were on the car, but otherwise are identical.

I'm also taking this opportunity to convert to the 68 Bronco dual master cylinder, so I was "customizing" new brake line routes yesterday as well.

I'll have to wait until Tuesday to see if I can find a shop that still turns drums, but I'm worried it will be a ghost chase. The car has only 30k miles on it, and the drums seem to be in good shape, the shoes I took were basically new (still had clean stickers on them) but were probably installed 30 years ago when my uncle was driving it in the 70's, I had to take them out becuase the wheel cylinder let go and soaked everything in brake fluid otherwise they were in great shape.

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan

 

As far as getting brake shoes I could have given you the part#s required.The shoes are available but most places dont have catalogs that go back far enough.Same with wheel cylinders.They are the same cylinders used on mid to late 60's Mustangs.It would be a very good idea to get replacement return and holdown spring kits.After all these years they get weak.

  

Nate, welcome to car restoration. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. I'll ditto the "take your drums and shoes and get the drums machined and the shoes arced". A good brake place would have relined your old shoes at fraction of the cost of new. Did your hubs turn freely before you installed the drums? 

Cheers

Warren

Grizzly (Aussie Mainline)

Grizzly, you're right older cars present unique challenges, but I seem to experience the same phenomenon whether I'm installing a closet organizer for my wife, or repairing my 99 escort, I spend more time driving around than actually doing the project! Some of it is unavoidable as a DIYer, but some is inexcusable.

The most recent phenomenon is that you can find parts on the part-store website, and even determine of they have the part in stock at the store in your neighborhood.  However when you get to the store, the staff at the store don't have acess to the same data that is on the website so unless I brought the part number with me, they can't always find the same part on the computers in the store!!  I had to drive back home to look up the part number on the company's OWN webiste, then drive back to the store and give them the part number so they can give me the part!  There is no excuse for that.

The brake shoes are only $20 for two sets (both front wheels), do places really still re-line the shoes for less than that?

I'll do some research on Tuesday to try and find a place to turn the drums, I took them both off now so I can take them in with the shoes and have it all "done up" properly.  I can't wait to drive around again, and it will be a different experience with confidence in my brakes!

Nate - Madison, Wisconsin

 

56 Ford Customline Sedan